‘Great to meet you,’ Mats said, leaning in for a kiss on both cheeks with Clemmie.
‘You too, Mats.’ Clemmie looked at Lotta with wide-eyes and a smile. ‘You sound local. How did you two meet?’
‘In the airport lounge on Lotta’s first trip to Oslo,’ he said, smiling at Lotta as he said it.
‘No! Oh my gosh, I feel like I’ve had a hand in that,’ Clemmie said, laughing.
She and Mats chatted for a couple of minutes while Lotta listened. It was funny seeing Mats in a situation like this. They’d never spent time with other people, aside from his family, and she loved seeing how assured he was chatting to complete strangers. He was used to this kind of thing. It was the world he’d known for years, and he was good at it. She knew the reasons why he wanted to leave it behind, but Lotta wondered whether he’d miss it when he did.
‘Can I steal Lotta for a moment?’ Clemmie said. ‘I want to introduce her to a few people.’
‘Of course,’ Mats said, smiling.
Lotta almost objected, because it would be her worst nightmare to be taken to a party where she didn’t know anyone and then be left alone. But Mats didn’t look as if that was what he was thinking, and when she looked back as she followed Clemmie across the room, he was heading out to the terrace, greeting people as he did so. He was fine.
‘Mats seems great,’ said Clemmie, pausing to take two flutes of champagne from a tray at the end of the bar.
‘Really great,’ Lotta said.
‘And he’s opening a hotel? That’s quite a change from investment banking. He looks like an investment banker.’
‘It’s the suit,’ Lotta said.
‘He looks great in a suit,’ Clemmie said, sighing. ‘I wish my husband had a job where he had to wear a suit more often.’
‘What does he do?’
‘He’s in IT.’
‘Say no more.’
They both laughed, then carried on walking to the opposite end of the room, heading for a group of people that included Sophia, the Head Buyer, and Oda.
Oda immediately greeted Lotta with a hug. ‘You look great,’ she said.
Lotta had no words for how great Oda looked. Her black dress hadrosemalingthe same as she’d painted on the mirror, across the top of the bodice and in wide stripes down the skirt. ‘This is incredible,’ she said. ‘The start of a new line, maybe?’
Oda laughed. ‘Maybe.’
‘Is Elin here?’ Lotta asked Clemmie in a low voice, since Hedda from the Oslo store was there, chatting to a woman on the other side of the small group.
Clemmie shook her head and took a step towards Hedda. ‘Sorry to interrupt. Lotta, I think you’ve met Hedda, she’s the new store manager in Oslo.’
Good for Hedda. Lotta nodded, making a mental note to ask Clemmie what had happened to Elin. ‘Great to see you again.’
Clemmie carried on. ‘Gudrun, Lotta is the genius behind the collaboration campaign. Lotta, Gudrun is from our Reykjavik store. She’s helping us out in Oslo for the next few weeks until Hedda finds some new staff.’
‘It’s lovely to meet you,’ Lotta said, shaking Gudrun’s hand. ‘I’ve heard great things about the Reykjavik store.’
‘Thank you. I’m already full of ideas about the collaboration we will do in Reykjavik. It’s a very exciting campaign.’
Clemmie started talking to someone else, leaving Lotta with Gudrun and Hedda.
‘Are you here with Mats?’ Gudrun asked.
‘Oh, yes. He’s outside, I think.’ Lotta’s mind whirred, trying to work out how Mats knew Gudrun.
‘We have a friend in common, Anders. And his partner, Becca, worked for Snug until a few months ago.’
