‘Treats?’ I frowned.
‘Sometimes it was my favouritechausson aux pommespastry, other times we’d have some fun in the shower or go back to bed and?—’
‘Gabriel does not want to hear about what we do after our runs.’ Nico tried to suppress a smile.
‘Sorry!’ Cassie grinned. ‘The point is that things felt suffocating with your ex because you were with the wrong person. But with therightperson, everything will be different.’
‘This is easy for you to say because you found your soulmate,’ I countered. ‘But that is rare.’
‘I understand,’ Nico said. ‘Before Cassie, I also found it difficult to meet a woman who understood the long hours that I had to work to become successful. And when that success came, it was a challenge to find someone who was not just interested in my money.’
‘Absolument.’ I nodded my agreement.
Naturally my ex got back in touch when she heard my business had taken off, but I was not interested. I knew that when she found someone richer, she would not hesitate to trade me in again.
‘It’s a shame all of my besties back in London are all loved up!’ Cassie said. ‘They’d snap you up otherwise. Actually, wait.’ She turned to Nico. ‘Have you told Gabriel about your new venture? Y’know, the hotel?’
‘Ah,oui!’ Nico’s face lit up like Cassie had just thought of a great idea. ‘I have invested in the Love Hotel. You have heard of it?’
‘No.’ I scrubbed my jaw.
‘It’s a luxury matchmaking hotel where you’re basically guaranteed to find your soulmate,’ Cassie said. ‘They have resorts in Spain, Jamaica, Italy and California. They opened one right here in Paris a few months ago and will be opening another one in the South of France next month. You’ve been single for over a year, right?’
‘Oui.’
‘Then you should apply!’
‘Bonne idée,’ Nico said in agreement.
‘I do not think that is for me.’ I rubbed the back of my neck and prepared myself to explain that I had no interest in meeting anyone.
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, happy to have a distraction. That was until I saw that it was a missed call from my mother.
She called again and my stomach tensed.
I knew she just wanted to find out if I had contacted Sybille. It did not matter that we had broken up almost two years ago, or how many times I told her that we would not be getting back together, my mother would not listen.
‘Do you need to get that?’ Nico asked.
‘Non.’ I shook my head. ‘It is just my mother asking me when I will be providing her first grandchild.’
‘Ouch,’ Cassie said.
A text flashed up on my screen. Although my mother was French like me, she always messaged and spoke to me in English. Except when she was angry.
Mother
Photos from our celebration of Laila’s freedom today. Kisses xx
Two photos flashed up. One of my mother with her neighbours, Marjorie and a lady whose name I could not remember standing beside the woman whose name I couldneverforget:Laila.
It had been years since I had seen her in person.
When I fell out with my mother and refused to visit her in London, one of the things I missed the most was the conversations I used to have with Laila.
The last time I saw her was before I decided to leave university andMon Dieu, she was still as beautiful as I remembered: sparkling chocolate-brown eyes, pretty dark braided hair, warm brown skin and a body that I dreamt of more than I should have.
I had a major crush on Laila from the moment my mother introduced us. But I knew that nothing would ever happen. Not just because she was best friends with my mother and lived in London, whilst I was here in France, but because I knew that she would never be interested in someone my age.
