it was Raul, one of the potential buyers for the hotel, and then she remembered how he would know her. ‘You were in the ballroom when Alim...’ Her voice trailed off as she recalled how Alim had scolded and then dismissed her that day.
It had been the day Lucia had been born!
Oh, she had been cross, so cross with Alim, though this stranger was clearly not to blame for that!
‘I’m hoping to meet with Alim.’
‘Good luck!’ Gabi rolled her eyes. ‘He’s back home.’
‘Oh!’
‘For his wedding.’
‘I see.’
‘I’m planning it, actually.’
She felt as if she was about to cry.
‘Can you let him know I need to speak with him?’
‘I’m a wedding planner,’ Gabi said, and she let a little of her anger out before walking off. ‘I don’t get access to the Sultan.’
* * *
Saying goodbye to Lucia was incredibly hard.
She had already been staying at her mother’s this weekend.
Going back to work yesterday and leaving little Lucia for twelve hours had seemed agony at the time but now she would be away for two days and two nights.
One day would be spent travelling to Zethlehan, then a night at a luxurious hotel followed by a day of meetings with Violetta.
The second night would be spent travelling back to Rome and then finally she would see Lucia again.
Gabi had been unable to feed Lucia herself, so there wasn’t any problem with that, but it ached to see her little girl asleep in her crib and to know that she was about to leave.
‘Don’t wake her,’ Carmel said, because she could see that Gabi was about to pick her up.
‘I’m going to miss her.’
‘Gabi, even if you weren’t going to Zethlehan you would barely have seen her this weekend, what with the wedding and everything.’
‘I know.’
Her hours were proving difficult and Gabi knew she was asking a lot from her mother just to keep her job. Carmel had raised one child alone and did not want to do it again. Right now, there were bills that needed to paid and so Carmel had agreed to help with Lucia for a few months, but after that...
‘You could work with Rosa,’ Carmel said.
Gabi had considered it, yet, as much as she cared for Rosa, Gabi did not want another boss. Still, it was the more practical solution and right now Gabi was beyond exhausted and could feel her grip loosening on her dreams.
Carmel went down to check if the taxi had arrived and Gabi kissed Lucia’s little cheek and whispered that she was the sunshine of her life—‘Sei il sole della mia vita.’
She wanted better for her, Gabi knew—which was part of the reason she was on her way to a new adventure.
What an adventure!
Gabi had flown before, but only within Italy and only for work.
Bernadetta, of course, would fly business class while Gabi sat way back in the bowels of the plane.
It was very different today!
Champagne was offered before they had even taken off but Gabi declined and took water as she was trying to be good. While the weight had fallen off while she’d been pregnant, Gabi had been thin for about two days after Lucia had been born and then her milk had come in, closely followed by the return of her curves.
A meal was served, then her bed prepared, while Gabi went and put on the pyjamas they offered her.
‘Would you like to be woken for a meal before landing?’
It was a nine-hour flight to Zethlehan and Gabi was about to say that there was no chance of her not being woken, when again she was reminded that she was without Lucia.
‘That would be lovely,’ Gabi said.
The cabin lights were dimmed and Gabi lay there, sure, quite sure, that she would be too nervous to sleep.
Instead, she woke to a gentle shake of her shoulder and was informed that her meal would be served shortly; she had slept for seven hours. It wasn’t just her first decent sleep since Lucia had been born, it was her first decent sleep since the morning Alim had so cruelly ended things.
Far from nervous, it was so nice to feel rested.
She made her way to the very nice bathroom where there was actually a shower. It felt wonderful to shower high in the sky and after she had washed and brushed her teeth and styled her hair, she took her Pill. Not that she would be needing it, but Gabi now took it every day. Not for this moment, and not to be ready for Alim, more because the absolute abandon between them that night had scared her.
In the cold light of day, she had realised that in bed with Alim she did not know her own mind.
In the deep of the night he had owned her so completely.
The absolute lack of thought and control had had her vow never to be so foolish again. No more chances.
Then she put on the heavy dark trouser suit and swore that if she ever did get her own business there would be a fitting, international choice.
Gabi returned to her seat and light refreshments and as she looked out over the ocean, Gabi amended that thought.
When she had her own business.
Sleep really was an amazing healer, and the distance from home combined with the white noise of the plane allowed her to think more clearly.
Alim had been harsh that morning when they had spoken and he had said that her mother used Gabi as an excuse. Yet he wasn’t necessarily wrong.
Gabi didn’t dwell on her mother’s choices. She focussed instead on her own future, and her daughter’s, for it was Lucia’s future she wanted to improve upon too.
But first she had these days to get through.
Would she see him?
Gabi hoped so.
All the hurt, all the anger and the fact he was to marry should be enough to bury for good her feelings for him.
Yet they rose again and again, and more so since Lucia had been born, for every time she opened her eyes Gabi was reminded of the magic of him.
And the impossibility of them.
There were cross-winds, the pilot had warned them, and Gabi felt them as the plane came into land.
Her stomach lurched as
