Her heart sunk. There it was, in black and white: meeting with Emma Francis, agreed for eleven, Thursday, 23rd July.
Which had been fifteen minutes ago.
How did I put that in the wrong bloody day?
She swore under her breath. Hopefully, Monica’s story about traffic would hold water, and her potential client, a promising young actress currently appearing in a minor role in a West End play, would be gracious enough to accept Carmen’s apologies.
My mind’s just not on the game these days. Not with everything that’s happening with Ash.
She shook her head as she exited the lift and scurried into the reception area. Now is not the time to dwell on that—focus!
Beverley gave her a rueful smile as Carmen walked quickly by.
“Does she have a drink?” Carmen threw over her shoulder.
“She does. She’s fine, Carmen. Don’t worry.”
Carmen dashed into the office, threw her handbag onto her desk, then grabbed her laptop.
“Need a coffee?” Monica asked from behind her.
Carmen whirled around. She hadn’t even seen her assistant standing in the centre of the office, such was her haste to gather herself together. “No, I’m fine. Just some water, please.”
Monica nodded, her eyes narrowed in her quizzical exploration of Carmen’s face. She opened her mouth, seemed to think better of it, and turned away to the water cooler.
With the glass of water in one hand, her laptop in the other, Carmen took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. You’ve got this. Focus . She strode out of the office to the small conference room.
When she opened the door, Emma Francis, a stunning blonde with elfin features, smiled at her from across the table.
“Emma.” Carmen held out her hand. “Carmen Lyttleton. It’s wonderful to meet you.”
Carmen flopped down onto her sofa and let out an extended breath. Jesus, what a day .
Thankfully, the meeting with Emma had gone well, despite its shaky start. But the tension of the morning, of having to abandon Ash in the middle of their coffee date, and the embarrassment Carmen had experienced when seeing the puzzled look on Monica’s face had left Carmen worn out.
She pulled her phone out of her handbag. The text message from Ash, sent at a little after eleven thirty that morning, was still unread. Carmen had been wary of opening it. She knew it was ridiculous; absolutely none of this was Ash’s fault. It was all Carmen’s own doing, her own confusion over what she was feeling for Ash. But somehow it was easier to ignore Ash than face up to her own culpability.
Come on. You’re a grown-up. Don’t be unfair to the woman . She could almost hear Felicity scolding her.
The text message was everything that made Ash so attractive.
Hey, I hope you made it back okay for the meeting. I’m sure you wowed them! Remember, it’s the weekend soon. Take some time to chill. And as soon as you want to buy me another pastry, you know where I am. Although I did eat yours after you left, so maybe that means I owe you?! Ha ha! Speak soon. Ash x
“My life would be so much easier if you weren’t so bloody nice,” Carmen said aloud as she stared at the phone’s screen.
She threw the phone onto the sofa and laid her head back against the cushions. What am I going to do? Everything seemed to be getting into such a mess. Her work was clearly suffering, yet so were her heart and mind. What was happening to her with regards to Ash was a big thing. Huge. Surely she should devote proper attention to it. Discovering that something as intrinsic as her sexuality seemed to have changed wasn’t an everyday occurrence, after all.
But if I do spend more time working that out, how do I keep up the concentration required to maintain and grow my business?
A low groan escaped her throat. This was impossible. She picked up the phone once more. Her upbringing and her sense of ethics dictated that she should at least respond to Ash. But what to say when all she wanted to do was run away and hope these feelings would disappear?
She sighed. No, I don’t want them to disappear. I like how I feel when I’m with her . And she liked how excited she was, deep down, at the prospect of being with someone again. She hadn’t felt that way in a long time. What did it matter that the object of her affections was another woman?
Slowly, she tapped out her reply.
Everything was fine. Sorry again for sprinting off. I don’t blame you for eating my pastry. I would have done the same! Not sure if we’ll find time to meet before you head off, but let’s see how things go.
She sent the message before she could change anything. She knew it wasn’t the most encouraging of replies, but right now all she could think was that she needed some time. Proper thinking time, to figure out what was going on with her emotions.
Maybe it’s a good thing she’s away soon. Maybe some time apart will show me if this is real or not.
Chapter 22
Friday dawned sunny and ridiculously hot—it was already beyond warm at nine in the morning and sticky by ten. Ash was thankful she’d installed air conditioning in the studio as she made her way there.
To her surprise, Sophie was already outside the studio when she arrived. “Hey. Have you been here long?”
Sophie shook her head. “Not really. Mum had a call asking her to go in a bit early, so I decided I might as well get going too.”
Ash opened up the studio and motioned Sophie inside. “So, had breakfast?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” Sophie made them both tea, and they got on with setting up for the day.
“So how are things at home? You mentioned yesterday that your mum might be calming down a bit?”
