Chapter 3
Mats had found his London trip very different to what he’d expected when Ole had marched into his office on Monday. Thanks to Hanne, it had been a relaxing couple of days that had helped him recover from the hectic few weeks of combining work with his hotel project.
Now, he was taking advantage of the airport lounge she’d booked.
His suit was safely folded in the carrier on the chair opposite him with his coat, and instead he was wearing his favourite worn-out jeans and a cable-knit wool jumper which had seen better days and needed mending.
He hadn’t bothered shaving that morning; it had seemed like too much trouble after his decadent lie-in, so he’d just showered.
His leather travel bag was at his feet, and he was enjoying a beer while he read the news on his phone, waiting for his flight to be called.
A woman was shown to the table next to him.
From the corner of his eye, he watched her place her bag on the chair on the opposite side of her table to where he was.
She took a step towards the other chair, going to sit next to him, then thought better of it, picked up the bag again and swapped it to the chair next to him instead.
He looked up to find a woman with blonde hair wearing a denim jumpsuit.
She looked ill at ease, especially so once she’d sat down and they might as well have been on the same table.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, standing up and reaching over to grab her bag again. ‘It’s weird that I’m facing you. I’ll swap.’
‘It’s fine,’ he said, thinking she might find it just as weird sitting next to him. When it was quiet, the lounge felt spacious, and in his experience it was rare for it to be so busy that every single table was used. But when that happened, some tables, like these, were quite close together.
She sat down again, purposefully looking slightly to her left to avoid his gaze. Her hair, which must have been tied up in one bunch on the top of her head at some point, was escaping here and there, further giving the impression that she was flustered.
‘The beer is good,’ he said, thinking that perhaps she needed to take the edge off. ‘Nervous flyer?’
‘No. More of a nervous airport lounge user. This is the first time I’ve done this.’
‘It is supposed to make flying more relaxing.’
She smiled, looking the absolute opposite of relaxed. The waiter came over and took her order for a glass of wine and some nibbles.
‘Could I get a plate of mezze too, please? And another beer,’ Mats said. ‘Thanks.’
‘Do you even have a flight to catch?’
‘I got here too early.’ He’d had time to kill, and he didn’t want to do it wandering aimlessly around London when he was relaxed for once.
‘You look like you’re used to this.’ She undid her hair and let it flow over her shoulders for a moment before she gathered it in her hands and tied it up, no more neatly than before, but Mats thought it looked great. In fact, she looked great.
‘Not my first time,’ he said, unwilling to explain that his company paid for it, since then she’d ask what he did and then she’d have a different impression of him that he didn’t want her to have.
‘Where are you from?’
He put his phone down and leant forward. Maybe it would be nice to have some company. ‘Norway.’
‘Oh, I’m flying to Oslo.’
He nodded. ‘Me too. You’re from London?’
‘Yes, but I did have a Norwegian grandfather.’
‘Well, we’re practically related then,’ said Mats, although the last thing he wanted was to be related to her. ‘I’m Mats. Nice to meet you.’
‘Lotta.’ She smiled and her face lit up, her blue eyes sparkled, and he knew in that instant that he liked her.
Their drinks and food arrived, and they paused their conversation while the waiter placed everything on the table.
He watched as Lotta took a sip of wine, then closed her eyes and sighed. ‘Oh, that is nice.’
‘Busy day?’
‘Yes. This trip was planned at short notice, so I had quite a lot to do before I came.’
‘And what do you do?’
‘I run a marketing agency.’
‘Wow, impressive.’
‘I mean, it’s really only me, but my clients don’t know that. I have a couple of people I can call on to help me out with different things, but this new campaign I’m working on is huge. I wanted the contract so badly, and now I wonder if I can pull it off.’
Mats was surprised that she would confide in him like this, but then who better to offload onto than someone you would never see again? ‘I’m sure you wouldn’t have won the business if they didn’t think you were the right person for the job.’
‘Maybe.’ She took another sip of wine. ‘I’ve wanted a big campaign like this for years. It’s what I’ve been working towards the whole time, but now I have it, it’s daunting.’
‘I have a similar project myself. I’m renovating an old building in a place that is difficult to get to. Every single thing is a challenge, but I wanted it so badly, and I still do, but I have to keep reminding myself of that.’
‘You know, I should be sitting here thrilled that I’m travelling business class for the first time in my life, someone else is paying for it and I’ve landed the contract of my dreams.’
‘Sometimes living the dream isn’t always how you think it will be. I think for us, the journey is difficult but something that you need to go through to enjoy the dream in the end.’
‘Mats, you’re very wise,’ she said, grinning.
He laughed. ‘I don’t know where that came from. Too profound for a Wednesday afternoon in an airport lounge.’
Her eyes danced and his stomach did a weird flip, something that hadn’t happened for a long time.
