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Chapter Seventeen
‘It is all arranged,’ said Lorenzo as he walked into the living room and put his phone in his pocket.
‘What is?’
‘This weekend. I am taking you toFirenze. You have been sad since the client end his contract last week. I do not like to see you like this. You need some rest. And some fun. Time away from thinking about work.’
I sighed, considering how I was going to let him down gently. ‘That’s really sweet of you darling, but with all the stuff going on with the business, I can’t. What kind of message will I be sending the team if I just go swanning off to Florence for the weekend?’
‘You may not realise, but you just say very important word:weekend. The weekend is when normal people who work in office take time to rest. We go on Friday, so it will just be one day off. You will be back on Sunday and ready to work again on Monday.’
I heard what he was saying, but thisreallywasn’t a good time.
Since that nightmare, I’d been trying to reach Viktor on the phone, but he wouldn’t take my calls or reply to my emails. Worse still, he was trying to wriggle out of their contract. There was no way he could just up and leave without at least honouring the notice period. We needed the fees for a start.
I’d even offered to meet Viktor in London when he was over. Hell, I’d consider flying to bloody Canada if I had to. Desperate times called for desperate measures. And to top it all off, although she was back at work again now, Robyn had called in sick again last week.
Ugh. It was too much.
‘Sounds nice in theory, but weekend or not, I should be working on a plan. Looking for new clients to replace Purity.’
‘One weekend away will make you feel better. You will be fresher. It will help you make better decisions,sì?’
‘It just feels irresponsible. Maybe I should go to London instead. Check on things properly. And then when everything with the business is under control again, maybe I can take an hour off or something to see my family or have a catch-up with Bella and Roxy. I miss them.’
‘I know you do. Is not easy to be away from them, but one-hour break is not enough,amore. You need more time to relax. I cannot tell you how you run your business, but you have video call with all the managers, no? And you speak with the money man and everything is okay, so you can have one weekend for yourself? We are in Italy. Is time to enjoyla dolce vita, sì? Remember, life is not all about work. Specially not now…’
Those words stopped me in my tracks. They reminded me of Albert’s warning about happiness and love being more important. Lorenzo was right. If I wasn’t careful, I’d slip back into my old ways. Working weekends, being stressed and focusing on the business rather than enjoying life. I couldn’t let that happen. Especially now I had my two boys. Yes, I did have to fix things with the business, but like Lorenzo said, I’d had a long video call with the managers and the entire team after the Viktor incident and I’d stressed the importance of making an extra effort with clients. I’d told Robyn I needed updates every other day instead of just weekly. I’d also gone through our accounts with my financial director. We had a small buffer, so would be okay for a few months. But after that, things would start getting really tight. We couldn’t afford any more fuck-ups.
Hmmm.
I supposed Icouldconsider taking a couple of days off. If anyone needed to get in touch on Friday, I’d have my phone with me. It wasn’t like I’d be going to Timbuktu or somewhere with no reception.
‘Well, it would be nice for us to have a weekend away as a family.’
‘No, no, no.’ Lorenzo waved his finger. ‘This is not family weekend. This is time foryouto relax and enjoy yourself without worry about work or Leo. Mamma will take care of him.’
Oh jeez. I didn’t know aboutthat. Being away from him for three days? Giving Marta seventy-two hours of access? She’d completely screw up his routine.
‘I don’t know…’
‘Sophia.’ He rested his hands on my shoulders. ‘You know I like that you are strong, independent woman. That you make your own decisions,sì?’
‘Yes…’ I sensed there was abutcoming…
‘But, this time, I cannot take no for answer. Youneedthis.Weneed this. Will be good for you. Good forus. So please. Let me take you toFirenze.’
When he put it like that, how could I refuse? As much as I thought Marta wouldn’t stick to the schedule, Lorenzo was Leo’s father, so it couldn’t always be about whatIwanted. Sometimes I had to compromise. It would make Lorenzo happy if Leo spent time with his grandmother. I had to also remember that as well as being a mum, I was also a girlfriend and itwouldbe good for us to have some time away as a couple. This would be a chance for us to spend quality time together and be in a different environment. Somewhere more exciting.
‘Okay… maybe we could do with a break.’
‘Fantastico!’ Lorenzo picked me up and spun me around. ‘You will have anamazingtime, trust me.’
I couldn’t lie. The more I thought about taking time out, the more I started warming to the idea. And it was really kind of him to organise it all. With all the firefighting I was doing right now, it would be something nice to look forward to.
‘I’ll get Leo ready for bed,’ I said as Lorenzo put me back down.
‘Is okay. I will do it. I have made you a bath so you can relax tonight.’
