Chapter 19
Seeing Mats’ face drop when she didn’t agree to drop everything and move to Norway now, which is what he was asking, was heartbreaking. But she had a lot on her plate with the Snug Oslo project which, even though it was coming together nicely now, had been exhausting to get to this point.
So although she would miss Mats like crazy, and she hated leaving him when he was at a low ebb, she was looking forward to going back to London to regroup and get on with the next part of the campaign.
Now was not the time to uproot herself and commit to moving to Norway, not only a different country but an island in the middle of a fjord, and risk her own success by the distraction that would cause.
But at the same time, it was starting to feel like it wasn’t out of the question.
Last night had made her think. It had been a long time since she’d thought about everything that had happened with Curtis, but seeing Mats’ reaction, his feelings of betrayal so visceral, it had come flooding back.
She could still feel the cold wash of shame creeping over her when she found out that the man she’d trusted had stabbed her in the back.
At the time, she’d felt as if it were her fault. He’d made her think it was her fault.
Looking back, it was hard to remember what had unravelled first, but her career and her relationship both came crashing down around her ears at about the same time. The person she’d trusted most in the world had betrayed her.
Now she looked back with pride at what she’d achieved. It had made her resilient, extremely self-reliant, and made her feel she could help Mats through how he felt now.
Mats didn’t know what to do with himself. He sat on the bed watching her pack.
‘This person who betrayed you, Lotta. He took your job?’
‘Sort of. We were seeing each other when he was promoted to be team leader and he said it wouldn’t make any difference, but he manipulated me into thinking the rest of the team thought I was slacking because I was with the boss. He suggested I leave.’
‘So that was the end of things between you?’
It should have been. But it wasn’t, because she hadn’t wanted to see the truth; that he was threatened by her.
‘No. Not then. But it prompted me to start my own business. It took a while longer for me to realise he was turning clients against me. That’s when it was over.’
‘God, Lotta.’
‘It’s okay. It’s all worked out for the best so I can’t resent all of that too much.
’ Saying it out loud made her realise she had let go of a lot of the resentment she’d been holding onto.
Perhaps finally being in a relationship where she felt supported and valued was helping to reshape the way she felt about how she’d got here.
Mats insisted on travelling to the airport by train with her. It would be so much harder saying goodbye to him while he was in this state at the airport; she would much rather have done it at the apartment.
‘Two weeks,’ she said, stroking his jaw. ‘It’s not long.’
He sighed and took her in his arms again. ‘Maybe I should come with you?’
‘You need to be here to sort things out.’ Not that she didn’t want him to come with her, but he had pressing things to sort out that now, he seemed to have no appetite for, even though before yesterday he’d have relished all of it taking him a step closer to the island.
‘Why don’t you get out of the city? Could you go and stay with Ida for a few days, maybe go to the island and reset. ’
He nodded. ‘That’s a good idea.’
She hugged him again, whispered goodbye in his ear and kissed him before turning away and not looking back. If she saw his face, she knew she would end up staying. It broke her heart to see him like this; the feeling of betrayal so raw and all-consuming.
Although it was warmer than Oslo, London was grey and dismal, and her flat felt depressing compared to Mats’ place. But she had enough to do that it wasn’t long before she was engrossed in her campaign planning and started to see it all coming together.
The samples she had from Oda were all wonderful, and Lotta was glad it wasn’t up to her to choose which one it would be. She arranged a meeting for Thursday with Clemmie and the Head Buyer for Snug, Sophia, and they would decide. After that, she’d be able to get stuck into the detail.
Mats had texted to say he was in Bergen, at Ida’s. It was a relief to know he wasn’t on his own, wallowing in Oslo. Hopefully a few days at Ida’s, visiting the island, would help him leave that hurt behind.
By Thursday, Lotta had a structure for the Oslo campaign that was ready to plug in whichever of Oda’s pieces Snug went with.
She’d also started work on a step-by-step guide that each store could use to walk them through the process of choosing a maker for their own collaborations.
There was a lot that the stores could do themselves; it was only that Elin hadn’t, and as Lotta prepared the information, she felt confident she could take a more strategic role in the rollout across the group.
She had to, or she’d drown in the amount of work there would be.
As it was, she was all too aware that once they launched with Oda’s collaboration piece and it was successful, because of course it would be, it would be go on the campaign as a whole and she’d be busier than she’d ever been in her life before.
‘This is too tiny,’ said Sophia, turning a small wooden trinket dish over in her hands. ‘The detail is okay, but for the collaboration we need an absolute showstopper.’
Clemmie looked awkwardly at Lotta, begging her to pull something out of the bag. After all the work that had gone into getting this far, neither of them were about to be derailed by Sophia being picky.
Lotta picked up a turned wooden bowl, the surface so smooth it invited fingers to run across it.
A flower was painted in the centre at the bottom and a pretty leaf design ran around the rim.
She passed it to Sophia, thinking that the texture would win her over.
Sophia barely looked at it before she put it down.
‘I love this sconce,’ Clemmie said. It was a simple black metal candle holder with a loop so it could be hung on the wall, and the painted design was equally pretty.
Sophia ignored her and picked up a circular frame, meant for a mirror but empty at the moment.
The wood was stained black and adorned with traditional, stylised flowers, but in colours that were not traditional, like vibrant neon pink and lime green alongside reds, blues, and greens.
It gave the whole thing a modern twist but with no doubt of where its roots lay.
