by S J Crabb
Mum shouts from the kitchen, “David, I need a hand in here, if it’s not too much trouble.”
He rolls his eyes and heads off and I sit beside my nan who smiles sweetly. “You did well, treasure. It was a lovely speech you made; your aunt would have been proud.”
My eyes fill with tears I thought had long since dried up and say in a small voice, “I’ll miss her.”
Mum heads into the room carrying the teapot and says loudly, “I see that Elizabeth Watkins came after all. Did you see what she was wearing?”
I look at her and shrug, “What was wrong with it?”
“It was black, Lily, black for goodness’ sake, nobody wears black to a funeral, it’s a disgrace.”
“Actually, mum, they do, in fact, it’s considered the norm, really.”
She shakes her head crossly. “Not in this family they don’t. Honestly, the disrespect shown after I made it my business to inform everyone of the dress code. Thank goodness she never stayed in Daisy’s house, casting a shadow over it with her black dress. Daisy would turn in her grave.”
I share a look with nan and her mouth twitches. Grandad rolls his eyes and I stifle a giggle.
Suddenly, the doorbell rings and we look at each other in surprise.
“Who can that be?” Mum jumps up and heads off to find out looking a little annoyed and nan says, “Who’s that?”
“How do I know; I haven’t got a sixth sense you know?” Grandad moans and then dad looks concerned as mum says in a rather high voice, “Um… David, I think you should come out here.”
We all look at each other in surprise as dad springs up from the sofa and rushes out to see who it is.
Straining to hear, we fall silent and hear muffled voices and then louder ones as they head our way.
As mum comes into the room, she raises her eyes and says awkwardly, “Um… this is a friend of Daisy’s… Mr Bianci.”
We look up in surprise as she is followed into the room by a very handsome man who looks to be around his late fifties. He nods and says with a deep Italian accent, “Please forgive me. My flight was delayed and I missed the service, I cannot apologise enough.”
He looks at nan and grandad and his eyes fill with tears as he says hoarsely, “Your daughter was a Principessa. A goddess and the only woman I have ever given my whole heart to.”
Nan looks completely shell-shocked and grandad looks confused. “I’m sorry, did you know Daisy?”
Holding out his hand, Mr Bianci shakes grandad’s hand and says with tears in his eyes, “We were lovers.”
We all stare at him in shock and he says with a break to his voice, “I am sorry, she never spoke of me, I know.”
Mum looks unconvinced, but nan looks at him eagerly and pats the seat next to her. “Come and sit beside me…”
“Luca.”
He smiles respectfully and she says softly, “Luca, come and tell us how you knew Daisy.”
We all take our seats and look at the new arrival with interest as he starts to speak.
“We met in Sicily when Daisy was visiting a friend of my sisters.”
Nan interrupts, “Ooh, I remember when she went there. It was to visit that woman whose house she re-modelled in Leatherhead.”
Grandad still looks confused and dad says, “Let Luca speak.”
We look at him expectantly. “Yes, Sophia was my sister’s friend. She moved here for work and Daisy and her became good friends. When she returned home, they stayed in touch, which was how I met her.”
“How old was she then, Bert? Can you remember?”
Grandad says with exasperation, “How do I know? I can’t even remember my own age these days, let alone anyone else’s.”
Dad interrupts, “I think she must have been around thirty. I remember when she went to stay with her friend because she was full of it when she came home. I don’t think she mentioned you though, Luca, I’m sorry.”
I can see mum staring at him with suspicion and feel sorry for the poor man but he just nods and says sadly. “Because I was married at the time.”
We all squirm a little and he shakes his head. “My wife and I were unhappy. We had rushed into marriage and were regretting it.”
Mum rolls her eyes behind his back and nan looks a little annoyed, so I smile at him reassuringly as he carries on. “Daisy was beautiful inside and out. She would light up any room she entered, and her laughter made the sun come out. She was perfect and when she looked at me, everything else faded into the background.”
He looks at my grandparents and says with some sincerity, “We started an affair that summer and it tore us apart. My wife was no longer interested in me, and Daisy was everything I had ever wanted. When she returned home, we decided it had to be the end, as painful as it was. Despite what you think, I am an honourable man and it was never an option that I would leave my marriage.”
Nan looks at him with a bitter look and grandad says awkwardly, “Yes, probably for the best.”
Luca says sadly, “Two years later my wife left me for another and my first thought was to contact Daisy again. She flew out to see me and it was still there. That bond we had that I knew was special. Once again, we spent time together with none of the restrictions of the past. I begged her to move to Italy to be with me, but she wouldn’t. She told me her life was in London, where she had success. She couldn’t leave that behind and live with me in a place she had no connections to.”
“Sounds like Daisy.” Nan seems rather annoyed and grandad nods in agreement. “That doesn’t surprise me, she was always headstrong.”
Mum appears to have thawed a little and says softly, “I’m so sorry, that must have hurt.”
He nods. “It was the utmost pain a man can ever feel. To have found the greatest love, only for it to slip through his fingers, taking his heart with it.”
