“Yeah, I’m quite happy now. I have my own place, the job at the book shop is quite fun and I like my routine.”
“Are you sure that everything is okay?”
“Yes, Mum. It is.”
“That’s good to hear, darling. Maybe it’s time to look for the right man now.” Yeah, the right man. For a moment, I wonder what she would think if I told her that I might have found the right one, but he’s also the man that I hate the most. Maybe she would tell me to stop over thinking everything and being paranoid, that one can’t change the past and that a man isn’t forever anyway. Perhaps she would tell me to just enjoy life. Yeah, that’s what she would say. That would be like her.
“Yeah, I’ll keep my eyes peeled,” I say ironically.
Unlike my mother, I want a lifetime relationship and I don’t want her to say anything that could encourage me to give in to my feelings and make the worst mistake of my life. I’d rather not, thanks.
“You’ll find someone soon, I’m sure. I won’t keep you any more now, it must be late there.”
“Okay, good night, Mum… I’m happy for you.” I say, and then I hang up. I hope she decides to marry that man and that she’ll be happy with him for a very long time.
Everyone seems to be doing a lot better than me in their private lives.
13
“Elly!” I shout, a moment before opening up the book shop for the morning.
“Yeah?” My friend’s voice comes from behind the latest bestsellers.
I flip the welcome tag round on the front door – it says ‘Welcome to the Lighthouse! We’re open for you.’ and head in the direction of Elly’s voice.
“Can you take care of our customers until Denise and Kristine arrive? I have something to sort out on the phone.”
“On the phone?” she asks – nosey as ever.
“I have to call Mr Purfoy about the menu. Wish me luck,” I smile at her and then head for Jass’s office. It’s time to face the chef once again – the deadline is getting close and I have nothing to show the boss. He won’t be here until the afternoon today, so I have a few hours to try to attempt the impossible – I’d better prepare for the epic argument that I’m about to have with Mr Purfoy. I’m becoming an expert at arguing, with Jamie in my apartment.
I pick up the telephone and enter Purfoy’s phone number with energy. A few rings later, the chef answers the call.
“Hello?”
“Good morning, Mr Purfoy. It’s Ashley Morgan from the Lighthouse, do you remember me?”
“Oh yeah, I do. Do you need anything else?” That’s kind of a good start.
“I’m sorry to bother you – I’m calling again about the menu.”
“As I said before, I’m taking care of the menu myself, there’s no need to have another conversation about it.” He sounds annoyed and he doesn’t sound bothered about hiding his irritation.
“I have no doubt that you’re taking good care of the menu, but my boss asked me to give you some tips that might be of help to you,” I insist. I have to be very patient if I want to get something out of this conversation. Talking to him is a bit like talking to a wall and every word that he says confirms this.
“I don’t understand how you can give me any useful tips. You work in a book shop – at least that’s what I remember you saying. Surely you have no idea how the hospitality world works and the rules behind it. Please tell your boss that I’m working hard on the menu and that you should stop harassing me on the phone.” His blatant rudeness leaves me speechless for the second time.
“I know a little bit about hospitality Mr Purfoy – my family has worked in the field for whole generations with some very good results,” I tell him proudly. I know that I’m not exactly one of the family members who have contributed to the success of the company, but that’s only a small detail. It’s not my fault if I didn’t participate in Morgan & Hall as much as I wanted to, but I still own 38 per cent of the company, as Jamie reminded me, so I’m still telling the truth. “I can help you with some of your ideas and I can suggest what our customers might like.”
The man on the other end of the line remains silent for a little while. He’s more stubborn than I thought. I can picture him racking his brain to find a witty way of shutting me up once and for all.
