Giulia returns with a small bowl of olives and peppers. ‘How did you find the wine?’
‘Absolutely gorgeous, thank you,’ I reply.
She walks away.
‘Thought you had a lucky escape there?’ I ask.
Luc winces. ‘So close!’
I raise my eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. ‘You had a question about the tour? The arrangement, I guess?’
Giulia is back, two red wine glasses hanging upside down from her fingers. ‘You really loved the Pinot Grigio?’
‘Oh, it was beautiful,’ Luc smiles. ‘Very smooth – dry, but fruity at the same time.’
She nods knowingly. ‘It’s my favourite too.’ She pulls out another bottle from behind her back. ‘This one is a Chianti. Do you like red wine?’
‘Love it,’ Luc chokes out.
Giulia pours a small measure in the bottom of both glasses. ‘Enjoy,’ she smiles brightly and walks away.
I lift my glass and swirl the wine, bringing it up to my nose while it’s still spinning and inhaling deeply. I take a sip. My body feels heavy – a part of me doesn’t want Luc to say what he has to say, but the other half wants him to just get it over with. To hear what he has to say so I can start picking up the pieces to move on. I can’t understand why my body is reacting like this when this has always been the plan. When this is for the best. When it’ll either end now or later with a lot more pain.
Maybe it’s reminding me why this needs to be the plan.
Maybe it’s leftover anxiety from seeing the story online this morning. Of knowing the conversation I now need to have with Luc.
Luc sighs, not meeting my eye. ‘I don’t want it to end, Sienna.’
My heart seems to have come back to life, thumping against my ribs so hard it feels like it will explode.
Any delay on the break-up now would be just that. A delay. If we don’t end the PR relationship at the beginning of the tour, it’ll end by the time it finishes because I can’t trust Luc, or Luc can’t cope with me being away so much of the time. Or he can’t deal with the price of privacy that comes with being close to me, or a ‘source’ goes to the press with a story that turns Luc against me.
None of it is pretty. It’s not worth the pain it would cause us both.
Luc looks at me expectantly, and I realise my thoughts put me in a trance, cut me off from hearing what he’d said. A singular tear rolls over my waterline, and I brush it away as quickly as I can, draining the Chianti from my glass.
I’ve been here before. I don’t have the energy for the anger of betrayal. Articles like the one this morning. I’ll stick with the disappointment and sadness.
Giulia returns. ‘Next up we have a Piccini, which is our bestseller as a bottle when people leave the tasting.’ She puts two new glasses on the table and pours. ‘Enjoy.’
‘Please say something, Sienna.’
My body aches. ‘I’m surprised.’
I’m not surprised. We broke too many rules for me to be surprised.
‘I need some… time to take this in,’ I whisper.
‘Don’t people who enter a relationship usually do so without an end date?’ Luc points out.
‘Well, yes, but…’ I lower my voice. ‘We didn’t enter a relationship, did we? Not a proper one. We did have an end date.’
My eyebrows feel tight on my face, a frown drawing pressure behind my eyes. A stray piece of hair falls out of my ponytail.
‘We broke all the other rules,’ Luc protests. ‘I thought it was becoming…’ He throws his hands up weakly. ‘You surprised me with a trip to Tuscany for my birthday, for fuck sake. It’s not even an important birthday.’ His voice is getting louder and risks blowing our cover.
‘People are going to overhear,’ I whisper.
