Chapter 16

"What's the word on the delivery truck? Are they able to come an hour earlier?" I ask Gabe, my eyes flicking through the checklist on my clipboard.

Gabe glances down at his phone, checking his email. "Yep, they can do that, but they will charge us."

"Fine. But they?definitely?know where the bakery is, right?" I frown, failing to sound calm.

"Yes, the guy was saying how his mum buys from there all the time. He knows where to go."

"But they know how to get here, right? To the hotel."

Gabe stares at me. "Hun, I love it when you treat me like I'm on death row and all, but it's under control."

I pop the last of my vanilla infused chocolate in my mouth, instantly feeling better.

"Sorry, it's not you. I don't want to screw this up. I can't." I'd rather ask the annoying questions now, rather than have it all blow up in my face on the day. I'm being pedantic, but I have to be.

The wedding is still another three days away but I'm treating it like it's happening in two. Some of the guests will be arriving today which means I need to start finalising details, pronto. Gabe and I are sitting on my bed, going through some new developments that have occurred.

The four tier vanilla and lemon iced cake has been ordered but at Amelia's insistence, it has been commission by a tiny bakery in Naples. Not only is it an hour and a half drive, they won't do delivery so I've had to hire a third party delivery service. After interviewing the top courier services, I finally hired one, but there's always that nagging voice at the back of my head that something might go wrong.

Gabe gives me a reassuring glance. "Do you think Amelia speaks any Italian herself? She could have hired anyone she wanted, a local wedding planner even but she wanted you to plan her special day. You've got your run sheets, your back up of the back-ups. Even your unorthodox methods manage to get you through the line, so just do what you always do."

"Do you think they will work here?" Back home, I'm in my comfort zone. Here, I can barely have a conversation with anybody without having to say?si?and?grazie a dozen times. Either I seem really polite, or a smiling psychopath.

"Sweetie, I think your bossiness knows no boundaries," he teases.

"Neither does your sassiness. But you did make a mistake," I tap the clipboard with my finger, feigning annoyance.

"What? Where" He looks at his laptop quickly.

"You said she hired me. Actually, she hired us." I smirk at him.

Even though this has been more of a holiday for him, he's still been helping me out behind the scenes. Not only did he confirm the whole shenanigan with Amelia, he's been so good with helping with any communication issues we've encountered. From speaking to the florists, delivery people, and decorators, Gabe ensured that an understanding was agreed to. He saved me from tearing my hair out on several occasions, especially the time when I couldn't get the decorators to understand that I wanted long thin ribbons, not sashes put on the chairs.????

He scoffs. "Geez, you scared me for a moment! Nuh-uh. Other than make a few phone calls, I've been working on my tan and having way too many lemon sorbets. What about you? Besides locking yourself in here like a caged animal, are you having a holiday?"?

"We're here to work."

"It's a working holiday."

"There's no such thing. You either work or you are on holiday," I insist.

He sighs loudly. "Well in that case are you enjoying yourself, are you able to relax and unwind?"

Kind of. To be honest I've been busy with getting up to scratch that I haven't really thought of relaxing. Besides, when I'm working on a wedding, I can't relax until it is completed perfectly. Even if it is in one of the most gorgeous hotels in the world, in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Work aside, I have several other reasons for locking myself in. My fear of heights has gotten the better of me. Instead of enjoying my beautiful surroundings, taking a day trip up to Positano and Vico Equense and exploring sights like the Gardens of Villa Cimbrone and Mount Vesuvius, I've been staying near the hotel and exploring the local shops. The rest of the time, I'm at the downstairs café on my laptop checking emails, sending emails, replying to emails.?

?"Yes, I am," I lie. Between my own mounting pressure to perform the perfect day, my increasing nerves at the fact that I'm sitting on this steep mountaintop, Tristan being setup with a pretty blonde yoga teacher and going bar-hopping with other women, and a hot Italian artist wanting to draw me, I have a lot to juggle in my mind. Having quiet and private time to myself isn't so bad at all.

?"Uh huh, yeah I'll bet you're having a blast staying in this hotel room glued to your laptop. Are you sure there isn't?anything?you need me to do for you?"

"No, you've done plenty. I just need to"

"Drink more? Get some vitamin D? Get some action? What?" he lists hurriedly.

?"Chocolate?" I close the laptop, keen to take a break.

"Why do you?insist?on fattening me up? But okay." He grins and I get off the bed and take out my raspberry block from my suitcase.

Sitting back on to the bed we both take a square and moan in unison, enjoying it together.

"Well, I have to admit the people are so polite and friendly," I say.

