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‘At night?’ I asked, frowning. That was over a thirteen-hour day. Surely not?
‘Yes. It is long hours,’ he replied as if reading my mind whilst he slipped on his fitted black boxers. Mmmm… ‘Chef always long time work in kitchen,’ he explained. ‘The morning, you start early to prepare for lunch. In the afternoon, we prepare for dinner. And then it is busy all night especially, because it is almost Christmas, and Chef says there are lots of parties.’
‘Wow, that sounds like really hard work,’ I said, eyes now fixated on him stepping into his jeans, pulling them up past his solid thighs, then up towards to his taut waist. ‘So when do you get time off?’ I asked, bringing my legs up onto the bed and then crossing them.
‘He says we will work five, sometimes six days a week. I think my next day off is Sunday. If I am lucky, perhaps I will have Monday off too next week, but after that, I am certain I will work six days a week until January,’ he said, now reaching into the second drawer down, taking out a plain black t-shirt, pulling it over his head and then over his delicious hairy chest. ‘I will check when I go today. Do you want to see me again?’
Do the Kardashians like taking selfies?
‘Er, yes!’ I confirmed. ‘Wouldyoulike to seemeagain?’ I asked.
‘Of course!’ he said as he leant forward to kiss me.
‘I wish I could stay with you longer now,’ he said, putting on his chef’s jacket. ‘But I have to work. And it is a new job, so I must not be late.’
‘I understand,’ I said, standing up to kiss him again.
‘But you, Sophia, you stay, no rush.’ He picked his keys up off the floor from where he’d thrown them down during our passionate entrance last night. ‘When you leave, just shut the door. It should be okay.’
‘So when do you want to meet next?’ I blurted out, realising that despite discussing it, we still hadn’t confirmed anything. Yes, I could have been all coy, played it cool and then messaged him later, but I was finding being upfront and saying what I felt rather than thinking it over a million times first before acting was also working well for me.
‘Up to you,’ he said as he headed towards the door. ‘For me, as soon as possible is good.’
‘Tonight?’ I asked as I followed him to the door.Well, why not? Best to strike whilst the iron’s hot.
‘Tonight is good,’ he replied. ‘But you know I don’t finish until after eleven, so it will be late. And I perhaps I will be very tired after last night and then working a full day. You don’t mind?’
‘It’s fine,’ I said without hesitation. ‘As long as you at leasttryto make it worth my while,’ I said cheekily.
‘What does that mean?’ he asked, frowning.
Oh yes. Must remember to keep the language simple.
‘It means, if I come and see you, do you promise to try and make sure we have fun again and that you’ll make me feel good?’
‘Yes, yes,’ he said, smiling. ‘Of course. I promise.’
He opened the door, then turned to kiss me.
‘Goodbye, beauty,’ he said, holding my gaze. ‘Until tonight…’
‘Goodbye, gorgeous,’ I replied, running my fingers through his hair. ‘I’ll get a cab to your restaurant for around eleven thirty p.m., then, and wait outside for you?’
‘Perfetto.’ He gave me a long, slow kiss, flashed his cheeky grin again and then was gone.
I shut the door, then walked back to the bed and flopped onto it.
What an incredible thirteen hours. I didn’t remember ever feeling so alive and happy. Perhaps the last time was in Tuscany.
There was no way I could go to the office like this. I was exhausted. How he was going to do a thirteen-and-a-half-hour shift after last night and this morning, I had no idea, but I had no intention of doing the same. I’d call Harrison and let him know I’d be working from home today, get a cab back, have breakfast, take care of any urgent emails, then sleep for a few hours before preparing to come back here.
As I travelled back home in the cab, I felt so naughty. Not just about what had happened last night or how forward I’d beenagain, but also because no one knew what I’d been up to, where I’d been and, most critically, with whom.
Even though the evening had been beyond amazing and I wanted to shout about it from the rooftops, I still wasn’t ready to tell Roxy or Bella. Of course, I knew they only had my best interests at heart, but I really liked Lorenzo and I was having fun, so I didn’t want to risk inviting their negative thoughts into my brain and bringing me down from this cloud. I just wanted to enjoy this high without judgement for as long as possible.
It was now Sunday morning.Normally at this time, I’d be on the huge terrace overlooking the Thames and a host of famous London monuments. That was undeniably beautiful, but the sight I had in front of me was, in my opinion, a million times better.
As I lay in bed, at the other end of the room was Lorenzo in the kitchen, cooking up an amazing lunch. He’d said today, we would dine like we were in Italy. He’d brought home some fresh pasta they’d made at the restaurant yesterday and had just taken the delicious crushed Florentine orange cake that I’d fallen in love with in Tuscany out of the oven, so the scent of fresh baking filled the flat, and currently he was whipping up a lobster risotto, which smelt divine.
