AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Seven
It was only 9.20 a.m. on Monday morning and my relaxing weekend—well, the part up until the cringey attempt to relight the fire in the bedroom—already felt like a lifetime ago.
Yesterday, after I’d fled to the bathroom, at first, I’d sat there feeling sorry for myself. I was so disappointed. I was gutted that I couldn’t even manage to have sex. Something I’d been doing since I was a teenager. But then Reasanna piped up and helped me to see sense.
Come on, Soph, she’d said.Stop being so hard on yourself. It was your first time after having Leo. Your body has been through a lot. After pushing another human out, sex is bound to be painful. Even after six months. Especially considering you jumped into it literally minutes after being on the bed. Maybe take things slower next time, get your body properly ready. And if you don’t have KY Jelly, use coconut oil or something. You had plenty of that. And look on the bright side: you had sex and Lorenzo is still alive. You didn’t swallow him whole. He didn’t disappear inside you like you feared. Don’t give up.
She was right. It was a setback, yes, but I’d overcome it. I’d unlocked the door and gone to the bedroom, and Lorenzo and I had laid on the bed in silence. He’d just held me and stroked my face. I was glad, because I hadn’t felt like talking or analysing what had happened anymore. Even though I’d decided we would try again at some point, at that moment it was too painful. Not just mentally, but physically too. I was still sore today.
When Marta turned up, I decided to go and open the door. I meant what I’d said before. I wanted to make an effort and say thank you. I didn’t get much of an acknowledgement back, butwhatever. I’d tried.
It was great to see Leo again. But he’d been a bit fussy with his milk. I’d made up a bottle for him, but he didn’t seem to want it. I figured maybe he was full, as Marta said she’d fed him not long before she dropped him off. But then he was funny again this morning. I planned to start him on solids today, so we’d see how that went.
Right now he was having a nap. I’d missed his lovely face. He looked so adorable when he was sleeping. His chest rising and falling, his chubby cheeks and long dark eyelashes. He’d only been on the planet a few months and they were already longer than mine.So not fair.Leo was wearing a cute ‘I’m not crying, I’m just ordering dinner’ sleep suit that Lorenzo had found online. I quickly snapped a few photos to send to him. I knew that would brighten up his day.
Anyway, now he was resting, it was time to check my emails. I’d been good. I hadn’t looked at them since last Thursday, so four whole days. I felt better for it too.
I fired up my computer.
Only sixty-seven.Not too bad. When I was running the agency full-time, I could easily get double that in a day. I started scrolling through. Some were just messages I’d been cc’d into from the team to keep me in the loop.
One popped up fromPR Update, a top industry magazine.She’s doing well. I opened it up to see a large photo of Rhonda Jones. I clicked on the link to read the interview on their website.
I’d known Rhonda for over a decade. She’d interned with me for a few months one summer when she was just starting her career, and even then I could tell she’d become a big player in the industry someday. Not long after she’d finished working with me, Rhonda had decided to move to New York, and after several years climbing the ladder and building her contacts, she’d opened her own agency. I bumped into her at big events or conferences every now and then and we’d always got on.
I skimmed the feature quickly. Rhonda was talking about her plans to open an office in London or Paris. Didn’t surprise me. She’d always been ambitious. I supposed that meant more competition for us, especially as she had a good reputation, but so did we. Plus, I had a lot more experience and even though Purity had dumped us, our client list was still strong. We’d be fine.Yep. Nothing to worry about…
Anyway, mustn’t get distracted. I’d read the article properly another time. I still had a lot to get through before Leo’s next feed.
I clicked back to my inbox and continued scrolling.
More client emails. I hope Robyn hadn’t cancelled more meetings.
What the…?
My heart sank.
Not another one.
And another?
‘No, no, no!’ I jumped up.
Thiscouldn’tbe happening.
If only these emails were just about meetings being cancelled.I should be so lucky.
Not one buttwoclients had emailed to terminate their contracts.
Not small ones, either. Two more of the biggest.
Oh God.
Losing Purity was already terrible. Butthreelarge clients in a couple of weeks? That was catastrophic.
I put my hands on my head.
How the hell could the business survive this?
