“Yes. Right. Thank you,” I said, my cheeks flushing.
I waited a bit before speaking again, my voice slightly higher pitched than I would have liked.
“Actually, Ryan, I think it’s best if you just start fresh.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh? But won’t all of those celebrities be annoyed?”
“No, I’ll speak to their agents and explain,” I said hurriedly, refusing to look at his smug expression.
“Okay, sure. I’ll start afresh.Thank you,Harper.”
We fell into silence, both of us tapping away at our keyboards, and then a few moments later, I stole a glance at him. He was looking at me. As our eyes met, he broke into a knowing smile and I couldn’t help but smile back at him. He shook his head at me and we both got back to work.
It really has been a strange week.
Embroiled in a mixture of excitement and nerves, I’ve spent a lot of time stressing over what to pack for Florence. My flat is messier than usual—and that’s saying something—because I have been trawling through the depths of my wardrobe in the hopeof discovering a new collection of holiday clothes, even though I haven’t been on holiday in… well… forever.
On Wednesday evening, in the midst of lobbing shoes across my room in a desperate hunt for a suitable wedge that makes me look elegant but I can also manage to stay upright in, the doorbell rang.
My first, thrilling thought?Ryan.
But it was Liam, dropping by to “talk things through” and pick up some of his belongings that he’d left. I told him it wasn’t a good time because I was packing for Italy, but he sighed heavily and retorted, “It will never be a good time, Harper,” in the voice of an old wizened wizard, so I thought it best to let him in and get it over and done with.
It was much less awkward than the original breakup, largely because it wasn’t witnessed by his naked lover, but it was still mildly painful. He felt the need to reassure me that I was a wonderful person and, that having spent some time analyzing what went wrong, he’d come to the conclusion that we were both “too focused on our career paths” right now to “really let someone in.”
I dryly pointed out that he’d had no trouble “letting Biancain.”
He winced. I regretted it immediately, because even though it was a rather witty comeback, it did prompt him to launch into a detailed explanation about the “purely physical” nature of their relationship—something I very much didnotneed to hear about. But I didn’t want things between us to end badly, so I wished him the best. We hugged it out and I ushered him away.
If anything, seeing Liam was confirmation that any feelings for him had well and truly petered out. I needed to use our time in Florence to let Ryan know that, and to work out how he felt about me. That decided, I did loads of online shopping and spent Thursday evening trying on countless outfits and sending pictures of myself to Mimi to gather her opinion on each one.
Bring sexy underwear,she messaged,just in case.
I blushed as I read the message. They were already in my bag.
On Friday morning, I wake up to a WhatsApp from Ryan. I sit bolt upright in bed, my heart in my throat as I scroll the preview down to read it:
See you at the airport. Don’t forget your passport. x
My face breaks into a wide, goofy, unrestrained grin. It’s just so him. Sensible, practical, but also kind of cute because, like Mimi said the other day, he knows me.
And he put a kiss on the end.
I throw my duvet back and swing my legs out of bed, before skipping to the bathroom to shower. I’m well aware that I should be playing it cool, that I should not get my hopes up, and it would be smart to be cautious and pragmatic about what might or might not happen. For goodness’ sake, it was one message and it had a kiss on the end. That could mean nothing.
Butscrew it.I’m singing in the shower.
And today, I’m wearing sexy underwear. Just in case.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ryan smiles when he sees me racing toward him.
I quickly dodge a family of five and try not to trip over the wheelie cases squeaking along behind them.
“Sorry I’m late!” I wheeze as I join the press group waiting in the departures area. “I had a last-minute emergency.”
“Oh no! I hope everything is okay?” says a curly-haired woman in alarm.
