My Italian Heart

Chapter Seventeen

The joiner left me to get on and it wasn’t long before he got in his van and left. With his job finished, it wasn’t like I would ever see him again. Despite me still wearing his overalls. He didn’t even mention it as he left. I guessed he must have tonnes of them.

I stayed at the house and painted until the early hours. Getting the whole room finished. I stood there and looked at my handy work, proud of myself for doing something positive even in the mood I was in.

I purposely waited at the house until I was sure most of my house would be sound asleep before I headed back. Parking in my usual spot and sitting there for a moment. Taking some deep breaths before I could will myself to get out of the car. Working myself up had been for nothing because when I opened the front door, it was clear that everyone was already upstairs in bed.

Heading straight up to my room and shrugging out of the overalls that I had been forced to wear home. It turned out that the joiner had gone to the effort of soaking my jacket for me. I couldn’t help but remark how sweet of him it was, even if I was slightly annoyed at not being able to wear my own clothes home.

I slung on an old oversized tee and climbed into bed, lifting the duvet all the way up to my chin. Despite the time, it was still warm outside, but I needed the comfort. I just felt so alone.

Hearing the door to my room open, I squeezed my eyes shut. I still wasn’t in the mood to talk, and the only person who would be coming in so late was Em. She never said a word, not even attempting to see if I was awake or not. Instead, she pulled the duvet back and climbed in beside me. Shovelling back until her back was against mine. Just like that, I was no longer alone.

I couldn’t sleep, but at least she was there by my side. I hoped she always would be, even though I knew it wasn’t possible. In my heart, I knew that George would come back and make things right between them. He was a smart bloke and he would realise how much of a diamond Em was. When that time came, she would leave us, leave me. I knew she wouldn’t be far, but she wouldn’t be close enough to climb into bed with me when I needed comforting.

I knew I was being selfish, and I had no right to be, not after what I had done. All that mattered was that Em was happy and I should have been able to be happy for her. I squeezed my eyes shut, needing some respite from the pity party I was throwing.

When I opened my eyes again, it didn’t feel like I had even been to sleep. I must have dozed off because Emily was no longer next to me in bed. I felt so foggy and exhausted. Nevertheless, I had no choice but to drag myself out of bed. I chucked on a pair of joggers and a simple plain tee. The day before, I might have made an effort to make myself look good for David’s benefit, but I had no energy for that anymore.

I cursed myself slightly as I remembered my dinner meeting with Mr Larson. Knowing I would have to come back and get changed later only made me feel more exhausted. I grabbed my phone and my keys, but left everything else behind. Shoving them in my pocket and trying to drag my hair up into a bun as I made my way down the stairs. Stopping dead halfway down. The house was silent, more silent than I had ever really known it. It meant only one thing: I was late, really late. “f**k!”

I picked up my pace and headed straight into the kitchen to grab a coffee to take with me, but there was none left. “Double f**k!”

“Language!”

“Sorry, Mamma. I’m late.”

“That’s no excuse. You are supposed to be a young lady.”

“Yes, Mamma.” I had no idea where she was admonishing me from, but it didn’t matter. I headed straight out the kitchen door and picked up the pace further. Jogging slightly as I headed down to the warehouse. I looked awful. There was no coffee, and I was gonna turn up a sweaty mess. I was hoping the day wouldn’t get any worse.

I didn’t even know what time it was until I burst into my office and was confronted by David and the clock on the wall. It’s ticking, almost accusing me of being irresponsible. The look on David’s face didn’t help, either. “I am allowed to have a lie in every so often, you know?”

“I never said a word.”

“No, your face said it for you.”

“I’m sorry, Aurora. I really don’t want to argue with you.”

“If that was true, you would hurry up and get on a plane back to England and leave me alone.” He looked down at the ground and it just angered me further. He was behaving like I was live ordinance about to go off and I was, but that didn’t give him any right to look at me like that. I wasn’t being unreasonable, not really. Except I was, and I knew it.

Feeling slightly silly, I headed to my desk and dropped down on my seat. There were several messages on sticky notes stuck around my computer screen. “Who’s Adam?”

“I have no idea. I assumed you would know.” I thought back through the recesses of my mind, but I couldn’t place the name. At least whoever Adam was, he had left a phone number. I quickly dialed it into my phone and waited as it rang a few times.

“Hello.”

“Adam, this is Aurora at Mantovani Wines. I had a message to give you a ring.”

“Hey, I wasn’t expecting you to get back to me so quickly.”

“Well, I do try.” I was hoping he would drop some sort of clue about who he was, so I didn’t have to be rude and ask him.

“I know yesterday you were busy, but I thought you might have time to get a drink with me. Something stronger than coffee this time.” I was completely dumbfounded and kept searching my mind for which client I had been for coffee with recently. “I could grab my overalls too while I’m at it.” Then it hit home.

“Yes, I am still very grateful for you loaning me them. Thank you for putting my top in water to soak too. I must admit I don’t make the habit of being undressed on a work site.” David looked up from whatever paperwork he was studying, and I had to stop myself from laughing at the look of horror on his face. It was wrong of me to word it that way, knowing I would get a reaction out of him, but it felt good. “How did you get my number?”

“I had it from when you booked the job in.”

“Ah, yes, that makes more sense. For a second, I thought you might be stalking me.” My laugh was a little too loud and a little too flirty, and I chastised myself again for being quite so immature. “Drinks sounds great. I’ll message you and set up a time and place. Thanks again, Adam, it was really sweet of you to look out for me.”

“No worries. My mother raised a gentleman or so she keeps telling me.”

“Oh, you have one of those mothers too?”

“Yep. Right, I had best get back to work. Hopefully, I will hear from you later.”

“Absolutely. It might be late, though. I’ve got a dinner tonight. Bye Adam.”

“Bye Aurora.” I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke, and it reminded me of the way he had been so happy in his work at Luca’s. Placing the phone back down, I smiled to myself for a second before turning my attention back to work.

David was still looking at me, as though he was trying to figure out a puzzle that had him stumped. “Can I help you David?”

“No, just dinner tonight, drinks another night.”

“And?”

“Nothing. I’m going to get lunch.”

“Do as you please. I am not your keeper and you are not mine.” I knew the look of disapproval on his face well, but he could kiss my ass. I wasn’t the one that broke things off. He said he wanted me to have a life. He couldn’t then complain when I got one.

I tried to get on with work, but I couldn’t focus on anything but thoughts of David. I kept clock-watching, wondering when he would come back. About an hour and a half later, I heard footsteps on the metal stairs that led up to the office and thought it must be him, but it wasn’t. Emily bobbed in, grabbed a file, then left again with just a quick nod and a reassuring smile.

I thought about asking her if she knew where David was, but thought better of it. I knew I needed to try to get him out of my mind, but it felt so impossible. I was almost starting to hate him for the pathetic woman he was turning me into. Except I didn’t hate him, I loved him and there was nothing good going to come from my feelings.