Dad rolls his eyes, but none of us are interested. This is so beautiful. A tale of star-crossed lovers who never realised their passion. Wow, who knew?
Mum says, “Why couldn’t you come to London and work here? Surely that would have solved your problem?”
“Sadly, it was never an option. I own several vineyards in Italy and my family relies on them. I am the head of the household and had to put my family and responsibilities first. We have produced wine for several generations and the vineyard is bigger than me. It has to come first.”
Nan turns to grandad. “Ooh we love a nice drop of wine, don’t we Bert?”
Luca smiles. “Then it will be my pleasure to arrange a delivery for you to sample.”
They look pleased as dad says, “For goodness’ sake, mum, the poor man is pouring his heart out and all you can think of is placing an order for his wine. Let the man finish.”
Luca gives a half smile and say sadly. “Despite everything we kept in touch. Occasionally, we would meet up and take a holiday somewhere together. It became a long-distance romance, but Daisy always stopped herself from falling too hard. She told me she had loved once and that love had been taken from her without warning and she was scared to allow herself to have feelings again. She loved me but wasn’t prepared to give everything up to be with me because she couldn’t take the risk that it wouldn’t work out, or something would happen to me.”
Nan starts to cry softly and mum says in astonishment, “I never knew she was so scared of love. Poor Daisy, she missed out on so much out of fear.”
Nan sobs. “She always was stubborn. She got that from her father.”
Luca leans back and I’m mesmerised by the sudden change in his expression. It softens and the mask of grief he is wearing slips a little as he finishes his story. “Two weeks before she died, Daisy got in contact. She told me she had come to the decision to give our love a chance. She wanted to sell her business and move to Italy to be with me one hundred percent. I was to make the necessary arrangements and she would set things in place because she didn’t want to ignore the love we both had. She was prepared to walk away from everything for love and that was w
hen I think I was the happiest I had ever been. I told her I would fly out the same day and we could be together immediately, but she reassured me she needed the time to set things in place. She told me she had always loved me and was not prepared to put her life on hold any longer just for money and success. She wanted to live with me and experience love because she realised without love a person was the poorest they could be. When you called and told me of her death, the sun went out of my life and now all I have is bitterness and pain left. I will never find another Daisy and feel angry that we missed out on the greatest happiness two people can share. We wasted so many years that we could have been together and it is the cruellest conclusion to our story. I just wanted to come for one last time to meet the family of the woman I loved and tell you she meant everything to me.”
There’s silence as the tears fall freely once again, and we dwell on the pain this poor man must be going through.
Mum looks up and says gently, “Thank you, Luca, it was good of you to come all this way. Please, let me fetch you a drink and fix you some food, you must be starving. You must stay here tonight and we can talk some more, Daisy would have wanted that.”
Dad and I look at her in surprise because suddenly Luca has gone from murderer to hero in thirty minutes flat.
He smiles gratefully and as mum heads to the kitchen, I follow her.
As soon as the door’s closed, I whisper, “That poor man.”
Mum nods. “It’s a terrible story, yet the sweetest one at the same time. It’s good to know Daisy met that special someone in life and experienced the feeling of the purest love. How sad though that it took her so long to realise its importance. Those poor people. What a life they could have had and she turned her back on it out of fear and success.”
As she reaches for the kettle, she says softly, “It makes you realise what’s really important in life, doesn’t it, Lily?”
“Yes, it does bring it all into perspective.”
As mum starts making Luca some sandwiches, I think about my own situation. If I find the man I love, I will not turn my back on him for success. At least Aunt Daisy’s experience won’t be for nothing. I will learn the lessons of the past and not make the same mistake. Now I just need to find that special someone and fast.
♥23
I’ve decided to go back to work early. After the funeral, I didn’t feel much like having fun anyway, so decided to throw myself into my new job sooner rather than later.
It feels strange heading through the familiar doors as I have done for the past few years. Nothing has changed and yet everything has changed because for some reason, my heart isn’t in it. Maybe it’s because I’ve taken a break and the last few weeks have been so emotional.
As I make my way to my desk, I see Sable in her office shouting at somebody and I shiver inside. I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of one of her tirades, and I can only picture the poor person’s misery as they take what she dishes out.
She notices me and gestures madly for me to join her and so, with a sinking feeling, I head towards her office.
As I open the door, she slams the phone on the desk and shouts, “How am I expected to navigate a sea of idiots?”
Her question, as usual, demands no answer, so I just smile sympathetically. However, as I look at her, I feel shocked because Sable appears to have aged overnight. Where poise and control usually sit well on her, it would appear they have deserted her now because she is looking frazzled, irritated and so tired she doesn’t just have bags under her eyes, more like a whole baggage reclaim belt. She is pale and her face is pinched and her hair is in need of a hairdresser as a matter of urgency. Even her make-up looks rushed and her clothes are not as sharp as they usually are.
She sinks down wearily in her seat and sighs heavily.
“I’m struggling, Lily. Yes, I know it’s hard to believe but life is severely testing me right now and I’m at my wits end.”
I’m not sure what to say and just smile sympathetically and let her speak.