“Listen, Mr Purfoy,” I carry on before he hangs up on me again. “My boss would like to make sure that our collaboration works perfectly and expects you to engage with us actively. Now, I don’t know what kind of recipes you intend to propose, but your ideas will have to go through my desk before getting to him. If you want to discuss them, I would be more than happy to, otherwise I’m afraid that we will have to find another partner.” Ten more seconds of silence make me wonder if I’ve just made a disastrous mistake and maybe even jeopardised my career. I shouldn’t have said anything about changing partners…
“What kind of tips do you want to give me?” I breathe again.
“I know that you’re famous in the finger food area.”
“Yeah?”
“Would you like to focus on something similar for our menu? A varied selection of finger food tasters would be a great idea, they can be both sweet and savoury,” I suggest, trying to sound assured. He remains silent once again, maybe he needs some time to think about his answer and I decide to wait for him to speak. I don’t want to give up on him, Jass wouldn’t be at all happy about that.
“Okay, then. I’ll keep you posted about my ideas. Do you want to get in touch again before the final stage?”
“Sure, that would be great.” I’m suddenly filled with over excitement but I keep calm and impassive until the conversation finishes.
When I get back to Elly, who’s sat on a swivel chair behind the till, she looks at me, trying to read my emotions. She doesn’t know what being discreet means.
“Are you okay?” I ask her, irritated by her stare.
“I was just wondering… why do you look so excited? If I understood correctly, you were dreading talking to Mr Purfoy…”
“I always try to put my heart and soul into my work – I don’t know why you’re surprised about that.” I reply.
“I’m not surprised by how you work, but I’m intrigued that you haven’t told me anything about last night, yet,” she replies, ignoring my annoyed tone.
“What about last night?”
“I want to know if there are any updates after our last phone call.”
“Any updates?” I ask, feeling a little confused. What does she expect to hear?
“Yes, Ashley – you confessed that you’re attracted to Jamie yesterday evening, you kissed him and you liked it. Surely something happened last night after you talked to me?”
“Nothing happened and I didn’t tell you that I was attracted to Jamie. I said that I can’t stand him and that our kiss was a mistake.” I hate having to repeat things. I would expect Elly to understand me?
“Which kiss was a mistake? The first one or the second one?” Her blue eyes are lit up with amusement.
“Stop it, Elly – that’s not fair! I don’t want to have to defend myself from your attacks too.”
“Too?”
“Yeah, too. My life has been hell since my father died. Having Jamie at home is pure torture and he keeps telling me that there’s something between us – which I don’t want to think about. Leave me alone, please.”
“The whole thing’s getting out of control, Ashley.”
“You think so? Well, I’m glad you realised at last,” I tell her, frustrated. Things have taken a turn for the worse ever since I found out that what I believed was an alcohol induced dream was in fact reality. I blame it on me and my non-existent self-control. Why didn’t my father leave the company to somebody a lot uglier? Maybe somebody with the charm of a rhino and the eyes of a monkey? Why did he choose Jamie? And why did he go to so much trouble to ensure our paths crossed?
“Ashley,” Elly stretches out her hand to hold my chair’s armrest.
“What?”
“Let’s not talk about Jamie now, okay?” she proposes with a hint of a smile. Maybe she’s beginning to understand where I’m coming from.
“Okay,” I agree gladly.
“Tell me about your phone call to Mr Purfoy. Any success on that front?”
“I think so!” I exclaim happily – I’m glad that we’re finally talking about something else. Elly opens her eyes wide. What? Did she believe that I would lose the fight?
“How did you do it?” That’s a good question, actually.
“I don’t know what worked exactly, but I suppose that he surrendered to the obvious – he can’t do everything by himself.” I say deliberately. Deep down, I have a feeling that’s not quite the reason why he eventually agreed to work with me, and it’s more that I’m involved in the field. The fact that I should thank Jamie for being successful with Mr Purfoy scares me a little and makes me slightly nervous.
