Best of Bosses 2008(54)

She nodded. ‘That’s what the London Lets office said to do when I rang last night. They’re on my mobile phone.’ She showed him.

‘Good. Can you forward them to my email address?’ He scribbled an address on the back of a business card and handed it to her. ‘Or if it’s easier, print them out and drop them in to the office. I’ll be in touch as soon as I hear from the insurer about when we can get an industrial dehumidifier in and when we can start to replace the things you’ve lost.’

‘Thanks.’ Though even being here made Fran want to howl. It didn’t feel like her home any more. Just a damp, squelchy studio flat. And even when it had dried out, she had a feeling that it would never be the same again.



It was nearly lunchtime when she walked into the café.

‘Hey, we weren’t expecting you today.’ Sally gave her a hug and pushed a brownie into her hand. ‘Gio told us what happened to your flat. Are you OK?’

‘Yes,’ Fran lied.

Ian handed her a mug of hot chocolate. ‘You poor thing. It’s a nightmare when you get flooded out. And it takes ages to sort out.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘Tell me about it. I’ve spent the morning making a list of everything that was damaged. I can’t believe just a bit of water can do so much damage. Or that my neighbour forgot he was running the bath and went out for three hours.’

‘At least it was clean water,’ Ian said feelingly. ‘One of my mates got flooded out when the drains in his road couldn’t cope with a downpour. Not pleasant.’

‘Too much information. Especially in a café at this time of day,’ Sally said, miming a ‘zip lip’ motion.

Ian smiled ruefully. ‘Yeah. Sorry. But if I can do anything to help, Fran, just let me know.’

‘Me, too,’ Sally chipped in.

‘Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it.’ She smiled and walked into the office. Gio was sitting in her chair, making a phone call. As soon as he saw her he ended the call, swivelled round in the chair, opened his arms and tipped his head back slightly in invitation.

She couldn’t resist the appeal; she leaned over and kissed him.

‘No, no, you’re too far away.’ He pulled her onto his lap, held her close and kissed her again. ‘Mmm. That’s better.’

She wriggled on his lap. ‘Gio, we’re at work.’

He glanced at his watch. ‘Officially, we’re at lunch,’ he corrected. There was a mischievous quirk at the corner of his mouth. ‘Pity I don’t have a lock on the door. Except then I might be tempted to take a very, very long lunch.’

‘Gio. We can’t. Not here.’

He stole another kiss. ‘I’ll just have to take a rain check. Until we get home.’

‘Yeah. And I remember the last time you said that. “Hold that thought until later,”,’ she mimicked.

‘Mmm.’ He gave her a wide, wide smile. ‘And it was worth being late for work for the first time in over ten years.’

‘Ten years?’ Her eyes widened. ‘Gio—’

He put a finger against her lips. ‘Shh. Stop worrying. Sal opened up for me and we didn’t lose any customers. Though I think it’s going to cost me in brownies.’ He rubbed his nose against hers. ‘So, how did it go this morning?’

‘The flat smells to high heaven.’ She swallowed hard. ‘Like a dog who’s been out in the rain, rolled in every puddle he can see and is just starting to dry off.’

He grimaced in sympathy. ‘Ouch. Unpleasant.’

‘But the agency was really good. They’re putting the wheels in motion, getting the insurance company to bring in an industrial dehumidifier to dry the place out.’ She sighed. ‘The carpet’s shrunk already, so I think they’re just going to rip it out.’

He stroked her hair. ‘You OK?’

‘Yes. Well, no,’ she admitted, and leaned her head against his shoulder. ‘It didn’t feel like my flat any more.’

‘It will do. When it’s dried out, the ceiling’s fixed, there’s a new carpet and we’ve painted the walls. It’ll be fine.’

She damped down the surge of disappointment. Honestly, how ridiculous could she get? Of course she was going back to her own place when it was habitable again. Moving in with him was only temporary; and, had he not sleepwalked the previous night, they wouldn’t have shared a bed either.

‘But until then,’ he said softly, ‘I hope you stay with me. And I know I’m being selfish, but I hope they take absolutely ages to fix everything.’

Oh-h-h. If he’d asked her to walk to the moon and back for him, right at that moment, she would’ve said yes.