"And the men, too." Gabe's eyes widen as he swallows his chocolate. "Oh my god, speaking of hot men, did you take a look at the photographer Amelia hired? Mmmmhmmmm! I would much rather taste him than this chocolate, let me tell you. You have a good friend in her."

"Oh Matteo? I've spoken to him." Not to mention, I've hung out with him privately.

"Matteo? What a hot ass name! What's he like? Spill, girl."

I shrug my shoulders. "He's nice" Not to mention I'm meeting him for a private painting session tonight, but I would rather not tell Gabe now because he will never stop talking about it.

"You know Italian men are packing heat."

"What does that mean?" I take another square and sit up, popping it into my mouth.

"They have big doodles."

I clamp a hand over my mouth, forcing myself to swallow the chocolate and stifling a giggle. My goodness, thank god we're somewhere private!

"I'm choosing to ignore that comment. Anyway, I just hope he's easy to work with."

He looks at me dubiously. "More like, you hope he's easy to sleep with. I bet you want him to take you to pound town instead."

"Gabe!"

He raises an eyebrow. "What's wrong with admitting he's hot? It's not a crime, you know."

"Well anyway, he's the photographer which means he's off limits."

"Correction, he's the delicious Italian photographer who is definitely in limits." He sighs loudly. "If you change your mind, I?suppose?I can let you have him."

"Nothing will happen with him!" I'm a professional, here for work. Not to ogle men I'm working with.

He points at me, his eyes widening. "Liar, liar pants on fire. You are as red as the wine I had last night!" Gabe checks his watch. "Crap, I better get ready. Rodrigo wants to take me to this place Montepertuso, they do this amazing seafood platter. If it's good, I'll go with you later alright?"

"Okay, sure. Have fun," I lean in kiss him on the cheek.

Gabe scoots out of the room and I go back to the dining table and open up the laptop and go to my email portal, to see a fresh email in my inbox. It's from Matteo!

From: Matteo Di Lorenzo

Subject: Re: Run Sheet Amelia and Kieran Wedding

Date: 4 May 2016 14:42

To: Lacey Ryan

Signorina Lacey,

Thank you for sending me the run sheet with locations and times, please see attached file with changes.

Am I still seeing you tomorrow? :)

From: Lacey Ryan

Subject: Re: Run Sheet Amelia and Kieran Wedding

Date: 4 May 2016 14:54

To: Matteo Di Lorenzo

I think I have some spare time to help out a struggling artist ;)

From: Matteo Di Lorenzo

Subject: Re: Run Sheet Amelia and Kieran Wedding

Date: 4 May 2016 14:59

To: Lacey Ryan

Haha I'm not struggling!

Meet me 8pm same place the other day (the tree)? :)

From: Lacey Ryan

Subject: Re: Run Sheet Amelia and Kieran Wedding

Date: 4 May 2016 15:06

To: Matteo Di Lorenzo

Sure, see you then :)

I have to admit, I'm really looking forward to this. When else am I going to get a chance to be sketched, and in Italy of all places?

I'm working away on my laptop when my phone buzzes, and I have to blink twice to make sure I'm looking at the right name when I look at the screen. Tristan is calling me, again. I haven't spoken to him since that drunken call a few days ago, and I heard a woman call out to him. I've been trying to suppress any thoughts of him, but here he is, springing to the forefront of my mind again. Butterflies form in my stomach. Why does that keep happening?

Shaking off my newfound nerves, I slide the phone to talk to him. "Hey!" I say, trying to sound casual and confident.

"Hey, how are you?" His voice is formal and curt, unlike the last time I spoke to him. "How is everything going, are the wedding preparations coming along smoothly?"

Is that why he called me? To check on how my work is progressing?

"Yeah it's good. I guess I'm getting a practice run hey before I work with you." I laugh softly.

"Any concerns with planning a destination wedding, how are you finding it?" He sounds so serious now, this feels like some sort of business call.

"Ummwell apart from the language barrier with some people and having to work the phone codes, it's been pretty good. Nothing that I haven't dealt with before," I quip, suddenly feeling like I have to prove something to him.

"Did you fly okay?" His voice is now warm.

"Yeah it was fine, plane ride was a bit bumpy. It doesn't help that the hotel is on a cliff top, but other than that I'm having a blast."

"I apologise for the other night, when I called you. I was a bit tipsy as you could tell." He laughs softly, and he sounds embarrassed. "I was just a bit surprised you left so suddenly, I thought maybe I chased you off."

I bite my lip at the way he said it, like he wishes I didn't leave. Wishful thinking of course.

"So you thought a drunken call at 3am would be a good idea?"