*
The boss arrived punctually after lunch – I updated him about my conversation with Mr Purfoy. Jass appeared satisfied with my persistence and, consequently, he didn’t mention my previous unsuccessful conversation with the chef, despite the fact that I seriously risked ruining our collaboration with him. He’s so happy now that he thinks I will be able to run the organisation all by myself, without having to wait for his input. Maybe it wasn’t worth working so hard for Jass, after all. I feel tired and a little deflated. Elly took ages to shelve some books in the stock room with Drew and Evan, while the girls and I were struggling to deal with waves of customers. With the Christmas holidays approaching – it’s less than a month until Christmas now – people have decided to invade our book shop. I haven’t had time to take a break and having to guzzle down my sandwich hasn’t helped me to feel any better.
I have a strange attitude to food now – it’s almost as though I don’t like anything that hasn’t been prepared by Jamie. I must have sensory hallucinations.
On top of that, Mr Purfoy sent us some ideas by email just before closing time, and I had to stay late to take care of them as a priority. I can’t say ‘no’ to Jass, but it wasn’t fun working that late. It’s past 9 p.m. when I finally walk out of the shop – I’m exhausted. I can’t wait to get home. I hail the first taxi that passes by and I’m about to get inside when a hand pulls me away.
“Excuse me, the cab was waiting for me.” The man pulling my arm says. He’s tall, his eyes are light blue – almost as beautiful as Elly’s – and his hair is light brown, parted on one side. He’s wearing a trench coat and a suit underneath – he looks like somebody who cares about his appearance. His silky red scarf looks expensive and he wears it with elegance. He looks somewhat familiar.
“I was here before you!” I wriggle myself away from him and sit in the taxi – this stranger is wasting my leisure time. When I look at him again, I’m sure that I’ve seen him before. Hang on…
“Are you Martin Goodwin?” His photo doesn’t do him justice at all – he’s much more attractive and charismatic in real life.
“Have we met before?” It looks like he’s not used to being recognised in public and that he likes it.
“We haven’t, actually – but we’re probably going to have to meet up in the future.” He looks confused. “I work at the Lighthouse book shop, where you’re giving your next presentation.” I explain, before he begins to think that I’m crazy.
“Ah, right,” he breathes a sigh of relief. “You might want to leave the taxi to me now then.”
“I wouldn’t even if you were the president of America,” I reply with a smile. I know, it’s not very professional on my part, but I’m done with work for the day. I just want to go home.
He smiles back at me and gets closer, keeping the door open with his hand. “What’s your name?”
“Ashley Morgan.”
“Nice to meet you, Ashley,” he stretches his hand out to me. I shake it with pleasure. His handshake is confident but not overly so – he’s nicer than I expected, even if I can’t help but notice that his hands are smaller than Jamie’s. I have to stop thinking about Jamie every minute of the day. I woke up with the intention of forgetting about him for at least a day, but I failed almost immediately.
“Nice to meet you, too, Mr Goodwin.”
“Please call me Martin,” he replies kindly. “We should be able to come to an agreement,” he says moving his eyes between me and the driver. He has a way with words – no wonder he’s a writer.
“Yes? What do you suggest?”
“Let’s share the taxi – I’ll pay for it, but with two conditions.”
“What?” I ask with suspicion. I don’t know what to expect, but I would do almost anything to go home as soon as possible tonight.
“I’d like to reach my destination first – I have an event to attend tonight and I can’t be late. I’d also like to invite you for dinner,” he proposes as he gazes into my eyes with his light blue ones. He looks amused and intrigued at the same time.
My eyes open wide and my mouth drops open in shock. “What? When?”
“Tomorrow night. I would like to have dinner with you.”
I don’t know what to say and I immediately think about Jamie – and that’s what convinces me more than my desire to go home. I have to stop thinking about Jamie, at all costs.
“Okay, it’s a deal.” Martin’s smile leaves me breathless for a moment – I can’t help but think that another man’s attention is what I need to forget my nightmare, after all. Fingers crossed it will be a good date!
