Chapter 15
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
TESSA
“Carmichael?”
A warm hand touches my cheek. I push my face against it, liking the way my jaw fits into his palm.
“Wake up,” Linc says. I open my eyes right away. He’s kneeling on the bed, his face inches from mine.
And he’s fully dressed. Wearing a white shirt and a gray and navy striped tie. It’s perfectly knotted. I can smell the aroma of his shower gel. I know it well because I might have used it on myself.
“What time is it?” I ask, my voice groggy. There’s the palest of sunlight creeping through the gaps in the curtains. Did he close them? I’m sure they were open last night because the moon was shining in.
“It’s six,” he says. His voice is low and even.
“The presentation isn’t until nine,” I say. “Why are you dressed?”
“I have to leave.”
His words are like a bucket of cold water on my face. I sit up, holding the sheets to my chest because I feel so damn naked next to him.
“Where are you going? When will you be back? We have the presentation in a few hours?”
“Paris,” he tells me. “The trouble I thought I’d sorted yesterday has escalated. The press has gotten hold of it. Roman needs me to fly in today.”
“But the presentation…” I say again.
He runs his thumb along my jaw. “You’ve got the presentation,” he says. “It was always yours. You can do this, Carmichael. You don’t need me hanging around.”
Yes, actually I do. I do need him. “What time is your flight?”
“Gotta leave in ten minutes.”
“Why didn’t you wake me earlier?” He must have gotten the call at least an hour ago. He would’ve had to arrange his flights, his transfer, and somebody to drive him to the airport.
“Because one of us should get some sleep.” He leans forward to brush his lips against mine and I’m confused. “I’m sorry,” he whispers.
There’s an invisible wall coming up between us. I can feel him building it, brick by brick. And I want to laugh, because I’m the expert at walls. I always thought it would be me ending this.
Not Linc. Not him.
I want to cry. Because despite my misgivings I’ve had the best time here with him. He makes everything come to life, brings it into glorious color. And I realize that for the past couple of years I’ve been living in black and white.
I’ve changed. Even in a few days. Thanks to him.
His phone buzzes. “That’s my car.” He kisses me again. “I’ll call you when I get to Paris.”
“When will you be back in New York?” As soon as the words come out I hate them. I sound so stupidly needy and I hate that. I’m not a needy person .
“I have to fly straight to Vegas after Paris,” he says. “But soon. I’ll call you.”
I nod as his phone buzzes again. He presses his lips to my brow. “You’re beautiful and you’re amazing,” he tells me. “You’ll ace the presentation.”
And just like that he leaves. And I’m laying naked in the bed, the sensation of him being inside of me already feeling like a distant memory.
My head starts to pound. And though it’s only six, I decide to take a shower and spend the morning working on the presentation. I need to adapt the parts Linc was going to take the lead on.
Because he won’t be here.
Less than three hours later I find myself walking to the business suite alone. James Gold and his team are waiting for me in the meeting room, and I shake each of their hands, giving Linc’s apologies, though it appears he’s already messaged James.
And then I open up my PowerPoint slides. I’ve practiced this presentation so many times I know it by heart. The adrenaline helps, pushing me through almost on autopilot. It’s a relief when I hit play on the final video and let it run.
It’s the mock up we’ve made with some influencers. If we get the go-ahead, we’ll fly them into the resort and spend a few days taking social media videos and stills. Better ones than I’ve been able to mock up while we’ve been here. We’ll have traditional media there, too. I have a lot of contacts with travel writers. Liaising with them is part of my job.
The final wording comes up on the screen .
Gold Resort, Grand Exuma. The time is now. And it’s all yours…
I turn to look at Gold and his team. We’re sitting in the main business suite at the resort. It’s light and airy and the air conditioning is caressing my skin, keeping me cool.
There are smiles on their faces and I let out a long breath full of relief. “Do you have any questions?” I ask them, ready to answer whatever they have. And yes, apparently they do, because I end up talking for another twenty minutes before their inquiries run out and the room is silent.
“Well, I think you know we’re impressed,” Gold says. “Coming here was the right thing to do. You’ve really understood the essence of the place. It’s different, right?”
I smile and nod. “Yes, it is.” And that’s what I’m going to take away from this. That there is more to life than juggling work and home and renovations. That there’s a part of me that needs to be free.
No, I’m not running out on Zoe. She’s my absolute priority. But she’s getting older. One day she’s going to fly the coop and it will be just me.
I need to work out what kind of life it is that I want to live.
“Okay,” Gold says, clapping his hands together. “It’s a shame Salinger isn’t here, but he called to explain why. And I don’t think it will come as any surprise to tell you that Hampshire PR has hit it out of the park. I’m going to think on it, but right now you’re very much my preferred option.”
My airplane lands on the tarmac at JFK later that evening and I finally relax. People start to turn on their phones. I look at my own. There are a few messages. One from Zoe, asking me if I’ve landed yet – because we arrived ten minutes late. Another from Angela telling me that more people die on the toilet every year than on an airplane. I have no idea if this is true, but I laugh anyway.
And then Linc’s name comes up on the screen. I’m stupidly excited to see it, in a way that is so unlike me.
I press my finger on the screen and open it up.
Glad it went well. L x
I stare at it for a moment. I’d sent him a message after the presentation to let him know that it went well with Gold and that we should hear back from his team within a week.
But then I had to hurry to catch my flight to Nassau and didn’t hear back from him until now.
And if I’m honest, I’m disappointed.
I don’t know what I was expecting. Not a declaration of love or anything, that’s for sure. But maybe thanks for a great trip. Or great sex.
Maybe part of me was even hoping he’d send me some dirty texts.
But seriously, is that what I want? This week has been fun. More than that, it’s what I needed. But I can’t see how any of this would work when we’re back in the real world.
I don’t think he’d want it to anyway.
The seatbelt sign goes off and everybody stands and starts to gather their carry-ons from the overheads, jostling for a position to be the first ones off the plane. A child in the back starts to cry.
I slowly gather my things, as the pilot welcomes us to New York and tells us that it’s raining outside.
I guess that’s it. Exuma’s over.
It’s time to get back to real life.