Hopefully with Caleb there to enjoy it alongside her.
She didn’t like to think about how they were going to make a long distance relationship work when they were both so busy with their businesses, but she guessed if they were both fully invested in it they’d make it happen somehow. In fact she rather liked the idea of moving to Barcelona to be near him. Once the Zipabout car had its battery and had been released onto the market she’d be looking for a new project to start on anyway. The rest of her team could handle the day-to-day running of the sales and marketing side so she could work on new ideas remotely, at least to begin with.
But she was getting ahead of herself here. Caleb hadn’t talked about continuing their relationship past the end of this week and she’d be a fool to start planning her whole future around him.
Even if she wanted to. Very, very much.
She’d never felt more alive and excited about life than when she was with him. He had a way of bringing out the very best in her.
After choosing some new outfits and underwear to last her for the rest of the week she popped into a perfumery, which she’d spotted on one of the small side streets on her way there, sniffing at each of the bottles with delight and trying to identify the main ingredients in them.
Something shifted strangely inside her as she picked up a small, dark bottle in the shape of a swan. There was something incredibly familiar about it. Lifting it to her nose, she realised with a shock that she recognised the fragrance. It was one that Caleb had bought for her for a Christmas present, before they’d fallen out with each other. It had been the most exquisite thing she’d ever smelt and the revealing gesture of him taking the time to pick out and give her such a personal and intimate present had been the thing that had pushed her to finally admit how she really felt about him. She’d worn it on her skin for the whole week leading up to the last day of term, after they’d had their heart-to-heart about how they were perfect for each other and she’d promised him she’d finish her relationship with Jimmy as soon as she got home.
After she’d failed to come through on that promise and Caleb had made it clear he wanted nothing more to do with her she’d felt sick with shame and sadness every time she smelled that scent and had thrown it away.
She’d regretted that rashness for a long time afterwards though. In the end it was the only thing she’d had left to remind her of him. Despite repeated attempts to contact him and apologise, once he’d gone back to Spain she’d never heard from him again. It had been as if he’d never existed.
Smelling the scent again now brought back her intensely confused feelings of desperation to be with him, despite her fears that they just weren’t practically suited. A memory of him drawing her close, leaning in on the pretext of smelling the perfume on her neck and instead brushing his lips against her skin, flashed across her mind. It had been one of the happiest, most intimate, most electrifying moments of her life.
She’d often wished she could have bottled that feeling to remind her of happier times.
And now she had it, right here in her hand.
Striding over to the counter, she handed the perfume to the sales assistant and drew her purse out of her bag.
‘I’ve been searching for this for years,’ she said, giving the woman a delighted grin. ‘I’m so happy I’ve finally found it again.’
* * *
Caleb spent the day at work after calling his colleagues into a meeting to discuss how they’d move forward with both the partnership with the Americans and also with Elena’s company.
He’d set the tone at the very beginning by being more friendly and relaxed than usual and had smiled to himself as he’d caught the looks of bemusement and surprise that had passed between his colleagues.
There had been a real buzz of excitement in the room as he laid out what had happened in the last few days. He’d made a point of taking a step back so that the project managers had a chance to take the lead, even though he itched to stay fully in control, and it had yielded great results. They were all smiling and buoyed up by the time the meeting concluded, which, he realised with a shock of sudden insight, was an unusual occurrence. Before he would have left the roomful of people a little subdued after he’d demanded their best from them. Today he’d let them decide to do the best job they could, and it seemed to have paid off.
He’d learnt an important lesson recently about taking a less aggressive attitude towards business and he knew he had Elena to thank for that.
She was good for him—helped balance him somehow.
He showered and changed at work, putting on his best casual suit for dinner, aware of a low level of excitement about seeing Elena again this evening that had buzzed through his veins all day.
The traffic was bad and he tapped his fingers impatiently against the armrest of the car as his driver wound slowly through the early evening traffic.
‘It looks like everyone’s out for Valentine’s night, clogging up the roads,’ the driver muttered.
Caleb smiled at his grumpiness, thinking how great it was to be one of the people looking forward to an evening of romance for once.
Striding through the entrance of the restaurant, he bumped into a couple of people he knew socially who were also there for a romantic meal and they exchanged pleasantries, Caleb’s pulse jumping with impatience to see Elena again after spending the day away from her.
He appeared to have turned into a teenager again. Not that he could remember those years clearly. Bits and pieces had come back to him over the last couple of days, mostly feelings of not having fitted in to a small, close-knit community in the small town where he’d been raised, a few miles west of Barcelona.
It was strange, but he was aware that this bothered him much less now—now he knew he’d made something of himself and proved all those naysayers wrong about him. Now that he had Elena.
Finally finding an out in the conversation so he could say a polite farewell to his acquaintances, he made his way towards the maître d’s desk, where he was greeted with a smile of reverence and a warm welcome before being shown towards his table where, he was told, Elena was already waiting for him.
He’d chosen this restaurant because he liked its clean lines and no fuss décor, with its wall of glass which looked out onto a courtyard of flowers and olive trees, which were lit up tonight like some magical grotto. The simple wooden spoke-back chairs juxtaposed sharply with the pristine white tablecloths and blank walls, giving it all an understated but refined air. It was classy without being showy and he knew from experience that the food here was out of this world.
The perfect place to celebrate with Elena.
The table where she’d been seated was right next to the glass wall and the candle that flickered in front of her threw shadows onto the reflective surface, making it look as though she was sitting next to her ghostly double.
When she spotted him she stood up and smiled and his pulse skittered then began to jump in his throat. Gazing at her now brought home to him just how truly beautiful she was. Tonight she was wearing a fitted cocktail dress in a deep turquoise colour that made her iridescent eyes glow with warmth. Her pale golden hair flowed around her shoulders in waves, looking so lustrous in the soft light he ached to run his fingers through it.
In fact his overriding instinct right that second was to drag her into his arms and never let her go.
As he reached the table she stepped to the side and opened her arms for him to walk into her embrace, a wide smile playing about her lips and pleasure flashing in her eyes.
He dragged her roughly to him, burying his face in her hair and whispering, ‘I missed you today.’
‘I missed you too,’ she murmured back.
He