Page 26 of Never Too Late

“Good God, no! She’d eat me alive.” It was noticeable that Finn didn’t argue. “In the early days of the agency, I did all my best thinking at a local coffee shop. I used to get a table in the back and work on storyboards for campaigns.” I smiled at the memory of a life a million miles away from the one I lived now. In many respects, I’d been just as happy. Maybe even happier.

Finn’s slight frown said he didn’t know how the two things linked. “She worked there,” I explained. “She always seemed to get stuck with the night shift, so our paths crossed frequently. Some nights, particularly when the weather was bad, only the two of us were in there. One night, she got bored enough that she sat down and asked what I was doing. And you’ve met Amrita. She was no different when she was younger. She was just as opinionated back then as she is now. So she had zero qualms in telling me what she thought of my ideas. I scrapped entire campaigns and went back to the drawing board just because she told me something was crap.” I smiled. “And on those rare occasions when her eyes lit up, and she began talking with her hands, I knew I was onto something. She became my bestsounding board. And nine times out of ten, she was right. I don’t know if I’d have been as successful without her in my corner.”

Another gust of wind blew, and I gathered Finn close again, Finn just smirking this time. “And to cut a long story short, we both reached the same conclusion after a few months, that she was far better at what I did than at what she did, so I offered her a job.”

Finn nodded slowly. “Sounds more like you should have made her a partner.”

“I tried,” I said with a laugh. “But she wasn’t having it. She said she didn’t have the right qualifications, that people wouldn’t take her seriously. Instead, she turned herself into my secret weapon. Her words,” I added when Finn raised an eyebrow at the terminology. “You have no idea the things people are prepared to say in front of a PA that they wouldn’t say if they realized she runs straight to me and tells me everything.”

“Clever,” Finn said with something close to admiration in his voice. “It’s a shame you’re not straight, you could have married her.”

“Except she’s not straight either.”

“No?” Finn seemed genuinely surprised by the notion. “I’m going to have to take my gaydar in for a servicing.”

“You should,” I agreed. “She’s had the same girlfriend for six years. The two of them are ridiculously happy together. It’s enough to drive people crazy with jealousy.”

“Even you?” Finn queried with a glint in his eye that dared me to tell the truth.

“Before… no. But more recently…”

“How recent?”

“Tell me some more facts about the Eiffel Tower. Astound me with your knowledge.”

“You think I won’t know any more, don’t you?”

“Maybe.”

Finn thought for a moment. “It was yellow at one point. They painted it to preserve the iron. Guess how many painters it takes to paint it.”

“A lot.”

“That’s not a number.”

“You and your numbers,” I teased.

“Guess.”

“Thirty.”

“Higher.”

“Forty.”

“Higher.”

“A hundred.”

Finn sighed. “Too high. You should have continued with your strategy.”

“I wasn’t aware I had one.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “Thirty… Forty… what comes next?”

“Fifty.”

He let go of my hand to give me a slow handclap. “Well done.”

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