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How can I possibly describe this?
“There’s no way I can put what I’m seeing into words.”
“You’re in Montreux?”
“Yep, just woke up. Enzo said I’d probably be up early with jet lag, but yesterday was such a long day that I actually slept in a little.”
“So what exactly are you seeing?”
I take a sip of coffee and prop my legs up on the chair across from me.
“It’s unbelievable. Like if we took our lake, made it bigger and bluer and surrounded it with snowcapped mountains. And French-looking buildings. Look.” I turn my phone around so she can see it.
“Oh wow, that’s beautiful. So they speak French where you are now?”
I turn the phone back to face me, remembering everything Enzo told me about Switzerland on the plane.
“Actually, they speak four different languages. I’m in a French-speaking canton now, but in other areas they speak German. And most also know English. The fourth is Romansh, but apparently that’s dying out. It’s incredible, but I feel so . . . ignorant. Just knowing English.”
“You can learn French, or any other language you want.”
“But who would I talk to?”
“Hold on a sec.”
A muffled sound reminds me she’s at the shop. When she comes back, I tell her about yesterday—the amazing flight I didn’t want to leave, the dinner with Enzo’s business partners, the hotel.
“So what’s on the agenda today?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. Enzo says Montreux is a great walking town with lots of shops, so I’ll probably wander around a little. He’ll be done with his meetings by lunch, and then I guess he has some big things planned.”
Mom sighs. And I get it. This really is like a fairy tale or a TV show or something that should be happening to someone else, but it’s happening to me, and I plan on enjoying every minute.
“Will that be all?”
She’s talking to a customer.
“You go ahead,” I say. “I just wanted to check in.”
“OK, have fun today. Love you.”
“Love you too,” I say, hanging up. I mess around on my phone for a few minutes, checking email and social media, but that view calls to me. Coffee in hand, I step back out onto the balcony to savor it some more, and to maybe take a few pictures for Lisa and Devon.
Unbelievable.
So this is how the other half live? It’s exciting—exhilarating, even—but it’s also a bit intimidating. I’ve been hanging so far, but there are definitely times I feel way out of my league. At the restaurant in New York. In first class on the plane. Last night at dinner with all the suits.
I feel like an elementary school teacher playing grown-up. Can I really hang with Enzo’s crowd tomorrow? Or in general? His new life is so different from my own, and I’m not sure I can achieve the same equanimity with which he approaches it.
But I decide it’s time to stop agonizing and start exploring. Before long, Enzo will be back. And tonight . . .
It’s finally time.
21
Enzo
Though the meeting with our supplier went longer than I anticipated, everything seems to be in order for tomorrow’s official launch. Thankfully, this isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve been to Switzerland a handful of times. The house Hayden’s parents own is in Lugano, just a few hours south of Montreux, and they’re actually dual citizens. Naturally, when we started discussing our plan for rolling out Angel in Europe, Switzerland made the top of our list.
