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4.20 a.m.:Taxi is coming in ten minutes and I can’t shut my suitcase. Maybe if I sit on it? There. Done. Must be this extra weight I’m carrying. Nearly busted the zip though. That wouldn’t have been funny. Wait. Did I put my toothbrush in there? Nope. Looks like I’m going to have to open it up again…
4.35 a.m.:Where’s the fucking taxi? It’s late. This is stressful! Sorry, little bump. I know Mummy is supposed to be keeping calm, but I’m definitely not used to packing up and heading off to potentially start a new life with just a few hours notice. Breathe, Sophia. Breathe.
4.45 a.m.:The driver finally turned up fifteen minutes late. Should still be enough time…
5 a.m.:‘What do you mean your sat nav isn’t working? You do know how to get to Gatwick, though, don’t you?’ Looks like I might need to direct him using the Google Maps on my phone.
5.25 a.m.:We’re on the motorway, so I think it’s okay to relax now.
I’m going to Italy—to be with Lorenzo and I couldn’t be more excited!So what if I sounded like a loved-up teenager. A teenager I might not be, but I felt like one, I certainlywasloved up and I didn’t care. Being happy wasnothingto be ashamed of.
Oh, how my life had changed in this past year or so. And like I’d said earlier at my party, it was all down to Albert and the extra strength he had given me.
I reached into my handbag and pulled out my notepad and flicked through to the MAP list I’d made just fifteen months ago.
1) Stop being a workaholic/have a better work-life balance:Yep. I can check that one off. I hadn’t made a firm decision about whether to sell the company or keep it. I would study the offers more closely, weigh up the pros and cons and decide once I was in Italy. Lorenzo was right, though. I was ready for a new direction. Maybe I’d pursue photography. That’s always been another passion of mine. If I sold the business, the payoff I got might allow me to live for a while without working, provided we had a modest lifestyle. Or maybe I could rent out my house?
2) End my relationship:It had been over a year now. I’d heard through the grapevine that Rich was engaged. I was genuinely happy for him. Great guy, but just not the guy for me.
3) Experience passion:Yes, yes,yes! Multiple times per night with Lorenzo around.
4) Go on an educational holiday:Check.Who knew one trip would change my life so dramatically? I hadn’t even imagined that I’d find love, so that was definitely an MAP bonus. Especially after all the ups and downs I’d experienced with Lorenzo, not to mention my ‘interesting’ dating experiences. Maybe the cliché about finding ‘the one’ when you’re not looking was true…
5) Throw a party:As of last night, that was another official achievement ticked off the list.
6) Look into adoption:Well, there was anactualliving, baby, growing inside me right now, so that was an unexpected, but very welcomed check. Who knows? If all went well and we decided to extend our family (did you see how I dropped the ‘we’ and ‘family’ in there? Getting carried away again, but it’s good to think positively), maybe we could look at adoption then. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have believed when I wrote this last year that I’d be having a baby naturally. What a gift.
7) Have fun/live life to the full:Hell to the yes! I had thrown caution to the wind and was on my way to Gatwick. I could honestly say that I had continuously tried my best to live by this motto.
So there you have it. A full house. I was proud of myself.
I thought back to Albert’s last words to me:
‘Remember, life is short. You only live once. You must enjoy. If you are not happy, you must do something to change it…rappelle-toithat it is happiness andamourthat is the most important.’
I felt wholeheartedly that not only had I taken his comments on board, but I’d followed through with action too. I hadn’t been happy and I’d made changes to address that. And now I was about to follow my heart and be with the man that I loved. The man that made me so very happy.
I hoped that Albert was looking down and feeling proud of me too.
05.58: We pulled up outside Gatwick with just minutes to spare.
06.04: I looked around frantically for the right terminal. Shit. I had to take the shuttle to the North Terminal. I should have checked that on my phone on my way here…
06.07: Just boarded the shuttle. Just realised I didn’t put any make-up on. And my hair? Did I even brush it?Doesn’t matter. Lorenzo loves me just the way I am.
06.10:Which way is it now? Fuck. I have five minutes before he leaves…
06.12: I went the wrong way!
06.15:Where is he? I just made it on time and he’s gone already? Shit.
I looked ahead to the large black-and-yellow ‘Departures’ sign—maybe he’s just gone through?
I can’t see him.
He wouldn’t have stood me up again.No way.I was over that neuroticism now. Lorenzo loved me and I trusted him. I’d find him. He was here. I knew it.
Just I was about to go searching for him, I felt someone come up behind me and place their arms behind my waist, pull me backwards towards them and kiss my neck gently.