He sniggers. "Well Hansley told me then, so what was I supposed to do?"

"Honestly the timing was purely coincidental and"

"Can I have dinner with you?"

My heart leaps into my chest. The way he said it sounded intimate.

"Dinner?" I say, suppressing my rising excitement.

"Well, I'm not sure about you, but people tend to eat dinner because they're hungry and they need to replenish their stomach," he says mockingly.

Never mind about the intimate part. Does he have to be such an ass-wipe sometimes?

"Since you ran off, I didn't get a chance to go through how we're going to work together. I need to talk with you about the business, setting up and logistics," he quickly reverts to a serious and formal tone.

Of course it's work related, how deluded of me to think he was asking me out.

"Sure, we can do that"

"Lacey, I wanted to talk about...that day."

Uh-oh. He's addressing the proverbial pink elephant in the room.

"Yeah, what about it?" My voice is slightly shaky.

He pauses for a moment. "I need to make sure there will be no awkwardness if we are going to be working together."

How ironic because he's just made it awkward all on his own by bringing it up. "Awkwardness?"

"Is everything okay with us? After you know"

I can feel a large lump forming in my throat. We're going to be working together, of course we need to establish some ground rules. And I'm assuming he means no more kissing on the fly.

"Yeah, of course! I've totally forgotten about it," I lie. No, it's not okay! I wish I stayed that day and kissed you again and again.

Complete silence ensues on the other line, then he says quietly, "You have?"

I clear my throat, trying my best to sound cool and collected. "Don't think any further of it, okay?"I raise my voice, almost sounding shrill.

"Oh. Good. I just thought" He pauses, and I hear him hitch his breath. "Anyway! I just wanted to make it clear that what happened was a once-off and it will never happen again, in case you were wondering. I'm glad we're on the same page."

I blink rapidly, pressing my mouth together tightly. It will never happen again. Translation: I want you to get over any delusional fantasies of being with me, so I can go out with hot yoga teachers and take girls out to bars until 3am. In case I was wondering? He's the one who kissed me!

"I understand," I murmur.

"Are you sure?" His voice is quiet, yet full of unease. I sense him wanting to say more, but he doesn't.

"Yes, it's all under the carpet. I promise," I say dryly.

He breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you, I appreciate that"

Suddenly the door opens wide and Gabe bursts into the room, looking sharp in his casual blazer and chino pants. He looks like an excited puppy dog. "Oh my god! I just ran into Matteo. Mmmmhmmm!" he says loudly, dashing up to me.

"Hold on one second," I pull the phone away from my ear, looking at Gabe. "Hmm?"

"Says he's looking forward to tonight, you slut! You didn't tell me you were having a date with him!"

Oh crap, Tristan can probably hear all of this. I cover the phone with my hand.

"Can we talk about this later?" I whisper. I mouth 'caterer' to him and he widens his eyes.

"Oh shit, sorry. We need to talk ASAP, ciao!" He scoots out and I'm not sure I want to return to the conversation I was having.

I put the receiver to my ear, complete silence greets me.

"So, is that true. What he said? You and the photographer?" He growls, and I can practically hear the venom dripping from his voice.

"Oh, that was nothing"

I hear him breathe sharply. "Just be mindful that you need to maintain a professional image at all times. I don't want my brand tarnished by your coquettish shenanigans as they will have an impact on the way you are perceived by clients."

Is he implying that I'm a? I'm done with this conversation.

"Look, is there anything else you need to say? This is an expensive phone call that could have been resolved over a text message," I snap, failing to hide my rising irritation.

His nostrils flare, loudly. Something tells me he doesn't like being flouted. "No, I suppose not."

"Good. Anyway, I have to go. I'll let you know when I'm back. Bye!" I hang up.

I put my phone on the desk, pushing it away from me. How dare he assume I would think that? He may be charming but god, sometimes he is so arrogant and rude it's insufferable. Does he really think that little of me? Yes, I lied, but what choice did I have? What was I supposed to say to him? That I've been pining over him non-stop, that I haven't been able to stop thinking about the way he looked at me on my intended wedding day, the way he touched me, the way his touch spread heat on my skin like wildfire? No, I couldn't, and he's just reiterated that I said the right thing. And to think that here he was, thinking I was going all gaga over him! There goes any thought I had of him being appealing.

Gabe is right, I do need to enjoy myself. Matteo is right, I'm in Italy for god's sake I do need to get out of this hotel.

I stand up and go to the bed, grabbing the hotel phone and dialling it frantically. An entire afternoon of facials, massages and manicures await me, and now I have the perfect excuse to get pampered. I will have fun here.