AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Forty-Five
Ileant forward on the sofa, head in hands.What the fuck am I going to do? It’s all so sudden.
I heard footsteps running down the hallway. Roxy and Bella burst in.
‘Soph, are you okay?’ said Bella, coming over to me, perching on the edge of the sofa and rubbing my shoulder. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Yeah,’ Roxy chipped in. ‘First you have a slanging match with Charlie, he runs after you, then minutes later, we see him storm off out the front door with a swollen cheek and black eye, and now we’ve just seen Lorenzo go over to your folks, Harrison and your granddad, introduce himself and then say he’s sorry but he has to leave? What’s going on?’ she asked, frowning and crossing her arms.
‘Well, basically, all this time, Lorenzohadn’tjust upped and disappeared in the way that I thought. He’d left a long letter explaining everything, but when Charlie came to his flat, he spotted it on the table and decided to hide it from me.’
‘You’re joking,’ said Bella.
‘Nope,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘So I’ve spent all these weeks, in fact months, upset, thinking Lorenzo didn’t care, when all the while he’s been back in Italy, working his arse off trying to provide a life for me and the baby, renovating his house with a nursery and doing it all up so I can go and live there and we can be a family, together.’
‘Wait, what?’ said Roxy. ‘What do you mean go andlivethere? In fucking Italy? Is he nuts? Is that why he left, because you told him to piss off?’
‘Why would I tell him to piss off, Roxy?’ I said, frowning.She better not be starting her shit…
‘Well, firstly,’ she said, crossing her arms again, ‘because everyone knows holiday romances, which is essentially what this is, don’t last. And secondly, you have a life here, Sophia. A family, a successful business to run, a team who rely on you for their livelihoods, a home andus, your friends. You can’t just throw everything away and leave it all behind to go running aftera man.Especiallysomeone like Lorenzo,’ she scowled.
‘What isthatsupposed to mean, Roxy?’ I snapped. ‘And whywouldn’tI leave to build a life with him? What’s wrong with trying to make it work with the man I love and letting him be there for me and our baby?’
‘Are you fucking serious?’ she barked. ‘You don’t even know if it is his baby! Look at all the stress he’s put you through! Ever since you’ve met him, it’s been nothing but drama, and now you think it’ll will somehow be better in a strange country where you don’t speak the language, don’t have a support network like you have here, or a job for that matter? What will you do for work? It’s not like he’s Charlie, who can really provide for you. You can’thonestlybe considering give up a multimillion-pound business, your beautiful home and your independence, to go and live with a fucking chef, for God’s sake! Where’s your feminist backbone gone? Stop being so weak.’
‘You know what, Roxy?’ I said, jumping up. ‘I’m sick and tired of you passing judgement on him when you don’t even know him. I’m in love with Lorenzo, and you know what? I am seriously considering getting on that plane with him tomorrow morning! That doesn’t make me weak. That makes me strong.’
‘How does giving up your career, your success and independence to run after a man like some lovesick schoolgirl with her head in the clouds, just because he’s good in bed, make you strong?’ she scoffed.
‘It makes me strong, Roxy, because for once, I’m choosing life and happiness instead of what other people define as success. Success isn’t about having the biggest agency or the biggest bank balance. It’s about having the courage to step away from convention and make the choices that makemehappy and that are right forme. It shows that I believe in myself enough to know that even if Idogo and live with Lorenzo, I will be okay. I’m not giving up my independence. I’m taking control of my life and whatIwant. And as for my business, I’ve got options. I can work remotely, get Robyn to run it, or I could just sell it and do something completely different…’
‘Now Iknowyou’re crazy!’ shouted Roxy in disbelief. ‘Whyon earthwould you sell the company you’ve worked so hard to build when it’s doing so well? That business is your baby. That’s what you’ve always said. Why would you even contemplate just giving it all up?’
‘Because, Roxy, after seeing what happened to Albert and now having this baby growing inside of me, I realise that there’s much more to life than work. Successful people sell their businesses all the time. Look at Jo Malone and Liz Earle. I’ve had some huge multinational companies hounding me for months if not years to buy me out, and a couple of their offers areveryattractive. But it’s not about the money. After fourteen years of working non-stop, I deserve to take time out. I’ve achieved more than I ever dreamt I would, so maybe it’s time for a new challenge. Fuck it!’ I said, getting excited at the prospect of a fresh start and realising that this argument had led me to make my decision. ‘To quote one of your acronyms, Roxy:YOLO! You only live once. I’m not going to hold out until I’m sixty-five. Look at Albert. He didn’t even reach retirement age. I’m not waiting a second longer. I’m going to live my lifenow!’
Roxy’s mouth had dropped so far open that you could have fit theTitanicin it and still have room.
‘Wow, Soph!’ said a startled Bella. ‘Looks like you’ve reached a decision. I know you’ve said you don’t want to wait, but tomorrow morning? Isn’t that a little hasty? How would you realistically get everything organised by then?’
‘Lorenzo’s going back tomorrow and has a ticket for me. He’s not suggesting I go out and live in Italy permanently straight away. Obviously he understands that would take time. All he’s suggesting is that I come out there for a couple of weeks initially to see if I like it, and then we can take it from there.’
Roxy sat down on the sofa. Then Bella came off the edge and sat beside her. They were both silent. They knew me. I was going. And they knew once my mind was made up, there was no point trying to change it.
I glanced at the clock on the wall opposite the bed. It was now rapidly approaching 2.30 a.m. In order to meet him, I’d have to get home (which by the time I’d said my goodbyes and ordered a taxi could take a good half an hour), find my passport, pack and leave by 4.30 a.m. to get to Gatwick by 6 a.m. In fact, I wasn’t going to waste another minute discussing or justifying myself to them. I had to leave right now!
‘Ladies, I love you,’ I said, smiling, ‘but I’m going to fucking Italy!’ I bent down to hug Bella. ‘Bella, love you,’ I moved over to Roxy, who was still scowling. I didn’t care. ‘Roxy,’ I said, squeezing her tightly. ‘Sometimes you’re a giant pain in the arse, but I know your feistiness comes from a good place. I hate when we argue. I still love you. Thank you for caring. But I’ve got to do this. I’vegotto try. Life is short. I’ll regret it if I don’t.’ I squeezed her again and then let go.
‘Wow, Soph,’ said Bella, whilst Roxy’s mouth remained firmly on the floor. ‘Well, good luck!’
‘I’ll message you when I get there,’ I said as I rushed out the bedroom door. ‘Ciao!’
After running around hugging the remaining guests, apologising for the ‘show’ earlier and now having to leave my own party early, then kissing a very confused Mum and Dad goodbye, I grabbed my coat and bags and headed out to the main road to hail a taxi.
I burstinto the dressing room, pulled out a medium-sized suitcase from the rack behind the door and began taking clothes off hangers and out of the drawers and frantically throwing them inside. Some casual, loose-fitting dresses (even they were getting tight), leggings, underwear, a couple of long-sleeve tops, a pair of Converse…I tossed a black t-shirt, oversized lightweight yellow jumper and a pair of indigo maternity jeans on the bed, ready to wear.
Shit. It was already 3.15 a.m., the taxi would be here in just over an hour and I still had a million things to do, including packing my passport.Better find that now.
3.45 a.m.:Got it and it’s still in date. I need to jump in the shower.
