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‘Well,’ she said humbly, ‘thatiswhat we’re here for, Soph. As we’ve been trying to tell you for years, you know Harrison and I, in fact the whole team, we’ve got this. You trained us. I’ve worked side by side with you practically every day for almost a decade. I know how you like things done. I know what this business means to you. It means a lot to all of us too, so we wouldn’t ever want to let you down.’
‘Awww. Thank you again, Robyn. Right,’ I said, clapping my hands together. ‘I’ve got about fifteen hundred emails to sift through, so I’d better get back to work. Can we catch up later re: the MIKA launch and also the numbers for the Exquisite Parfum press trip to Paris that Gail is managing?’
‘Absolutely,’ confirmed Robyn. ‘Although, when you get to email one thousand, four hundred and ninety-nine, sent about ten minutes ago, you’ll see that a full update on the launch, the press trip numbers and all the important stuff has already been sent to you.’
‘I’m impressed,’ I said, smiling. It was great how well Robyn had once again perfectly anticipated my needs. ‘Thank you. Maybe I should go away more often.’
I had quite a productive day at work. Of course it was overwhelming coming back to all those messages, and so much had been happening that at first it felt like I’d been away for nine weeks rather than nine days. But once I’d got up to speed with everything, I felt so reassured. Socomfortable. It was such a contrast to the feelings of doubt, paranoia, uncertainty and second-guessing that had been plaguing me when I was at home trying to get my head around this whole understanding men thing.
As I’d hoped, work was a brilliant distraction. I’d had so much to do that I barely even thought about Lorenzo every hour. But now that I’d decided to continue the progress I’d made and achieve a better work-life balance by packing up and leaving at 7 p.m., that was sure to go out the window, as I’d be at home alone with plenty of time to fill fantasising about him. In actual fact, thoughts of him began flooding through my mind the minute I stepped out of the office door.
Whilst I was off, I’d been thinking about my next move. I knew what Iwantedto do. Ineededto see him again. But what I hadn’t quite worked out yet was how best to go about it. Perhaps I should wait until my catch-up with Bella and Roxy on Saturday to get a second opinion?
They were both chomping at the bit to hear about my trip. I’d been teasing them all week by alluding to the fact that I had so much to tell them, but then saying it would be better to do it in person, rather than messaging on WhatsApp, which annoyed them no end. Hopefully they’d agree that the story of my mini Italian adventure was worth the wait.
Just as I was considering running my next move past them before I acted, a flash of clarity—or should that be Reasanna’s loud voice?—hit me.
Sophia, Sophia, Sophia. Why should you wait to speak to other people first before you act? When it comes to your career, you’ve always gone for what you wanted without seeking validation or approval from others, so your personal life should be no different. You know what you want. You said you wanted a dirty weekend, so what’s stopping you? Just go for it!
She’s right. If I waited to speak to Roxy and Bella, almost another week would have elapsed. Why waste time? If I liked to travel, if I wanted to experience more of life and have fun, what was there to think about? Why did I need to ask for someone else’s opinion?
Of course, I was apprehensive. Concerned that he might reject me—especially seeing as I was the one who always instigated the messages. But I couldn’t let pride stop me. Plus, if there was a more definite ‘goal’ of us meeting on a specific date, then he might be more inclined to message.
The butterflies were back…
Screw it. I needed to at least try.
As soon as I got home, I kicked off my shoes, headed straight to the living room, pulled out my phone and clicked on WhatsApp.
Me
Hi, Lorenzo. I’m planning another trip to Tuscany in a couple of weeks. Would you like to work on those lessons we spoke about…?
Done.
Now, before I started obsessing and overthinking, I’d have my shower, make dinner, and then and only then would I look at my phone, which I would put on silent and leave here buried deep under the cushions, to avoid the temptation of rushing to look at it as soon as it chimed. I was thinking positively that hewouldof course respond…
Ninety minutes later, the curiosity was killing me. I retrieved the phone from the sofa…
He’d replied after forty-five minutes:
Lorenzo
Mmm-mmm. Of course!
Well, that was encouraging. I launched iCal to check the dates of the next bank holiday weekend, then tabbed back to WhatsApp and began typing:
Me
I had Thursday 26th–Sunday 29th May in mind. Are you free? Not sure what days you work, so let me know…
An hour later I received a reply. Must be after 11 p.m. in Italy now.
Lorenzo
OK, baby, I will check and tell you as soon as possible
Checking sounded good. I’d rather he did that and be sure than respond with a blasé ‘yes’ without really knowing if he could or not. On the other hand, it meant I now had to wait for his response…
Aaaaargh! This went against the person I had been for so long. The old me would neverdreamof chasing a guy or doing this running and waiting around. But as frustrating as this whole single thing could be, at times it was also a little bit exciting. It would be good to have something to look forward to over the bank holiday weekend for a change, rather than just staying at home working.
As the saying went, no pain, no gain. So, if waiting for him to respond meant I got to achieve my objective of having that naughty weekend, then so be it.
