Chapter 40
Amy
London
Wednesday came much too soon, and with it the day of Luisa's departure to the Amalfi Coast for her photoshoot.
The realities of working life had intruded on Monday…
there were only so many days of leave she could take in a year before it started getting difficult and Amy really wasn’t the type to pull a sickie.
Still, dinner on Monday night had been nice save for the little wrinkle with Sarah, although Amy was pretty confident that Luisa had taken both Sarah and Rebecca being simply colleagues at face value.
Not that Amy wanted to conceal her thing with Sarah from Luisa, far from it, but keeping those parts of her life separate just made sense.
Luisa was far from an early riser and on both Monday and Tuesday Amy had left her sleeping in bed, cup of tea next to it in case Luisa wanted it (she claimed to be developing a taste for it but Amy reckoned it was fifty-fifty whether she was just being lovely), desperately resisting the temptation to shed her clothes again and climb back under the covers next to her warm, beautiful body.
Work had been hard to concentrate on, particularly in the afternoons when LA were in and she was trying to get everything done in time to see Luisa again, but she managed it and, after the dinner on Monday they’d had a much quieter Tuesday evening locally.
Which took them to Wednesday… saying goodbye to Luisa, although she’d be back in London for the week after the weekend, then a day at work, then Sarah.
Sarah was going to be interesting. It was a cliché that absence made the heart grow fonder, but also true.
Amy had gone to LA with Sarah in her bad books, willing to give her a second chance but sceptical as to whether she would take the long, hard look at herself that she needed to.
She’d been annoyed because Sarah had been a significant factor in the implosion of her life with James, and in the days after it was as if there was no consequence for Sarah…
while Amy’s world was in pieces, Sarah could go back to her family in the West Country, or call another mentee to come over, carry on just as before.
But, to her credit, Sarah had done what she’d said.
They’d been in contact while Amy was away and she’d updated Amy on what was happening.
It had been a shock to see her with Rebecca on Monday, which was why Amy had waited until she saw Sarah go into the bathroom before following her in there…
an ambush, maybe, but necessary because Amy didn’t want to misinterpret what was happening there and the reassurance had been invaluable.
She was going to give Sarah the benefit of the doubt on Wednesday night.
She wouldn’t tell Luisa because their relationship was open and she didn’t want Luisa to worry.
She’d simply see Sarah, and see how it went…
nothing more, nothing less. She owed that to Sarah after Sarah had spent the last month reacting to the truths that Amy had laid out for her.
Although, truth be told, Wednesday felt like a burden… because Luisa was amazing and Amy was struggling to see much beyond her.
***
“Morning sleepy,” Amy whispered to a still sleeping Luisa. She’d gone downstairs when she woke up to make two mugs of tea and now she wanted to maximise every possible second of Luisa time before she had to go to work.
“Mmm…” Luisa mumbled, before rolling over.
Amy hesitated for a moment, looking at her…
she was naked under the covers, and she looked so, so beautiful and so, so peaceful.
There was an unconstrained joy that came to her when she thought about Luisa, the woman she’d fallen in love with.
She knew that they still had so much to learn about each other, and Amy was mature enough to know that love wasn’t always enough, that getting to know all the parts of someone could mean that love doesn’t equate to forever, but she certainly hoped so.
“Buenas dias.” Amy wasn’t going to let Luisa sleep this morning, no chance.
Luisa’s eyes opened, just a crack, but she smiled. “We need to work on your pronunciation… good morning.”
"I made you tea. You don't have to drink it.”
Luisa sat herself up, making the extra effort, Amy could tell, because they were parting soon. Amy got a glimpse of her glorious body before she wrapped the duvet around herself, up to her armpits.
"Genuinely, I'm starting to like it." She took her mug from Amy and sipped it. “Not much, admittedly, but I think it's good in the mornings. It's gentler than coffee."
"We'll make an Englishwoman of you yet..."
Luisa watched Amy as she took a sip of her own tea.
"I'm going to have a shower now. I need to get to work," Amy said after a pause, standing. "Do you need anything from the bathroom?"
"No, I'm good." Luisa looked at Amy with a look that Amy had grown to know over recent weeks. "Do you have to go in the shower right away?"
Amy felt her heart beat a little faster. The beautiful woman she loved, sat up naked in her bed, asking if she really needed that shower quite yet... it was tempting, very tempting.
"I'd love nothing more than to get back into bed with you.
.." Amy let her dressing gown fall away, nothing underneath.
She climbed on to the bed, straddling Luisa's lap, trying to ignore the autumn morning chill that gave her goosebumps.
"But I really have to get to work." She took Luisa's tea, set it to one side, then with both hands cupping Luisa’s jaw she kissed her, slowly, deeply, passionately.
When she pulled back it was with a glint in her eye.
"Will this keep you going until Sunday though? "
Luisa grinned and narrowed her eyes. "Until Sunday..."