Down Under With Dad’s Best Friend by Flora Ferrari

Chapter Eleven

Sean

My phone rings and I look at it in surprise. Who could be calling me this late? Maybe someone from work who’s forgotten which time zone I’m in right now, who doesn’t realize that it’s past time I should be asleep if I want to be of any use tomorrow.

I pick it up hesitantly, looking at the screen. I don’t recognize the number. That could mean that this is going to be a really unwelcome, stressful call – there’s nothing like having to deal with a stranger throwing questions at you when you’re sleep-deprived.

But then it hits me that it could be someone else calling, someone else whose number I also wouldn’t know, and I hurry to put it to my ear.

“Hello?” I say, my heart pounding wildly with hope.

“Hi, Sean? It’s Candace.” I didn’t need to hear her say her name – I knew it was her the moment I heard her voice.

“Oh, hi,” I say, trying to keep my voice cool. “Are you alright?” I hope something hasn’t happened already, for her to call me back so quickly.

“No,” she says, quickly. Almost too quickly, like she’s in a panic. “No, not at all. Actually, I just wanted to call and say that I had a really great time today. And to thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” I say, smiling to myself. “I had a good time, too. In fact, I would say the pleasure was all mine.”

“I know you’re busy,” she says, and something about the way she says it plucks at my heart and squeezes it. Like she’s about to ask me to do the thing I want most to do in the whole world. And it turns out, she’s right. “But I was wondering if you wanted to meet up again sometime this week?”

“Of course,” I say. “I’d love to. When were you thinking?”

“I don’t know,” she says, and hesitates. “I mean, I don’t know what your schedule is like – I guess you’re probably only free in the evenings – or are you even free then?”

I make up my mind then and there. I’m not going to let this chance pass me by. She wants to see me again. How could I ignore that?

It doesn’t matter what other responsibilities I have. I’ve never so much as taken a day off work, not for years. This goes beyond that. It’s not like I’m ditching work just to have fun.

I’m making a choice between the woman I already know I need to have by my side forever, and something that can wait.

I’m not going to be stupid enough to miss out on the chance of a lifetime.

“How about tomorrow?” I say. “It’s been a while since I had the chance to do anything in Melbourne. I mean, anything that wasn’t business. I can show you a few of the hidden gems I’ve managed to discover over the years.”

“Tomorrow?” she repeats in a tone of surprise, and for a moment I think I’ve lost her. That I’ve been too keen, and she didn’t want to meet up that soon after all. “Yes, okay! I guess we should meet in the morning?”

I almost want to put the phone down and utter a prayer of thanks. But I don’t, because I don’t want to let this conversation slip away.

“That would be perfect,” I tell her. “I’ll meet you right where I dropped you off earlier. Shall we say eight in the morning?”

“Great,” Candace says. “That will be right after the hotel breakfast finishes. I’ll try to actually make it this time.”

I laugh. “Well, don’t fill up too much. I know some great restaurants and cafes that we can choose between for lunch.”

“Wow,” Candace says, with a laugh. “I’ll look forward to it, then.”

“See you in the morning,” I say, and I hope it’s the last time I’ll ever have to say it over the phone.

Because if I have my way, from now on, she will see me – because she’ll be sleeping right next to me.

“Bye, Sean,” she says, and I feel the electricity of the simple magic of her saying my name as the call ends.

I only take a moment to process it, to realize what I’ve agreed to. Then I have to spring into action, to call my secretary. Because I need him to do something for me, and it can’t wait. I feel bad calling him this late, because I know he’s keeping Australian time in order to be available for me – but it can’t be avoided.

“Hello? Sean?” he says, sounding a little sleepy like he already got settled in for the night.

“Sorry to call so late,” I say.

“No, it’s fine,” he says, polite as ever.

“You might not be saying that in a moment,” I say, with a laugh. A laugh that wants to bubble up inside of me and run for hours, because this is really happening. “I need you to cancel my whole week for me.”

That has his attention. “What?” he asks, no longer sounding sleepy at all.

“I mean it,” I say. “Make something up for me. Tell them I came down with food poisoning. Anything that will make them understand I can’t come to any more meetings for the rest of the week. And if you can, try to get me the whole schedule for everyone I was supposed to be seeing this week – I’m going to need to avoid being seen in the same places as them, otherwise, they’ll know it was a lie.”

“Wait a second,” he says, and I can almost hear him frantically scribbling down notes. “You’re not actually sick?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then, what’s going on?”

“I just had the biggest opportunity of my life, and I can’t let it slip away from me,” I tell him. “I don’t expect you to understand. I’ll… I’ll tell you everything when I get back. I hope then I’ll have a happy story to tell. But for now, I just need to get out of all of my obligations here – and I mean all of them. And I need you to send someone else to take my place as quickly as possible, so this deal doesn’t fall through.”

My secretary isn’t a fool, and he’s not unreliable. That’s why I trust him so much. He knows when the time is for getting things done, and when it’s time to ask questions. He’s not going to waste time on finding out all the details now, like some gossiping housewife. He’s going to get the job done.

“I’ll call Jenkins and see if he can get on a flight within the next few hours,” he says, and I can hear the sound of his fingers clattering over a keyboard. He must have got up and walked to his home computer. “Whatever’s going on, don’t worry about work. I’ve got it covered.”

“Thank you,” I say, and I hang up with the utmost confidence that everything really is going to be taken care of.

Which means there’s only one thing for me to focus on now.

Candace.

And making her mine.