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Chapter Eighteen
Monday morning. I could not wait to get to the office. Not just because I’d had a whole nine days away (a major miracle in itself), or because I loved what I did, but mainly because Idesperatelyneeded a distraction.
I was now thinking about Lorenzo approximately every two seconds—in fact, scrap that.Everysecond was more accurate. As much as I tried, I couldn’t seem to stop him dominating my thoughts. I had to take control of my mind again, so if I could reduce that to every three seconds at least (let’s not run before we can walk), I’d be making huge progress.
I made my way to the dressing room to pick out an outfit. I felt different. More relaxed. I wanted my clothes to reflect that. To show the new me. Today I was going to dress a little less formally. Normally it’d be all about the structured Roland Mouret dress. But right now I was drawn to the other end of the spectrum. No, not a tracksuit. I was thinking a pair of fitted dark blue jeans, a crisp white shirt and a smart black blazer. I might even wearflats.Veryunlike me. Well, very unlike theold me.
I got dressed and gave myself the once-over in the mirror. Yes. I feltgreat. Was I missing something? Wow. I’d been so used to going au naturel these past few days that I was about to leave without wearing any make-up or styling my hair. How times had changed.
I wasn’t in the mood for a full face of make-up. The time off and the fresh Tuscan air had done my skin good. A little tinted moisturiser was all that was needed. In fact, I was going to keep my make-up light again like I had in Italy. No contouring, blush, eyeshadow, etc. Just eyeliner, mascara and a nude lipstick, finished with a slick of gloss. Done.
Hair? I was going for the loose, effortless, undone ponytail like I’d seen Daniel, our A-list hairdresser client, create hundreds of times at fashion shows. Ironically, it took more effort than it appeared, but I’d tried it in Tuscany and it had looked cool, so time to give it a more public airing.
Rigid, uptight Sophia had gone. And she’d been replaced by a cooler, more fun, younger sister.
As I strutted through the corridors up to my office, greeting my team as I went, the gasps were audible. Anyone would have thought I’d come to work naked. Well, I supposed they were used to me looking like I’d just had my make-up done for a photoshoot and dressing as if I was about to be interviewed for ITV News. And a ponytail? Undone and cool or not, the Sophia they knew wouldneverdream of having her hair anything other than all down and swooshing around like I was auditioning for a shampoo advert.
Well, people.Thiswas what a bit of time off and some rolling around on a sofa with a hot Italian chef did to you…
I knocked on Harrison’s door. ‘Come in,’ he said as he looked up from his computer and then did a double take.
‘Wow! Sophia!’ he said as I walked over to his desk to give him a hug. ‘Getyoulooking all relaxed.’ He looked me up and down. ‘No way!’ he said in disbelief. ‘Are thosejeansyou’re wearing to the office? And hold on…’ he said, walking around to look at the back of my head. ‘You’ve put your hair in aponytail? And your make-up—you’re wearing make-up, right? Are you? Yes. But it’s more… natural. Whathappenedover there?’ he asked, raising one of his thick, dark eyebrows.
If only you knew, Harrison, I thought to myself. Those were details I wasn’t planning to share with my younger brother any time soon…
‘Ah well, you know,’ I replied coyly. ‘Time off, the fresh Tuscan air…’
‘Well, whatever it was, Soph, I’m loving the new look!’ he said.
‘Thanks, bro. Just felt like trying something new, you know. Switching up my style a bit,’ I added innocently.
‘Well, sis, it suits you,’ he said, standing back to look at me once again. ‘Mum said you seemed different, happier, when you came round.’
‘Oh yeah, how was your reunion?’ I asked remembering that he couldn’t make dinner at my parents as he’d met up with some old friends from uni.
‘It was good, thanks. I hoped I’d get back in time to see you but, you know, it’d been a while since we’d all caught up, so…anyway,’ he said, switching topics. ‘Back to you. I can’t get over it! The power of a holiday, eh? And as you can see, the company is still here, still standing and still thriving, despite you having a few days off. I’ve been telling you to do this foryears.’
‘Yes, yes, I know,’ I said, rolling my eyes in anticipation of hisI told you sospeech. ‘You were right, Harrison. I did need a break and it waswonderful…’
‘I thought I heard your voice,’ said Robyn, walking into Harrison’s office wearing a smart grey knee-length dress which showcased her long, slender legs and skyscraper black heels, ‘but I just didn’t recognise you. You look so different!’
‘Oh…how Ilovethe word ‘different’—not!’ I said, smiling sarcastically. ‘It can meansomany things and not all of them good…’
‘Ha-ha, yeah. I know what you mean, Soph. But in this case, I meangooddifferent. Relaxed, happy,glowing,’ she clarified.
Robyn also looked great as always. Her thick, almost waist-length rich chocolate-coloured hair accentuated her piercing green eyes and her cute doll-like features.
‘Well, thank you,’ I said, smiling. ‘I’ll take that kind of different.’
‘And congratulations,’ added Robyn.
‘Congratulations?’ I asked, wondering if I’d won the lottery but no one had told me.
‘Not only did you manage a whole nine days out of the office, which is technically only five working days, but you also managed to stay off Instagram and all social media. And whilst we saw you reading them, as far as Harrison and I can tell, you haven’t actuallysentorrepliedto most emails either,’ said Robyn.
‘Yes, I managed to restrain myself!’ I said, laughing. ‘You guys have done an amazing job of taking care of everything. I admit, it was difficult at first, and I was tempted to start replying to everything, especially when I got back home and was just pottering around, but I saw your responses and they were spot-on, so thank you.’
Robyn blushed. I could tell she realised what a big deal me saying this was. She knew how much of a control freak I was (orused to be?), so for me to trust her to take care of things without micromanaging was major.