14
I finally managed to come up with some good ideas for Mr Purfoy’s menu. He turned out to be fairly open to collaborating in the end. The only thing that I regret today is the fact that I told Elly about my encounter with Martin last night. Ever since I told her that he invited me for dinner, she keeps talking about it, slowing down our work at the book shop considerably.
“Did you shelve the new arrivals?” I ask Elly – she’s been talking for more than ten minutes now.
“The new arrivals? Is that your priority? You’re going out with Martin Goodwin tonight, Ashley!” she exclaims, shocked, opening her eyes wide to glare at me.
“Elly – we have less than three weeks, we need your help. We have lots of work, books, customers to deal with. Do you even remember that you’re getting paid to do this?”
“I know, you’re right, but you’re going out with Martin Goodwin!”
“Our work is our priority now, Elly, and I can’t do everything by myself.” I reply, imitating her excited tone. I hope that my sarcasm will convince her that she has to get back to reality.
“Okay, I’ll think about the new arrivals. Will you sort out closing?” she asks, then bolts off immediately. I hope she’s actually going to do some work. If she is, we’ll be able to close on time.
*
“Excellent – I think we’re done for today?” I sigh with contentment.
“Yeah, time to go home. You have to get ready for your date!”
“It’s not a date, Elly. We’re just going for a meal and a chat, that’s all. Is your mind on Martin more than Alex?” I don’t like nagging Elly, but Alex is one of my dearest friends and I care about him.
“Of course not – do you think you’re the only one having a romantic date tonight? We’re also going out tonight – he wants to take me to a restaurant that has opened quite recently, and then… you know…” she smiles and then winks at me.
When we get out of the book shop, Alex is waiting for Elly on the pavement. I remember Elly saying that Alex doesn’t want her to use the underground – and to be fair, I don’t blame him. The air is freezing tonight and I can barely move my legs to make my way home. My fingers are numb and I am shivering like a leaf.
I can’t help but think about Jamie again now. He has been lovely since last Sunday. He hasn’t mentioned our kiss since, but I still can’t help but stare at his lips hoping that he won’t notice. It will be good to go out with Martin – it will distract
me from Jamie and it could turn out to be a pleasant night.
“Welcome back, Miss Morgan,” Gregory greets me, keeping his eyes on his newspaper.
“Thank you, Gregory,” I reply, then enter the lift.
When the doors open to let me out at the second floor, I feel my heart skip a couple of beats. I choose to ignore it – enough with these silly emotions! Jamie can’t be the right man for me… or at least I hope not. I shake my head determinedly and make my way into the apartment.
“Hello?” I take my coat off and hang it up. The kitchen lights are on and the living room is warmed up.
“I’m in the kitchen – come here!”
I freeze for a moment, unsure of what to do. I convince myself that I can’t lose control of my emotions and I can’t let him see the effect he has on me. I have to act like I barely give him a second thought.
I breathe out, trying to relax my shoulders and then I head to the kitchen. He’s beautiful – his curly hair covers the nape of his neck and his ears, his tracksuit bottoms are unusually sexy and his black t-shirt highlights some of his chest and arm muscles.
“I was about to make dinner – do you fancy anything in particular?”
“No, I’m not eating in tonight.” He looks at me, confused, and his eyes grow dimmer.
“Do you have something to do?”
“Yeah, I’m going out.” I tell him. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t feel free to go out with another man.
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know yet – probably a restaurant.”
“Who with?”
“Someone.”
“A man?” he insists, he fastens his eyes on mine and stares at me without blinking.
“Why does it matter? It’s nothing to do with you.”
“You can’t go out tonight, though!” he says, authoritatively.
“Why not? What’s the problem? I’m a free woman, I’m an adult and I like being independent. I can go out whenever I want.” I say, then I turn round and head for the stairs. Before ascending them, I turn to glance at him. He’s leaning against the counter with his fists clenched, his head low and his lips pressed together. He’s upset, but I don’t care, this shouldn’t matter to me at all…
The Inheritance: A feisty, giggle-inducing romance Page 16