After their meeting in Covent Garden, Tina and Luc communicated almost daily by telephone and email, slowly growing their agent/writer relationship, albeit with an undercurrent of emotional rapport. Once Luc had signed the contract and returned it, Tina sent him the edits and changes she thought he needed to make to his book before she started approaching publishers.
This evening they were progressing to a video chat on Skype to discuss a few of the points she’d raised. Meeting up with Luc in real life would be better, of course, but seeing him on a screen would be good too. She couldn’t believe how much she was looking forward to seeing him again. Despite having told Jodie her relationship with Luc would be a totally professional one, and being determined to keep it that way, she had to fight more than the occasional daydream about it becoming personal too. This evening was no exception.
As she had no intention of sitting in her bedroom to chat to Luc – that would definitely be unprofessional – she gave the sitting room a quick tidy… well, the area on and behind the settee where she was sitting that would show up on the screen. There was no time for more as Luc rang promptly at the appointed time.
‘Hi,’ Tina said, feeling unexpectedly shy at Luc seeing where she lived. The glimpse she had of his apartment on the screen showed a large, comfy-looking leather settee, a computer standing on an otherwise empty desk and, on the wall beside it, a modern painting.
They quickly went through all the points Tina had highlighted, with Luc arguing against a couple and agreeing with the others.
Tina couldn’t help laughing when Luc told her one of the scenes she’d suggested he make some edits to was based on his own failed attempt to learn to scull during a family holiday in Wales, which had ended with him falling into the river. ‘You wouldn’t believe how cold the water was, even in June,’ he said.
In return she gave him a shortened version of the time she’d been chased and butted by the billy goat on her uncle’s farm. Luc was so easy to talk to, she found herself wishing they were sitting together chatting in person.
‘Your apartment looks lovely,’ she said. ‘Did you paint the picture on the wall by the desk. I love all those mauves and reds swirling around together.’
‘This isn’t an apartment,’ Luc said. ‘It’s my room in my parents’ house. And my sister Fiona painted the picture – thinks she’s a female Picasso. She’s not, of course – she’s much better,’ Luc said, laughing.
‘Does she live at home too?’
Luc shook his head. ‘No, she’s married and, boy, is she going to tease me when she hears I’ve written a romance.’
‘You haven’t told her the name you’re using, have you?’ Tina said anxiously. ‘Remember, no one must know.’
‘No, I promise I haven’t said a word. I’m happy to wait to have her laughing at me.’
‘You’ll have the last laugh when you’re in the bestseller lists.’
‘Do you really think that’s going to happen?’ Luc asked quietly.
‘Oh, yes,’ Tina said. ‘I’ve already ordered the magnum of champagne to celebrate with you.’ She hadn’t, but she had every intention of doing so the moment she had a publishing contract for Luc to sign.
‘Do you work every evening?’ Luc said.
‘Yes, at the moment, while the agency is so new,’ Tina said. ‘Being single and working from home, I can suit myself how much I do. Once the agency is up and running I’ll probably stick to regular office hours a bit more.’ She managed to stop herself adding ‘Single and fancy free, that’s me’ just in time. Too much like a hint. She was single but there was definitely someone she fancied. Tina pushed the thought away. He was a client. Even if sitting here chatting to him felt like being with a friend.
‘How about you? D’you rush home from your day job and write in the evenings? Or spend them with, what’s the phrase, your significant other?’
Damn, now she sounded as if she was fishing. Men like Luc were in great demand and he was sure to have a girlfriend he’d failed to mention so far. Or he could even be married. Though, having a room in his parents’ house did seem to suggest he was single.
A shadow passed over Luc’s face before he answered. ‘No significant other in my life either,’ he said as he glanced at his watch. ‘Sorry, I have to go. I’ll work on those points and get back to you in the week. Ciao.’
‘Ciao,’ Tina echoed to a blank screen as Luc cut the connection. That was a sudden departure. Had she upset him when the talk became personal? Closing Skype down, her home page on Facebook flashed up on the screen with a couple of notifications from friends. Facebook! Of course. How could she have forgotten? Everyone was on social media these days, weren’t they? She only had to look him up on there to learn more about him.
She quickly typed Lucien Eldrich, London into the search box. It was an unusual name, so there couldn’t be that many in town. There weren’t. One person showed up in the search box. No profile picture, and private settings prevented her accessing the page to confirm it was him – which, intuitively, only served to make her suspect it was. Was he hiding something by not having a more open Facebook page?
A search on LinkedIn and Pinterest also proved futile. Was Luc taking guarding his privacy to extremes for some reason, or was he a genuinely private person?
Thoughtfully Tina closed her laptop. Perhaps she’d take it as a sign that she needed to try and keep their relationship professional rather than letting it become personal. Never mind, it had been fun talking to him tonight. She’d write up the editing points they’d talked about and drop him an email to confirm everything. Then she’d try to concentrate on promoting his alter ego, Lucinda Penwood, rather than thinking about Lucien Eldrich. A man she couldn’t help wanting to get to know better.