“Joseph Maltravers has called in sick which seriously raises doubts about him as your replacement.”
Joseph Maltravers! I feel my blood boil as I think of the sneaky little slime bag getting his hands on my position. Joseph has worked in another division, doing much the same job as me, although concentrating mainly on advertising revenue. He’s always looking to outdo me at every challenge we are set and I know he outsources most of his own work to others and passes the results off as his own. He has made no secret of his desire to step in my shoes because he believes he is above selling advertising space and wants to be more creative with his talent, as he is so fond of telling anyone who will listen.
However, now is not the time to vent my dissatisfaction at my replacement because as sure as I’m going to be editor-in-chief, Joseph Maltravers will not be my deputy.
Sable sighs wearily and drums her fingernails on the desk. “I’m struggling, Lily.”
She looks at me with a grave expression as I stare at her in shock. “Yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but I have discovered a weakness I never saw coming.”
She smiles wryly. “I can’t be in two places at once.”
She holds her hand up as if I would dare to interrupt and looks at me sharply. “I understand you still have two weeks left of your leave entitlement and yet have decided to return to work, which brings me to the conclusion you have run out of ideas on how to spend your time.”
I make to speak, but she silences me with a look and smiles thinly. “You would be doing me a huge favour if you could take on one of my responsibilities yourself.”
Suddenly, I feel the power washing over me. Me, taking on one of Sable’s roles because she can’t appear to cope. How the worm has turned.
Nodding enthusiastically, I speak for the first time. “Of course, I would be happy to help.”
I wonder what it is. Maybe it’s heading up the main feature of the month. I would love to organise that. Maybe it’s restructuring the office. I can think of several changes I would make before lunchtime.
She reaches into her desk drawer and slides a business card towards me.
“I need you to go to the Château and supervise the deliveries.”
As I stare at her in shock, she holds her hand up once again and smiles. “Don’t thank me, I know it’s a generous offer but my time is so valuable, I can’t possibly be there to organise the renovation myself.”
“But…”
“No buts, Lily, I have faith in your abilities, even if you don’t. I have booked you on a flight from Gatwick this afternoon and a car will be waiting to take you directly to the Château.”
She tosses a bunch of keys across the desk and says briskly, “Take the keys and the address is on the card. You will stay in the gîte located by the lake and supervise the deliveries, which are all detailed on the spreadsheet I have emailed to your inbox. Work begins on Monday so I will need you on hand as my eyes and ears. Any problems, call me but remember I am very busy and will rely on your judgement.”
She stands signifying the end of the conversation and I say nervously, “But I don’t speak French, how will I communicate with them?”
“You don’t need to. I have arranged for an interpreter who will also be on hand during your entire stay. Don’t thank me, Lily, because I know how important rest and recuperation are. Your aunt has died, leaving you stricken with grief. You are floundering, I can see that, and this is my way of getting your head back in the game. Ease in gently with a change of scenery and a slower pace of life. Two weeks should be enough time to recharge those batteries, leaving you fighting fit for the challenges ahead. Now, I am needed at the monthly meeting upstairs, so you will have to thank me another time.”
She points to the door and I nod and meekly head through it. France! What on earth just happened?
Seven hours later and I feel every bump in the road as I bounce around in the back of the car that Sable arranged to meet me at the airport. The dr
iver apparently speaks no English, either that, or he can’t be bothered to talk and I am left staring out at the idyllic landscape as we speed through the streets of France towards the unknown.
The weather isn’t very welcoming and the rain hits the car windows, providing a backdrop of misery to a landscape that looks as unwelcoming as the driver. I shiver as I feel the cool air of a heater that appears to be stuck on aircon and I shrink further into my jacket as I wish for the hundredth time that I was a stronger person and told Sable exactly what to do with her kind offer.
The car finally turns off the main road onto a road that has obviously seen better days. I look with interest at the trees that line the route as we pass through a rather large gate with an old sign hanging from the post.
Château de rêves. My heart sinks as I imagine the Château much like this sign. Old and decrepit and on its last legs.
As we pull up slowly into an old courtyard, my heart sinks further. Old cobblestones with weeds sprouting from the cracks look slippery and rather dangerous. The old stone of the Château looks in serious need of repointing, and the windows decayed and in need of repair and a good painter and decorator. Any plants that used to grow have been murdered by the ivy that is waging a war on the ancient building, and it appears that victory is not far away as it covers most of the front of the crumbling piece of French history.
However, even I can’t take away the sheer romance of the place. The majestic towers that sit on four corners of the ancient building give it a delicious sense of romance and the view is a subject that any artist would die to recreate on canvas. The dramatic landscape that could be the setting of any Jane Austen novel calls to my soul and the nooks and crannies crying out to be explored are promising excitement and mystery for those who dare.
As I exit the car, I feel the spirit of adventure grip me as I see the sprawling grounds of a place that has not been loved for some time. I spy what must once have been an impressive landscaped garden and evidence that this place was once full of grandeur. There is history here that needs to be revisited and understood, and despite the trepidation I felt on arrival, something about this place settles my heart and it almost feels as if I’m home.