‘This is based on some paintings we saw on a chest of drawers at the Folk Museum,’ Lotta said. ‘They know the family who owned it, where it came from, everything, so the storytelling element is strong if we went for this.’
Sophia raised an eyebrow. ‘The sconce is a nice piece but we’ll do better with the mirror. The price point can be higher, and we can ask the maker to do a simpler version for general stock after the collab.’
‘Okay, you’re the boss,’ Clemmie said, smiling. ‘I love everything she’s done. You’ve done so well to get her on board, Lotta.’
Lotta was just relieved that Sophia had chosen one of the options in the end. She’d have been mortified if she’d had to go back to Oda for more ideas.
‘Oda’s great to work with,’ Lotta said. ‘We’ve already got some footage of her at the Folk Museum so I’ll have a look at that now we’ve decided on the product and send over a couple of preliminary reels for you to approve, Clemmie.’
‘Before the end of the week would be amazing,’ said Clemmie, as if it wasn’t Thursday.
‘Of course, no problem at all,’ Lotta said, smiling.
Lotta headed home feeling as if she’d nailed it. The hardest part was over; the client was pleased, and she had twenty-four hours to polish the content she’d already prepared.
She changed into leggings and a sweatshirt, made herself a quick dinner of pasta with pesto and vine tomatoes, and sat on the sofa with her laptop on her knees, working, while the television played back-to-back episodes of Friends.
By the time she went to bed, too tired to see what she was doing anymore, she’d got everything ready to review with fresh eyes in the morning before she sent it to Clemmie.
It had been a good day, with significant progress made and reminded Lotta why she loved her job.
She was doing this. She’d won that contract and, okay, maybe she’d been a little manipulated into doing more than she should have for the Oslo store because Elin wouldn’t have found someone like Oda on her own.
It had worked out better than she could have imagined, and Clemmie couldn’t be happier.
The following morning, she let herself sleep, waking up naturally, feeling well-rested. She reached for her phone and smiled when she saw a message from Mats.
Mats: Ida was driving me crazy so I am staying on the island. Made a start on the new wing.
Lotta: Already?
He replied straight away.
Mats: No more peeing in a bucket for us.
She hit the call button.
‘Hey. How’s London?’
‘Grey. But good. I had a great meeting yesterday with Snug. They love Oda’s pieces, so it’s all go to launch as soon as we can.’
‘That’s great news. You’ve worked so hard, I’m glad they love it.’
She could hear the warmth in his voice and wished he was here, next to her.
‘I miss you,’ she said.
‘I miss you. The bed in the cabin is useless without you. I might as well be sleeping on the floor. It needs another person to balance it.’
She laughed. ‘You could commute.’
‘The bed is better than staying with Ida,’ he said, with a low laugh.
‘I love Ida.’
‘Me too, but I don’t love being bossed around all the time. It’s like she thinks I have no idea what I’m doing. Like I haven’t been pretty successfully living alone in Oslo for fifteen years.’
They were both quiet for a moment. Lotta wasn’t sure whether to ask about how he was feeling about his job or if it was better to concentrate on the present.
‘That’s sisters for you,’ she said in the end. ‘So you’re actually building something?’
‘Yes.’
She could hear the pride in his voice.
‘Only the base so far. It’s going to be almost double the size it is now.’
‘I can’t wait to see it. And how is the rest of the work going?’
‘It’s quicker than I thought. They have the timber frame for the main house extension finished. So there are some guys working on the roof now, which will take longer because it’s more complicated, but it’s amazing to see the progress every day.’
‘That’s great, Mats.’ He had something to focus on. ‘And being there to see it will be good.’ It was a tentative reference to how that might not have been the case, and she held her breath for a moment, wondering whether it was a step too far.
‘It’s worked out for the best,’ he said. ‘I think I’d have regretted it if I hadn’t seen it all the way through.’
‘I’m so glad you’re feeling okay about things.’
‘You were right. Coming here gave me perspective.’
It was such a relief to hear that. As well as it being good that he wasn’t dwelling on things, it made her feel lighter.
Falling in love with him, with anyone, meant it wasn’t just you to worry about anymore, and Lotta had had more than her fair share of worries in previous relationships.
She knew if she found the right person, and maybe Mats was that person, that sharing worries was a normal part of a healthy relationship.
Of course she wanted to be there for him when he needed her, but at the same time, she had to remember where that had got her before.
Now that she was finally finding success for her business, she needed to be a little selfish.
‘I’m so happy to hear that.’
‘When do you think your next trip here will be?’
‘I’ve only just left.’
‘Lotta, that’s irrelevant.’ She could hear the smile in his voice, and she loved that he couldn’t wait to see her.
‘The week after next. I’ll be coming over with Clemmie from Snug. Basically, it’s to sign off the Oslo part of the project, and then it’ll be full swing to launch the campaign across all the stores.’
‘I am counting down the days. And this will sound very needy of me, but do you think you can spare a couple of days to come to Bergen after that?’
‘Definitely.’ She couldn’t wait to see the progress on the island, and she couldn’t wait to see Mats.
At least she had enough work to keep her busy.
The days until they saw each other would fly by for her, as they should do for him now that he had the cabin extension to concentrate on.
‘Tell me you’re not enjoying this more than your old job. ’
He paused, and Lotta wondered whether he’d feel she’d dismissed what had happened only a few days ago.
‘Best thing that could have happened, Lotta. After running into you in an airport lounge.’
She grinned.
‘Crack on, then. I’m expecting an ensuite next time I visit.’