Page 26 of Where There's A Will
When I opened the door, he was balancing a cheesecake on one hand. “I owe you dessert. You were supposed to eat it with Bree and I stole it.”
I laughed. “Honestly! One night, wine, the next dessert? You really are trying to win me over with the contents of your restaurant, aren’t you?” I supposed I should have been grateful Hugo took me there on our supposed anniversary. Otherwise I wouldn’t be reaping the benefits of it now. Then I remembered I hadn’t heard from Hugo since speaking to him on Tuesday night. Not even a message with flight details. Was the trip even going to happen?
“Well, can I come in?”
Will brought me back to the present and I nodded.
It was almost a repeat of the previous evening. Feeding each other cheesecake led to kissing and kissing nearly led to me taking him to bed. Again.
“Oh, you’re good,” I grumbled, as I shoved him towards the exit at midnight. “Go home. I’m a good girl.”
“You’re very good,” Will agreed as he slapped me on my ass on his way out. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Montana.” He treated me to a wide grin before I closed the door.
I slumped against it. I missed him already.
When Will didn’t actually turn up at my door on Thursday night as he had promised, I really did miss him. There was a part of me that wanted to go to his apartment to see him, but I didn’t. I don’t know what stopped me. Maybe it was the massive argument that the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other were having. The angel won out, reminding me that London was getting closer and closer. Even though I still hadn’t actually heard from Hugo directly, on Thursday afternoon, a massive bunch of pink, orange and white gerberas arrived at my desk. The bouquet was accompanied by a card:Looking forward to our week together. See you Saturday. Hxx
He’d never sent me flowers at work in the whole time we’d been together, so it was a pleasant surprise. I hugged the card close to my chest, the excitement for our trip bubbling up again. Hugo was a changed man, I was sure of it. Although when I called him to say thank you, his phone went straight to voicemail. I left him a message, but he didn’t call me back.
I brooded all through Friday, nearly stopping by the restaurant at lunchtime to see if Will was there.
But by the time Friday night came around, I was so excited I could barely contain myself. Bree had stopped by the apartment and we ended up sorting out my wardrobe for the trip.
There were clothes all over the bed and available space in the bedroom as I tried to pick out suitable outfits for every possible scenario. One pile was for dinner dresses and smart jeans and blouses. Then there were garments suitable for the countryside. Not to mention the collection of boots, shoes, flats and sneakers.
I held up a tweed blazer. “What do you think of this?”
Bree’s nose wrinkled. “For what? Have you joined some kind of country club?”
Deflated, I let the item drop. “Well, if Hugo takes me to the country, then I want to be sure I look the part.”
“And he’s told you you’re going to the country?”
“Well, no, not exactly. He hasn’t told me much, only that he’s picking me up in the morning.”
I’d sent Hugo a couple of messages but he hadn’t even had the courtesy to respond, even though the app showed he had at least read them. Somewhere in the distance an alarm bell started ringing, but I ignored it.
Plus I also hadn’t told Bree about Will and his visits to my apartment.
Bree huffed. “Then you should probably pack everything.” She plopped onto the bed and folded her arms. “I’m bored. Let’s go and get a drink.”
“Okay, but I can’t be back late. I’ll need to finish this and I’ve got an early start.”
“Whatever, I need a drink.”
We went to a bar a short walk away from my apartment block and ordered a bottle of wine. I couldn’t understand why Bree wasn’t happy for me and began to ask her about it, when I spotted Will and Roman come in.
Somehow, my arm shot up of its own accord and I waved the two of them over.
“Hey, how did your audition go the other day?” I asked Will.
I missed the look of raised eyebrows which passed between Bree and Roman.
“Still waiting to hear if I get a callback,” he replied. “And how’s the packing for the trip going?”
“You should see the state of her bedroom,” Bree chipped in. “You can’t see the bed for clothes.”
“I can imagine.” Will gave me a secret smile.
