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Chapter Thirty-Six
I’d been worrying about it all night. Thinking about what was going on with Marta and that woman. Why she’d been going there.
Part of me said not to overthink things. That it was completely innocent. That maybe Marta was just helping the woman out. Apparently her husband had left before her youngest daughter was born, so she was a single mum. Marta probably was doing her whole martyr Mother Teresa stuff and helping out with babysitting, as the woman also had two other kids under five to manage. God knows how she did that.
But the other part of me, my gut, sensed that Geli was spot on. Somethingwasn’tright. The annoying thing was, I hadn’t even had time to try and discuss it with Lorenzo or Marta earlier today because Rhonda had flown over to meet me in Florence.
We’d agreed on a figure and terms. If I’d pushed, I could have got more or looked for other buyers, but it wasn’t about that. Rhonda wanted to move quickly and doing this deal would give me my freedom, which was priceless. There would be no long tie-ins. Just a three-month consultancy role, covering my time if Rhonda needed my input to make the transition with clients and the team as smooth as possible.
Over the past few weeks our legal teams had been going through the paperwork, doing the relevant checks and drawing up various drafts of the contracts. This afternoon, Rhonda and I had gone through a few final sticking points, but in essence, the deal was agreed, and all being well, it would go through in a few days.
Surprisingly, we’d even finished early, so because Lorenzo couldn’t get away at that time, I’d got a train to the nearest station and was now in a taxi home. I needed to make a quick call.
‘Hi, Robyn, how you doing?’
‘Fine, thanks, Soph. How did the meeting go?’
‘Good. Really well. The deal will be going through any day now and I’ve spoken to Rhonda again about you and how important you are to the company and it’s all fine—you’re safe, so please don’t worry.’ I’d had a chat with Robyn before to let her know my intentions and to reassure her that she and the team would be taken care of. She said she understood, but I sensed that Robyn was still a bit nervous about her future.
‘I really appreciate that, Soph. That’s a weight off my mind. And congratulations!’
‘Thanks! Until it’s all signed and sealed, anything can happen, but I just wanted to keep you in the loop. Well done by the way on the great coverage recently. Especially that feature onVogue’s website yesterday.’
The team had been pushing hard to secure more editorial and it was paying off. The clients seemed much happier, which was exactly what I needed. Especially in light of the sale.
‘Yeah! We were really chuffed with that.’
‘So… have you given any more thought to what you might do after your maternity leave?’
‘Not really. To be honest, I’m just trying to get through the pregnancy.’
‘Yep. I remember those days. Look, like I said before, your job will be safe, so if you want to come back to it afterwards, then go for it. But just speaking as a friend and not your boss, don’t be like me and work yourself into the ground. It’s not worth it. You’ve got to take care of your health now and also when the baby comes. Remember, you’re young and smart so whether you stay at BeCome, which I’m sure everyone hopes you will, or you choose to do something else, there’s so much you can do with your life. Don’t think that having a child has to stop you, okay?’
‘Okay. Thanks, Soph.’
‘And if ever there’s anything you need, personally or professionally, just ask. You’re not alone.’
‘That really means a lot. I reckon I’m going to need loads of advice, especially on this motherhood stuff. I’m shitting myself.’
‘I’m no expert on that, I’m just figuring it out as I go along, but I’m happy to share what I’ve learnt or just offer an ear when you need someone to listen. Anyway, I better go. Speak soon.’
‘Speak soon. And thanks again for being so patient and looking out for me.’
‘No worries.’
I exhaled. I was glad we’d had that chat. I knew what Robyn was like. Apart from these past few months because of her sickness, which couldn’t be helped, like me, she was a perfectionist. I could already see her pushing herself to work long hours for Rhonda before she went on maternity leave, then trying to be a super mum and rush back to work once she’d had the baby. So just like Albert had helped me see the light, it was important that I paid it forward. I didn’t want Robyn to wake up one day like me and realise she could have been happier if she wasn’t so focused on work.
I looked at my watch.That’s good. It was approaching seven, so I’d be back in time to give Leo his bottle and put him to bed. And have a chat with Marta about this Claudia woman. Hopefully Lorenzo wouldn’t be far behind me, so he could always translate if she started saying she didn’t understand. I needed to get to the bottom of whatever this mystery was about as it was really bugging me.
As I closed the front door, Marta called out for Lorenzo. I walked down the hallway and saw a glimpse of light coming from Leo’s room. I pushed the door open. Marta was giving Leo his bottle. When she saw me, she jumped. Why was she looking so nervous?
‘I will feed him.’ I walked towards her. ‘Gli darò da mangiare.’ IthinkI said that right…
‘No, va bene.’ She smiled.
Hold on. Marta had just smiled at me. Something wasdefinitelywrong. She never did that. She quickly wrapped both of her hands tightly around Leo’s bottle, so I couldn’t see what was inside. I needed to play this smart. Because now I had some worrying thoughts running around in my head and I had to get my facts straight before I jumped to conclusions.
‘Bene.’ I smiled. I left the room and headed straight for the kitchen. I opened up the cupboard.FFS!She’d moved everything again. I’d have to speak to Lorenzo about this. She was taking the piss.
