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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Icertainly didn’t miss this.
As much as I hated being away from my friends and family and enjoyed the buzz of being in London, I definitely wasn’t loving running a business again full-time.
I’d been here four days now and had worked late every night. If I did this much longer, Leo would forget who I was.
Each night I’d tried to get back in time to give him his bath and put him to bed and each night I’d failed. I’d either been stuck in meetings or on phone calls. Trying to do everything I could to salvage this business so there was something left to sell.
Thankfully, I’d managed to persuade both clients to stay. But only for another six months, at which point they’d evaluate the results achieved. And I’d also had to agree to a reduction of their fees.
Speaking to them in person definitely helped. Seeing them face-to-face did, however, mean getting back into the whole full-on grooming routine. Having my hair done, facial, manicure, make-up and diving back into the designer clothes. What had happened with Purity Skincare (Viktor was still refusing to even talk to me to discuss their contract) had reinforced how shallow clients could be and how important appearances were to them, so I had to go all out. I couldn’t leave anything to chance.
After being away for so long, you’d think I’d be thrilled at the prospect of a marathon all-singing, all-dancing salon pampering session. Having freshly blow-dried, bouncy hair, immaculate nails and a full face of make-up. But actually, I didn’t enjoy it half as much as I used to.
I’d loved my massage in Florence and my beauty session with Geli, but that was different somehow. It was more for pleasure. For fun. But the oldgetting dolled up for clientsregime didn’t feel like me anymore. It felt fake. Forced. Staged. Like I was an actress playing a role.
And I also found the conversation really shallow. I mean, I know I probably yabbered on about Leo to most people I met, so my topic of choice was no better at times, but theirs was always all about what people were wearing and how they looked. Which of course,duh, was to be expected. Because that was what we were promoting: image. Beauty. But the truth was, I didn’t really care whether the coral, peach or apricot eyeshadow would look best on the model for the new ad campaign (can you believe I wasted half an hour of my life in a meeting whilst the client discussed this?Jesus). They all looked the same. I just couldn’t give a toss about that stuff anymore. I had different priorities.
Don’t get me wrong. I knew the power of a great haircut or how a lipstick could lift your mood. I still believed that talented hairdressers, beauty therapists and make-up artists were like magicians. They could make people feel so much better about themselves. But I just didn’t want that to be the focus of my life anymore. That conversation with Robyn had really brought it home to me. I saw everything more clearly now. That was it. I was done. Ready to move on.
And I wasn’t the only one. As much as he’d been trying to put on a brave face during our phone conversations, I’d thought Harrison didn’t seem like his normal self. After having a chat and probing him repeatedly, he finally admitted that he’d wanted to try a different career path for ages, but didn’t want to let me down. He knew how much I’d relied on him being here. Apparently, he was going to speak to me about it last year, but when I’d announced I was pregnant, he felt like he needed to stay.
He was still young—barely thirty-one—and I didn’t want to hold him back. It made me sad to think about all of the people who were staying in the business, making their lives unhappy, doing things they didn’t like, just because they didn’t want to let me down. I hated it. So this time, I was sticking to my decision. I was definitely going to sell the company.
Because I wanted to sell and leave the business quickly, I knew I wouldn’t get as much for it as I would have hoped, but I didn’t care. Sometimes you had to take a step back to take a step forward. My freedom, happiness and my conscience were worth a lot more.
I gave Leo a kiss goodnight, quickly sent a few cute photos Mum had taken of him today to Lorenzo and headed back to my house. I had an important breakfast meeting, so it would be easier to go from there. If Leo saw me when he woke up, he might not settle.
Time to relax and unwind. I poured myself a large G&T and took it up to my bedroom. My phone pinged.
It was Bella in the group chat. So ironic that they’d flown all the way to Italy to see me last week and now I was back in London. As it turned out, it was a good thing that they had, as Roxy was away at an exhibition in Birmingham this week with the beauty tools company she worked for, Bella was back teaching English full-time to foreign professionals working in the city and I was snowed under, so meeting up for a leisurely FTA session wouldn’t have been possible.
Bella
Hey, Soph. Just checking you’re okay?
Me
Hey! Sorry I’ve been a stranger. Have had zero time to message with all this work drama, but things are looking up. I’ve got something in the pipeline… will keep you posted. Anyway, just got home and now I’m chilling.
Bella
Brilliant! Glad to hear it.
Roxy
Evening, ladies!
Me
Hey, Rox—how’s the exhibition?
Roxy
Fab! Sales are going great
Roxy
