Chapter 31 #2
‘But then I started to do more. So I got a couple of little restaurants, nothing fancy. And things kept building and building. I was getting more and more hands off, just organising things. Overseeing it all, I guess. It was kinda dull, but kinda exciting too because I was making good money. For a bit it was like I had the golden touch or something.’
Bella waited for him to continue.
‘But you know, I got kinda greedy too. I felt like I had something special. A good eye for business or whatever. So I began to invest in different things. Then last year I ended up putting a load of my money into this little start-up – two friends, nerdy dudes, starting their own software company. I thought I’d be able to retire once they launched their product. ’
‘But…?’
‘But here I am!’ He opened his arms as if illustrating. ‘The thing went bust and I lost thousands. Hundreds of thousands.’
The idea of losing so much made her go cold. ‘What did you do?’
‘I had to sell the cafés, most of my property – I had quite a good portfolio by then. Kept the Versailles house though, because of my grandma. Closed everything else down.’
‘Oh no!’
‘It’s OK,’ he shrugged. ‘I’ve got a couple of assets to tide me over. I’m doing OK, I guess. Looking to start again. Hardly a success story though.’
‘But it’s great you’re picking yourself back up.’
He grabbed a packet of sugar, ripped it open and emptied half into his coffee.
‘I wouldn’t say I’ve quite picked myself up yet.
’ His eyes had developed a sheen that threatened to become something more.
He wiped a hand roughly across his face.
‘Stupid fool. Split up with my wife too, did I tell you that?’
‘Oh. No.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Well, if she split with you because of money then she’s not wor—’
‘Nah. It was before. A mutual thing. We’d kinda grown apart. Probably my fault. But you know, even though we both wanted it, it still made me feel kinda… rejected.’
She gave him a sympathetic smile.
‘And I guess lonely?’ He looked at her. ‘That’s why I came to Versailles. Ah, I know I don’t exactly hang out with you guys, but it’s nice knowing someone else is in the house.’
She nodded. ‘I’m like that too. In Peyrat, you know, my old place. Sleeping there alone. It felt— I mean I’m more or less alone now too, but nearer people. It’s nice. I get it.’
‘You’ve got Henri, too.’
She made a face. ‘I guess.’
‘Can’t get over the cheating?’
‘Something like that.’
He tipped his cup to drink the last of his coffee. ‘I’m not sure why I told you all that,’ he admitted. ‘It makes me look like a bit of a loser.’
‘A loser? Have you met me?’
He smiled. ‘I love that about you.’
‘What?’
‘That you’re willing to say that stuff about yourself.
I don’t mean it’s cool to run yourself down.
I mean… I guess you’re humble. So many of the people I’ve worked with, they’re full of it, you know.
They think they’re Richard Branson or Jeff Bezos.
The next big thing. And they ain’t got shit.
And you…’ He looked at her and she almost had to turn away.
‘You’ve got the goods, Bella. But you’re modest.’
She made a play of opening the tiny ginger biscuit in its individual packet on her saucer. ‘It’s not modesty. I genuinely mean what I say about being out of my depth. In fact, I know I am.’
Brad shook his head. ‘But you’re not. Nah, sorry to say. But you’re the real deal.’ She looked up and saw his blue eyes fixed on her, full of warmth and kindness. The intensity of it made her feel out of her depth in a whole new way.
‘Brad,’ she leant forward, lowering her voice in case they were overheard. ‘I am literally only in my job because I exaggerated – lied even – on my CV. I have no idea what I’m doing.’
He reached up and tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
There was something tender in the movement.
His fingertips brushed her skin, and she felt a strange sense of recognition.
As if her body had been somehow waiting for his touch.
It was unlike anything she’d experienced before.
As if they’d always known each other. No longer out of her depth; more of a feeling of coming home. She tried to concentrate.
‘You can deflect all you like,’ he said. ‘But your ideas are pretty good. And you might not be… Isabella, corporate genius or whatever. But you did run your own place for eight years.’
She was momentarily silenced. Around them the café buzzed with noise, life, movement. But at their table, everything was quiet and still. ‘You think?’ she said at last.
‘Bella, if I were running a hotel, well, I’d be headhunting you immediately!’
‘As a cleaner?’
He laughed. ‘Yeah, as a bathroom cleaner, obviously.’
‘So, what are you going to do?’ she asked at last. ‘About your businesses, I mean? Get back into the café trade?’
He shrugged. ‘Not sure yet. I’ve got a bit to live off. I need to think about what I want.’
‘Sounds sensible.’
He looked at her, his blue eyes earnest. ‘I guess I’m still not being completely honest. It’s not just about what I want. It’s about… well, you know how it is when you’ve been burnt by something.’
She nodded.
‘See, when I made my investments before, I was young. Stupid maybe. Whatever it was stopped me from worrying about it too much. Now… well, I’m older.
The stakes are higher. I don’t want to lose again.
Can’t. So I kind of— I just can’t work out where to start.
And I’m not sure I’ve got it in me.’ He flushed, cleared his throat.
‘You’ll get there.’
He looked out of the window. ‘Anyway, there are worse places to lose your mind than Versailles, right? Fancy doing the tourist thing today?’
‘The tourist thing?’
‘Yeah. Ah, the others, they’re used to this place. But for us foreigners, it’s all new. Maybe we should forget hotels and divorces and lost investments and business chat and just go look at the palace. Pretend we’re on holiday, you know?’
Bella thought of Henri back at home. They had vague plans for tonight, but she’d earmarked the day to catch up with work, thinking it might take hours. But they’d done all they could for now, and it would feel great to step away.
‘Sure,’ she said, draining the rest of her cup. ‘Why not?’