Chapter 26
SAMMIE
There was something wrong with my feet.
For the last five minutes I’d been telling myself that I needed to stop staring into Romeo’s ridiculously beautiful eyes and get my arse to my room and away from temptation. But here I was, my feet still rooted to the ground like they were covered in concrete.
And I could tell I was staring at him with heart eyes.
I couldn’t be arsed to crack a joke or pretend that I didn’t like him any more. I didn’t know if I’d ever been so drawn to someone before in my life.
He was already ahead of the game because of his looks, but these past few days, the more I’d got to know him, the more I’d realised he was a good guy too.
But it didn’t matter how much I liked him, nothing could happen.
Life was so unfair sometimes.
‘I… I should go,’ Romeo said as he took a few steps towards reception.
‘Yeah. Me too. Er, see you tomorrow and grazie mille again!’
As I shot off towards my room, I winced. I’d gone from rooted to the spot to running away like my feet were on fire in the space of twenty seconds.
Once I was in my room, I flopped onto the bed.
What the hell was I going to do? This was an impossible situation.
I pulled out my phone and jumped up with relief when I saw that Stella had messaged half an hour ago.
Without missing a beat, I clicked the call button.
‘Hey, Sammie!’ she answered. ‘How’s it going?’
‘Bad, but good, but… aaargghhh! I’m so confused! I fancy my Love Alchemist,’ I blurted out. I needed to tell someone or my head was gonna explode.
‘Shit. And still no word from Edward the idiot?’
‘Not a bean. It’s so unfair! Edward isn’t even here and clearly doesn’t give a fuck about me, but I’m feeling the sparks with someone that I really like and I can’t do anything about it. And the thing that makes it harder is that I think there’s a chance that Romeo feels something too.’
I was gutted. Most people would say fuck Edward and the rules, but I had to do the right thing.
‘Yeah? What makes you think he’s interested?’
‘Well, he laughs at my jokes.’
‘I laugh at them too!’ Stella chuckled.
‘God bless you, sweetie! I mean, he laughs at them, but it’s the way that he looks at me when he does. Like he thinks I’m amazing. He even said I was the funniest woman he’d met. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking.’
The more I thought about it, the less sure I became. Guys had told me they found me funny before, usually before they friend-zoned me…
‘Forget I mentioned it. I’m just fantasising, because I’m crushing hard on him. In my defence, the man is a freaking smokeshow. No. He’s an inferno. He’s a blaze of hotness. He’s like… you know how much I love Nando’s Peri Peri chicken?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Well, take the extra-hot sauce, multiply it by a million and that’s about 10 per cent of how hot he is.’
‘Damn.’
‘But it’s not just about his looks. He’s really easy to talk to.
He’s kind and caring. He loves dogs – he was upset about his dog being ill when I arrived at the hotel – that’s why he was so grumpy.
And he’s super close to his mum. And he does pottery !
And he’s got great banter. And… Oh, God. I’ve got it bad !’
‘Sounds like you like him a lot.’
‘I really do. And even though Edward has made no attempt to contact me since he pissed off, I still feel bad for thinking about how much I fancy Romeo because I feel like I should only be thinking about my match. That’s why I used all my savings to come here.
Because I wanted to find my Mr Right, not fall for another Mr Wrong. ’
‘I’m not gonna lie, even though I can tell you’re really into Romeo, the odds are stacked against you.
Not only is he your Love Alchemist, he lives in another country.
At least with Max, we were both still based in London.
Same for Jasmine and Alejandro. They both lived in Spain, but long-distance relationships… ’
‘I know. They don’t all turn out like my parents’.’
My dad was an American studying in London when he’d met Mum. They faced challenges like coming from different countries and some ignorance from small-minded haters (Dad was black and Mum was white), but they overcame it all because they were in love.
Even though it worked out for them, I’d tried the whole long-distance thing in my twenties and it was a disaster.
‘So what do we know about Edward? Have the hotel really heard nothing from him?’
‘Nope. Nada .’
‘Have you done any online snooping?’
‘I tried, but I couldn’t find him on socials. But his handle could be anything.’
‘Remind me of what you know about him.’
‘He’s called Edward Barclay, lives in Shoreditch, works for a computer software company, used to date a woman whose name I can’t remember but it’s something to do with wine, likes the gym and healthy eating. That’s about it.’
‘We should do some digging. There must be a way to reach him to get closure. We need to know if he’s coming back.
I’m not saying it’s a good idea to pursue anything with Romeo, but I haven’t heard you so enthusiastic about a guy since…
ever. So even if there’s a 1 per cent chance you could be happy with him, you should at least be free to consider it.
Until you hear from Edward, you can’t move on. ’
‘You’re right. I’m sure the hotel would have his work details. Obviously, they couldn’t pass that onto me, but surely they could call his office or something, right?’
‘Exactly,’ Stella said. ‘And in the meantime, we should do our own research. He must have a digital footprint somewhere .’
‘Yep,’ I said, suddenly feeling more optimistic. ‘I bet he has a page showing off how good he is at calorie counting. Our next activity isn’t until tomorrow evening, so I’ll have all day to do some sleuthing by the pool. If Edward’s online, I’m gonna find him and finally get some answers.’