‘I love you, Sienna. I’m sorry but I bloody love you,’ I said, between gulps of much-needed air.
Our eyes were locked. She said nothing for a moment. Silence. I hoped the girl I knew so well would not be a stranger to me now.
Slowly a smile spread across her face. The biggest one I had ever seen. She reached her hands out towards me, great waves of fabric swishing forward as she did so.
‘I love you too, Nick. So, so much you wouldn’t believe it,’ she replied, tears filling her eyes.
Oh my God. Pete was right. I didn’t know what to say so I rushed forwards through the door. I held her face, dripping water all over her and the dress. She pulled me close to her, digging her fingers into my wet back. I wanted to kiss her, right then and there, but I couldn’t just yet. I had to savour the moment. I was breathing hard onto her nose and her cheeks as I pressed my mouth to her face, holding her hair in my hands.
‘Nick, is this a dream?’ she asked, pulling away and looking into my eyes, tears spilling over her skin.
I didn’t say a word, I just picked her up slowly and held her against the wall, looking deep into her eyes. I could feel her softness beneath the green silk that trailed down and tickled the floor.
The door was wide open. We didn’t care. A thief could come in and take everything, slide past us with the TV in his arms and gold jewellery hanging out of his backpack and we wouldn’t have stopped him. Because the truth is, this is love, and it doesn’t matter if you lose everything. Your job. Your home. Your car. Not as long as you have that person by your side.
I buried my face in her neck as she wrapped her legs around me, her back pressed against the blue wallpaper. We stared at each other for a few moments, before I softly kissed her lips.
‘Please don’t go anywhere. I need you, Nick. I love you, I love you, I love you,’ she said breathlessly.
And I just knew this would be the happiest moment of my life.
Acknowledgements
What an exciting time writing this book has been. I have so many people to thank for taking a chance on me, supporting me and inspiring me along the way.
I would like to thank Mark Booth from Coronet at Hodder & Stoughton for opening his local paper and providing a window of opportunity that I was able to seize. I have so much gratitude to him for passing my work to Sheila Crowley at the Curtis Brown agency. Sheila and her colleagues have been a constant support throughout the whole journey, and I cannot thank them enough.
Huge thanks to Charlotte Hardman, my editor at Coronet, who has been patient, understanding and inspiring with her advice and guidance. I have been hugely blessed with the team around me.
My family have been incredible and I would like to say thank you to my father Graham and mother Bea for putting up with my regular phone calls and general fretting, and for having immovable confidence in me. To my sisters Angela and Helen, and my brothers Greg and Richard for being great examples and inspirations to me as I grew up. If I have adopted just some of the best traits of all of you, I will be a very lucky girl. Huge love to my nieces and nephews and the rest of my family, especially my aunt and uncle who have always encouraged me to follow my dreams.
I have a network of wonderful girlfriends for whom every day I am thankful to know. They have no idea how much their support has meant – in whatever form, from drinks and dinner to messy cooking nights indoors (sorry about the mess Lou!). So massive thanks to Louise, Jenny, Jess, Danielle, Mia, Natalie, the two Lucys, Claire, Becky, Emma, Hannah, the two Jos, Shelley, Marika, Alice, Debbie, Vanda and Shona. There are so many more names to mention, and you all know who you are even if you are not here in print. Thank you.
Huge thanks to the north London gang who have made me laugh during wonderfully long and lazy Sunday lunches, particular thanks to Rob, Jon, Emma, Ozz, Ali, Phil and of course Enrico the cat. I hope there will be many more great weekends to come.
A huge thank you to Tim, who has never stopped believing in me. The feeling is mutual. Also thanks to Dee, who inspired me to create a character with narcolepsy, I hope George brings about some more knowledge and awareness of the illness.
Thanks to Shona at Sevenoaks Ladies Joggers who helped me discover running, which in turn helped me to discover perseverance and self-belief.
And finally, thanks to Nick, Sienna, and all the fictional characters in this book, who came to life as I wrote and formed their own beautiful and intriguing personalities.
This is a Love Story Page 38