She was so open, sharing her fears with him as if he were a friend.
And she was getting more beautiful with every moment.
She was beginning to relax. Maybe it was the conversation putting her at ease, maybe it was the wine, but either way he loved seeing it.
His phone rang, and he was going to ignore it, but saw it was Ida. He sighed, ‘I’m sorry, I have to take this.’
She shook her head and concentrated on her plate of food.
‘Ida.’
‘Is this a joke? Another chandelier has arrived. I assume you only have one hallway and only need one chandelier.’
Mats sighed and ran his hand over his face, telling Ida he had only ordered one chandelier and that it must be a mistake. He offered to call Knut, but Ida already had.
‘Why are you calling me, then? I can’t do anything else from here, Ida.’
‘Get your life sorted out, Mats. This isn’t my project, it’s yours. I can’t run around for you all the time.’
He bit his tongue because Ida wasn’t working full-time at the moment, so he knew she had time. But she had been opposed to his project from the start, and he respected the fact that she didn’t want to be part of it. ‘I’m sorry. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.’
‘Are you renovating a palace?’ Lotta asked. ‘I heard you mention a chandelier.’
‘You speak Norwegian?’
She nodded. ‘Although, I understand it better than I speak it. My father is bilingual and wanted the same for us.’
‘That was my sister. Apparently, it is my fault that the chandelier company have accidentally delivered another one. It’s not a palace, and it’s a very small chandelier. It just comes in a big box.’
Lotta laughed. ‘I have two sisters. It’s nice to hear we’re not the only ones who speak to each other like that.’
‘I have three sisters and a brother, but the others are all nicer to me than Ida is.’
‘It always comes from a place of love, I guess.’
‘It sometimes doesn’t feel like that.’ He smiled, thinking how long it had been since he’d spent time with anyone he could talk to like this.
When it was time to head to the gate, Mats picked up his luggage and waited for Lotta. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye, and since they were on the same flight, there was no need to yet.
Unsurprisingly, they weren’t sitting next to each other on the plane, but Mats could see her from across the aisle as she was a couple of rows ahead of him on the other side.
She accepted a glass of wine from the cabin crew and spent the flight reading a novel.
Ridiculously, Mats was pleased she wasn’t talking to the passenger next to her.
It made their airport lounge encounter that bit more special.
Mats left the plane ahead of her since she had to wait for the person in the aisle seat to get up, but he waited for her in the tunnel. She beamed at him when she saw him there, and again his stomach flipped.
‘I have to say,’ she said, ‘It’s a bit disappointing to have a business class seat for the first time ever and find it’s the same as a normal seat but with an empty seat in between me and the other person,’ she said.
‘It’s a small plane. And you can’t put a price on not having to sit right next to someone.’
Mats almost told her what a business class seat to New York was like, a trip he took regularly, but he decided against it.
He much preferred to leave Lotta with the impression of his life as he hoped it would be going forward rather than tell her he was an investment banker.
He didn’t think she was the kind of person who would care one way or the other, but he didn’t feel like that person when he was with her.
He felt like Mats from Bergen, eldest of five, in the middle of a crazy project, and that’s who he wanted to be.
‘I did get a free glass of wine. That was nice.’
‘Do you have luggage to collect?’ He hoped she didn’t, because then he could suggest they travel into the city together.
But then he remembered Hanne had booked a car to take him home, and while he’d be happy to share with Lotta and drop her off wherever she was staying, he didn’t want to look like the corporate businessman who got picked up in a chauffeur-driven car.
‘I do. But don’t wait for me.’
He sensed she might be hoping he’d say of course he would wait.
He pulled his phone out to cancel the car, but before he could open the app to cancel, there was a notification that his car was there.
Torn, he made the split-second decision to go in the car, not wanting to stand up his driver.
Besides, what did he think would happen?
They had to say goodbye sometime, whether it was now or when they got to Oslo Central Station.
What was another thirty minutes here or there?
‘It’s been great to meet you, Lotta. Good luck with your campaign.’
‘Bye, Mats. Hope you get your chandeliers sorted out.’
He grinned and walked away, his heart sinking as he did.
This was ridiculous. He should get her number at the very least. Turning, he looked for her in the crowd of people waiting for the luggage carousel to come to life.
But she wasn’t there. Her blonde hair spilling out from the elastic on top of her head should be easy to spot, but he couldn’t see it.
He stood for a moment, wondering whether to wander round to see if he could find her, but what would he say?
I’ve been with you for four hours and only thought about getting your number when you’d gone. He’d sound like an idiot.
Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he headed outside to find the car.
Why hadn’t he thought about it earlier? Even right after they got off the plane would have been acceptable, he could have asked her out for a drink.
Why didn’t that occur to him while he was with her?
He could only think it was because he was so caught up in being with her, he hadn’t needed to. And now it was too late.