“So, street food all over the world, huh?” Carmen leaned forward slightly in her seat. The shoulders of her top moved with the action and revealed more bare skin around her collarbone.
Ash admonished herself for noticing.
“You like travel, then?” Carmen continued.
Ash snorted. “Oh God, you could say that. It’s my addiction.”
“I can think of worse addictions to have.”
“Now that’s true.”
“So, where have you been?” Carmen asked. “You mentioned Australia and New Zealand. They were first?”
“Yes, that’s where I really got started. I mean, I’d done lots of the European cities, and with my job I’d been to the States a couple of times. But with the latter you never actually get to see the place you’re visiting. Just your hotel, the office, and the airport.”
Carmen nodded. “Yes, I know. I’ve been to L.A. so many times over the years and still couldn’t tell you anything about it.”
“Yeah, I get it. I think that’s why the Australia trip has such good memories for me. It’s the first trip I did where I got to fully explore the place, get an understanding for it, feel the culture.”
“Tell me.” Carmen settled back in her chair with her glass in her hand, her gaze focused on Ash.
Whenever Ash had tried talking to her sister or to her ex, Leesa, about her travels, their eyes had glazed over with boredom. Damian was the only one who understood her passion for it, but Carmen looked genuinely eager to hear all about it too.
“Do you remember I quit my job at the bank?” Ash asked.
Carmen nodded.
“Well that was the catalyst. For a lot of things, but travel was definitely one of them. I worked at the bank with an Aussie guy called Damian. We got on like a house on fire—in fact, he was the only one who kept me sane in the last couple of years there. Anyway, he suggested meeting me in Australia and we’d do a road trip. I ended up staying there for over three months.”
“Wow!”
“Yep. It was so good. We saw so many places, met so many amazing people.”
“Tell me,” Carmen repeated quietly.
“Really?”
“Yes. Please. I’d love to hear about it. A road trip is something I have a dream of doing for myself.” She chuckled. “In a convertible. Clichéd, I know, but… One day.” She pursed her lips. “So tell me what I’ve been missing.”
When Ash finally noticed how dark the sky had become, she was stunned to realize she’d talked for nearly an hour. Her drink was long finished; Carmen had offered her another, but she’d declined and switched to water. Carmen had bought herself a second Negroni but also sipped at water too. She’d returned from the bar with a selection of nuts and crunchy snacks that they’d been nibbling on for the last ten minutes or so.
Carmen had asked insightful questions, appeared genuinely enraptured by some of the stories Ash had shared, and couldn’t seem to get enough of hearing about the world and all the places she’d yet to see. Talking to Carmen was like talking to her own younger self, the person she had been fifteen years ago, when she had started to earn the serious money at the bank and the world opened up to her.
“So where’s next?” Carmen asked.
Ash grinned, her excitement instant. “Three weeks in South Africa next month. I’m heading to Kruger National Park for a self-drive safari, and I cannot wait.”
“Okay, I’m not jealous. Not at all.” Carmen grimaced, but her eyes sparkled. “God, that sounds amazing!”
“I know. I’ve been planning it for months, and I can’t believe it’s less than four weeks away.”
“So what happens to the studio while you’re gone?”
Ash shrugged. “It’s closed. I never book clients in August—lots of people are on holiday themselves, so I decided early on to take that month off every year. So far it’s worked brilliantly.”
“God, I can’t imagine closing my entire business for a whole month!” Carmen shook her head.
“When was the last time you took a proper holiday? From your reactions to my tales, I get the impression it’s been a while.”
Carmen huffed out a breath. “Yes, it has. I think I mentioned how hard I’ve worked to build up my agency, to get the kind of reputation I have now. Well, of course, that’s come at a price.” She gave a rueful smile. “My brother lives in Paris, and he keeps inviting me over to stay for at least a weekend. I can’t even find time to do that.” She absently stroked the pale skin of one of her forearms as she spoke.
Watching Carmen’s fingers move made Ash wonder how they would feel touching her skin. Stroking her, teasing her. Whoa. Ash reached for her water and took a long gulp. “So how did you get into this line of work? And is it what you were always going to do? I mean, if I’m prying, then say so, but it just… Well, it seems to me that your work doesn’t make you very happy at the moment and stops you doing other things you’d really like to do, so…”
Carmen’s shoulders slumped. She drained the last of her Negroni. “Once I got started in this industry, I loved it. I loved how every day threw up something different. I loved how many interesting people I met. When I took the step to branch out and start my own agency, I was so excited about what I could do. Scared, yes, but I had confidence in myself because I knew I was right where I was supposed to be.”
“That’s so cool. Not many people have that luxury. They end up in jobs that just bring in the money, not jobs that challenge them or satisfy them.”
“Exactly. I saw it happen to so many of my peers from university. I knew I was lucky, and I’ve counted my blessings ever since. So it doesn’t sit well with me that I’m
