Chapter 18
18
After, honestly, such a wonderful evening – and what was technically a really great (if not really intense) first date – it seems a shame to mention the elephant in the room. It needs bringing up, though.
‘Thanks for everything this evening,’ Andrea tells me – for maybe the twentieth time, so I must have done a good job. That makes me happy, though, because he is working wonders for me on my side, so I want to return the favour as best I can.
We’re currently back at the resort, sitting in the hotel car park. It was so good of Andrea not to drink, so that he could drive me back here, even though he’s going to have to drive straight back to his parents’ place, where he’s currently staying.
I suppose the problem, when you work project to project, is that you never know where you will be next. It must make it hard to put down roots.
‘I had a great time,’ I tell him. ‘You have such a lovely family, really. I’m trying to imagine my lot being such great hosts. I say “my lot” but there’s nowhere near as many of us, and we’re mostly made up of grumpy northern men, and women who would love you.’
‘Maybe I would be okay then,’ Andrea says with a smile.
Okay, now it’s even harder to bring up our break-up, now that we’re having hypothetical conversations about our life together.
‘I, er… I was thinking about our plan,’ I start, trying to get the right words together.
‘Oh, yes?’ Andrea replies.
‘Yeah, I was thinking about our “break-up”,’ I continue.
I’m not looking at him but, I swear, out of the corner of my eye I just saw his face drop. Way to ruin a good night, Robin. I guess we are having a lot of fun, though, and it seems a shame to think about the end.
‘Do you have a plan?’ he asks curiously.
‘I suppose, once it seems like Rick is considering me for the promotion, and I’ve attended Lucia’s wedding with you, I don’t know – that might be a good time?’ I say. ‘If we play it right, we can probably spin it to our advantage. I could tell Rick that you weren’t supportive of my career – make it seem like I’m choosing my job over you. He’ll think I have a ruthless work ethic after all, so I won’t need to keep up the family woman charade.’
‘Wow, you can tell that you work in advertising,’ Andrea points out, seemingly amused by my cynicism. ‘I suppose, the best thing for me… If I tell my family that all I wanted was to settle down with you, but that all you cared about was work, then they would think you had broken my heart.’
‘And that would buy you some time, as long as you wanted, to “heal”,’ I point out with a clap of my hands – ew, that was a bit too much like Rick for my liking. ‘Andrea, you’re a genius.’
‘So, that’s our first argument out of the way,’ he jokes. ‘Back to being in love?’
‘Back to being in love,’ I say with a laugh. ‘Time to go to sleep in our separate beds – wow, we really are like an old married couple.’
‘I don’t know, my parents have been married for a long time, and they still sleep in the same bed,’ Andrea tells me. ‘Unless my uncle is visiting from Bologna, then he sleeps in the bed with my papa.’
Andrea pulls a face.
‘I guess that’s normal here?’ I reply.
‘No,’ Andrea says with a laugh. ‘No, it’s weird everywhere. My mamma, she sleeps in the guestroom, because it’s next to the kitchen, and she likes to get up early and do chores, and make breakfast – she doesn’t want to wake anyone. Dario was right. They are old-fashioned, and it’s not really like that any more, for the younger generations, but when you think about it, if they weren’t old-fashioned, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now.’
‘That’s a good point,’ I reply.
Honestly, my mum is definitely the one who does the cooking and the cleaning in my parents’ house, but if my dad even suggested she might sleep in a different room so that she didn’t wake him she would probably cook him one last meal – and poison it.
‘On that note, I’d better get to bed,’ I tell him. ‘You know, if you didn’t fancy it, you could give tomorrow a miss. It’s just some silly team-building thing Rick has organised.’
‘No, no, I would love to come,’ Andrea insists. ‘It sounds like a lot of fun. Plus, when I’m not working, I get bored.’
‘Well, okay then,’ I reply, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. ‘Thanks for a great night.’
‘ Ci vediamo domani ,’ he tells me. ‘See you tomorrow.’
‘I’m not even going to attempt to say that one back to you,’ I reply with a giggle. ‘See you tomorrow.’
I feel a strange reluctance in my legs, like I’m not quite ready to get out of the car yet, but it’s time to go to bed.
It isn’t far, from the car park to my apartment, and it’s so well-lit here – it feels safe. I’m not sure I would fancy a night-time stroll through Manchester on my own.
My cheeks actually ache from smiling and laughing so much. That’s the sign of a good night, isn’t it? Plus, I feel like I’m about to burst out of my dress, thanks to all the food in my stomach. Still, I regret nothing.
I walk through the garden, towards the door of the villa where my apartment is. I keep my eyes on the path, rather than looking where I’m going, because I heard there are kittens running around and I’m terrified of standing on one in the dark. I don’t see any but, as I approach the door and finally look up, I jump out of my skin when I realise there is a man standing there.
‘Oh, James, thank God it’s just you,’ I say through a sigh of relief.
‘Look at you, all dressed up,’ he says. ‘Been anywhere nice?’
‘Yeah, to Andrea’s parents’ restaurant,’ I reply. ‘The food was amazing.’
‘Where is he?’ James asks bluntly.
‘Andrea?’ I reply.
Of course he means Andrea; I’m just stalling for time.
‘Yeah,’ he replies.
‘He’s already inside,’ I lie. ‘I said I’d catch him up – I was looking for the kittens.’
‘Oh, screw the kittens,’ James says, edging closer to me. ‘Were you looking for me? Hoping you might bump into me?’
‘You’re an egomaniac,’ I tease him. ‘I was looking for cats – not a dog.’
‘Ouch,’ he practically growls, stopping me in my tracks. ‘Listen, I’ll let you get back to your man, but first – and this is work, so listen closely – I’m hosting a dinner, in my apartment, tomorrow night. No boss, no assistant, no partners. Just the people I want on my team, for Come a Casa. I don’t think you’ll be surprised to hear that I want you.’
God, I know he’s talking about work, but the number of times I’ve dreamt of hearing him say those words to me.
‘I don’t blame you,’ I reply. ‘I’m practically our Italy expert. Sometimes I feel like I might have some Italian in me.’
Okay, okay, okay, I did not mean that like that , but that’s how James has taken it.
I need to call it a night now, while I’m coming out on top.
‘Sounds like a plan, though,’ I say. ‘If we survive the team-building – which we have to be up early for. I’d better get myself to bed.’
‘It’s still a bit early for sleep, isn’t it?’ he replies.
‘Who said anything about sleep?’ I say in a breathy voice. ‘Good night.’
I don’t want to see what his reaction is; instead, I head inside – where I will be getting in bed alone (and having to sleep with the patio doors closed, in case James tries to pay me another visit).
All in all, though, I feel like it’s been a good day.
Let’s see what tomorrow brings.