‘Be happy, OK?’ I said, swallowing hard.
I didn’t think he needed me balling in front of him and I suddenly had a modicum of compassion for everyone who had ever dumped me in the past. This washard.
Nick reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. ‘You too, Mads. You too.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
As I waited for the concierge to call his brother-in-law in the Oltrarno area of the city because apparently he owned a small pensione that might have a very reasonably priced room I could stay in for the night, my phone pinged. There were a few people it could be, some I wanted to hear from more than others, but annoyingly, it was Tim.
how are you getting on with the footage?
Without overthinking it, I typed a message back.
Tim, I’m afraid I don’t think it’s fair for me to be shooting footage when I am on annual leave and for no additional pay. I am on a break from work and therefore do not wish to be thinking about actual work. I know Florence quite well now, though, so if you’d like me to come back and shoot some footage some other time, I’d be happy to. See you on Monday, Maddie.
I pressed ‘send’, regretted it for about a second, shrugged and called Lou.
‘What’s up?’ she said. ‘Are the in-laws still being a nightmare?’
I left it a beat or two because it was the first time I’d said it out loud and it kind of got caught in my throat.
‘I’ve split up with Nick.’
Lou, for once, was silent.
‘Hello? Can you hear me?’ I said.
‘Of course I can. I’m just letting this momentous news sink in. What on earth’s happened?’
The concierge gave me a thumbs-up and I gave him a thumbs-up back.
‘Where to start? Aidan and I have been talking. And he’s never forgotten about me either and I think he might be my “one” and we’re probably going to give it another shot.’
‘What?’ exclaimed Lou.
‘Oh, and I told Tim where to go. Politely, obviously.’
The pianist started up, it was that time of the evening. More Vivaldi, I thought.
‘Oh Mads. This sounds a lot. Are you OK?’
‘Not sure. But I will be.’
‘What are you going to do when you get back to London? Do you want to stay at mine for a bit?’ asked Lou.
God, I hadn’t even thought about that. I could hardly go back to Nick’s place, could I?
‘Would that be OK?’ I asked, grateful.
‘Absolutely. Is somebody playing the piano?’
‘Yep.’
‘When are you back?’
‘I’ve re-booked my flight for tomorrow morning. I’m off to a pensione for the night.’
‘VeryA Room With a View.’