‘Boring!’ she replied.
Laila was clearly drunk. And knowing that it was because of my mother made anger bubble in my chest.
I was not ready for Laila to leave. I had enjoyed finding out more about her tonight.
When she shared things about herself, there was so much more that I wanted to say, but I did not.
I wanted to tell her that one of the other reasons that I enjoyed watchingColumbo, just like she did, was because I found it relatable. Not the detective part, of course, more the fact that just like Columbo, people underestimated me. My mother, my teachers, many of my friends. I could count on one hand the few people who helped and believed in me.
Just like Columbo always solved his cases, I always believed that I would become a success if I persevered and I was right.
That is why I also watched documentaries and read non-fiction books: for inspiration. I enjoyed reading about other people’s success stories and how they made the impossible possible. I wanted to learn from them. Not just about how they made money, but also how they learnt to be resilient and deal with setbacks.
Perhaps that was another reason I was attracted to Laila. Although she did not believe it, she was strong and resilient. Life had not been easy for her, but despite the challenges, she did not complain or run away from her responsibilities, she worked hard to overcome them.
And if her strength and beauty was not enough, now I had learnt that she gave up the little free time that she had to help other women who had been in a similar situation that she had.
If she wanted me not to like her as she insisted, she really should not have shared that with me. It only made her more appealing.
I also wanted to tell Laila that volunteering was something that I wanted to do. But I stopped myself because perhaps that was premature. I needed to think about my next venture. And although it would be easier to start this business than it was with my first because I had more experience and money in the bank, it would still take up a lot of time.
There was also the chance that Laila would have asked more questions about my app and I was trying to avoid talking about that.
Whilst I appreciated the fact that she was interested in my progress, I was enjoying this period of ‘anonymity’ with her when it came to my career, and I wanted to stay in this comfortable bubble for a little longer.
I was glad that at least the hotel had been discreet. I was sure that the management must know about my circumstances but if the Love Alchemists knew, they had not mentioned it, which I appreciated.
But I had to tell her at some point. Hopefully she would stay long enough for me to get the chance.
I took a deep breath to try and calm myself down, then laid out the photos from the trip to Notre-Dame in front of us on the bar.
‘Which ones do you like?’
‘They’re a bit stiff!’ she said, grimacing a little. ‘Where are the funny ones?’
They were all selfies of us standing several inches apart in front of the famous cathedral.
When we had got in the car to the Notre-Dame, Laila had reminded me that we had to keep our distance so we could only go to the required location, then leave.
‘You said it would not be appropriate to stand close together or take any funny photos, remember?’
Laila frowned like she was trying to think.
‘Oh yeah, so that your mum wouldn’t think I was trying to jump your bones. Nearly did that on the boat earlier though, didn’t I?’ She picked up her drink and drained it dry.
I would be lying if I said that I was not disappointed when we did not kiss. It was something I had dreamt about doing for years and I thought that finally it was about to become a reality.
On reflection, it was not a bad thing. When Laila kissed me for the first time, I wanted her to want it just as much as I did.
I wanted her to crave me like someone drowning craves oxygen.
Because that was the way I felt about her.
That was how much I’d always wanted to kiss her.
And notice that I saidwhenLaila kissed me for the first time.
Notif.
