T Williams - To Rome, with Love

She flicked through the papers on her desk, glancing idly at the June copy of the Travel Trade Gazette before setting it to one side for future reference. Somehow, the idea of losing herself in her work had considerable appeal. If she could.

‘I brought you some coffee, Sarah.’ She didn’t hear Melissa’s footsteps until she came in and put the two cups down on the desk. Sarah was relieved to see that the box of cupcakes had not reappeared with her. Melissa pulled up a chair. She almost looked as if she was going to cry. ‘Oh, Sarah, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you and what you’ve been through.’

‘Just leave it now, please, Mel. What’s done’s done and I’d really rather not talk about it.’ Sarah took a deep breath and did her best to forget the tattered remains of her personal life and concentrate on the job. ‘We’ll start with the charity bike ride, I think. Venice to Rome. That all kicks off this coming weekend, doesn’t it? Is everything booked?’

Melissa checked her pad. ‘It’s all booked and fixed.’ She looked up and tried to lighten the atmosphere. ‘I bet you wish you were going, too, don’t you? Cycling’s sort of your thing, isn’t it?’

Sarah nodded, glad of the distraction. ‘I’d enjoy the cycling, but I really don’t feel like being charming and helpful to a bunch of people just now. No, I’m going to be just fine here in the office, with my head down, sorting out what’s going to be on offer to the travelling public next year.’

‘Paul made the last of the bookings for the bike ride.’ There was something in Melissa’s voice that made Sarah glance up. She wasn’t mistaken. There was definitely a dreamy look in her PA’s eyes. Somehow this served to lighten her mood a little.

‘Paul… you mean Paul Hall? I thought he was still over in the States.’

‘No, he’s back in London now, as is his big brother, Miles. They came back last week while you were away. And apparently, they’re both going on the Italian bike ride. We had to book two more rooms in the hotels. Something about familiarising themselves with the sharp end of the travel business.’ Melissa glanced over her shoulder at the open door and lowered her voice. ‘The word is that old Mr Hall’s finally retiring and handing it all over to the boys.’ Her expression darkened. ‘From what people are saying, Miles might well be planning some major changes.’ She was looking worried now. ‘And if that leads to redundancies, I’m sure I’d be one of the first to go. You’ve been at Hall’s for ages, haven’t you, but I only started last year.’

Sarah was reaching across the desk for her coffee, but she switched direction, caught Melissa’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. ‘I’m sure you’d be the last to go, Mel. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’ She managed an encouraging smile and saw the relief on Melissa’s face. She picked up her coffee and took a mouthful, murmuring appreciatively. Melissa had obviously gone all the way to the cafeteria to get the good stuff. That was something that had definitely improved over the nine years she had been working here. When she’d first started at Hall’s, the coffee had been undrinkable. ‘Here, have a cupcake. At least they weren’t ruined.’ In spite of her resolve, she couldn’t help the note of bitterness in her voice.

‘Oh, Sarah…’ Luckily, Melissa was prevented from saying more as a tall figure appeared at the door, leaning casually against the frame.

‘Knock, knock. Hi, Sarah, welcome back.’ As he walked into the room, Sarah couldn’t miss the expression of adoration on Melissa’s face, not dissimilar to the look their old dog used to produce every time food appeared in his vicinity. This thought also helped her to adopt what she hoped would sound like a normal tone.

‘Hello, Paul. Long time, no see. How was Harvard, or was it Yale?’

He came over to her desk and extended his hand, leaning towards her with a winning smile. As he did so, he shot a sideways glance at Melissa, who blushed and choked on her cupcake. He looked as if he had been working out while in the States. Sarah didn’t remember his shoulders being quite so broad.

‘Right first time. Harvard Business School, and it was good. What about you?’ He took a closer look at her. ‘You’ve got awfully red eyes. Are you all right?’

‘Hay fever, I’m afraid.’ It wasn’t very inspired, but it would have to do.

‘How awful for you. You’ve just been away for a week, haven’t you? I thought you were going to be off for longer. What’ve you been doing? Did you go somewhere nice?’

‘I just stayed around and sorted out some stuff.’

Sarah was vaguely aware of Melissa starting to hiccup, but she avoided looking in her direction. She took a good look at Paul. She hadn’t seen him for quite a while, since he had gone off to do his MBA. He and his elder brother, Miles, were both good-looking men, but she could see why Paul’s reputation as the company heartthrob had come about. He was probably a year or two younger than her, no more than in his late twenties, had a lovely, warm smile, and his brown eyes sparkled as he looked down at her.

He caught her eye. ‘So you didn’t go off somewhere with some lucky young man?’

Melissa’s choking now developed into something approaching cardiac arrest and Paul was quick to offer a helping hand, turning back to assist her, patting her on the back. Whether physical contact with him was the best thing for Melissa in the circumstances was debatable. Her cheeks, which had already been flushed, were now glowing red, but her discomfort had the effect of changing the subject, about which Sarah was immensely glad. She waited until Melissa had regained the use of her lungs before addressing Paul once more, avoiding his question.

‘Thanks for helping out in my absence.’ Secretly she hoped he hadn’t done too much “helping out”, like he had a couple of seasons earlier. It had taken her a week to sort everything out afterwards. In those days he had been far more interested in his social life than work and she wondered whether his newly acquired MBA meant his priorities would now change. ‘So, what’s next for you, Paul, now that you’ve finished your studies?’

‘Back to work, but starting with two weeks on a bike. My dad seems to think Miles and I need to get down and dirty with the punters.’ He shot a glance across at Melissa, who, fortunately, had relinquished the remains of her cupcake and was looking down, wiping residual moisture from her eyes. ‘I’ll tell you all about Harvard over lunch if you’re free.’ He grinned. ‘Or over dinner if you like.’

‘I’ll be lucky if I have time for a sandwich today, thanks, but we’ll catch up later on in the week, I’m sure.’ Dinner with anybody was most definitely not what she wanted now – or, the way she was feeling, any time in the foreseeable future, and particularly not with a man. Even if that man was as good-looking as Paul and soon to be her boss, if the rumours were to be believed. She just wanted to forget about men for a while and try to get on with her life.

If he was disappointed, he didn’t show it. With a parting glance at Melissa that elicited another outbreak of blushing, he headed back towards the door. ‘ A bientôt .’ And he left.

As she had predicted, Sarah didn’t even have a lunch break and she preferred it that way, so as to avoid having to meet people. After the cupcakes had done the rounds, she felt sure everybody would now know what had happened to her and she dreaded being asked to talk about it. She spent all morning and most of the afternoon working her way through her emails. She knew she had a reputation in the company as a meticulous stickler for accuracy and she was going to do her best not to let a little thing like being dumped at the altar get in the way of that. Also, the deeper she immersed herself in her job, the less time she had to think about that tall, blue-eyed, handsome bastard, James. At least, that was the plan.