Four weeks had passed since Hayley’s return to London and she was hating every minute. Her parents had thrown her a Welcome Home party and she’d plastered a fake smile on her face all evening, hoping nobody would notice. Feeling this low was unexpected to say the least.
She sat at her desk in her office, trying to concentrate on the latest merger she wanted to finalise before the weekend, when her phone rang.
‘Hayley, it’s Ellen.’
‘Hi.’
‘Good grief, you sound like Ross from Friends. Bad day?’
Hayley sighed. ‘Christmas is still five months away.’
‘Oh dear.’
‘Actually it’s a hundred and forty-seven days.’ She paused. ‘I counted.’
‘That’s it,’ said Ellen. ‘I’m bringing a pregnancy test round tomorrow. You’re so moody, I reckon you’ve come back with extra baggage.’
Hayley sighed again. ‘Don’t bother. I did one this morning. It was negative.’
Ellen clicked her tongue. ‘Sounds like you were hoping for the opposite.’
‘No … but …’
‘What?’
‘Rick’s the first man I can really picture myself having children with. Does that sound crazy? I’ve only know him five minutes.’
‘Nope,’ Ellen said and Hayley heard the excitement in her voice. ‘He sounds like The One …’
‘That’s what I’m afraid of,’ Hayley said quietly. ‘I can’t wait until I call him later.’
‘You still phone him every morning?’
‘Yep. Half-past twelve, on the dot.’
‘Bet that’s the best wake-up call he’s ever had.’ Ellen laughed.
‘So he says,’ Hayley said. ‘And thank god for ICQ. That chat site is a bloody godsend. BT would be sending the bailiffs round if we spoke that much on the phone.’
‘Have you had phone sex yet?’ Ellen said. ‘What was it like?’
Hayley laughed. ‘Mind your own business.’
‘Spoil-sport. So what do you do for hours on end?’
‘Talk,’ Hayley said. ‘I know more about Rick in the six weeks we’ve been together than I knew about all my exes combined.’ She thought about how Rick had described the Rockies and the Calgary Stampede. She imagined him lying on his sofa, sipping a Becks or an Old Milwaukee while talking to her. ‘The more we chat the more I fall in love with him.’
‘Ahhh … so sweet. So have you changed your mind about coming out tonight?’ Ellen said. ‘We’re going to Mulligan’s. Being in the real world with real people might do you some good.’
‘No,’ Hayley replied. ‘Not tonight. I’m knackered. But I’ll pop over tomorrow after lunch, okay? Will you have the results by then?’
‘I should do,’ Ellen said. ‘Cross your fingers. If this round doesn’t work, we’re on our own and I’ll have to make Mark sell one of his kidneys.’
Hayley spent the rest of the afternoon working on the merger, carefully crafting an earn-out plan for the current shareholders that would make them very rich, providing they hit their targets. She loved the complexity, but her attention kept drifting back to her conversations with Rick.
‘I can’t wait to come over,’ he’d said the day before. ‘I went to the library to get some books about London. It looks amazing. Completely different to anywhere I’ve been in Canada or the U.S.’ She heard him flick the pages. ‘Did you know it was founded by the Romans over two thousand years ago? They called it Londominium like condominium?’
‘Londinium,’ Hayley said, and smiled. ‘You’ll love it here at Christmas. I know you will. It won’t be nearly as cold as Chicago or Calgary but I bet it will rain a lot more. I can’t wait to show you the city.’
He’d laughed and told her again how much he missed her and couldn’t wait to see her.
Hayley sighed as she used another Post-it note to mark a section of a clause she wanted to revise, then started packing away her things before changing her mind again, thinking that another late night would help pass the time.
It was almost ten o’clock when she got home. She shoved a frozen lasagne in the micro-wave and watched the plate spin as the machine hummed.
Are we going round and round in circles too? Can long-distance relationships work?
The phone rang. She picked it up, thinking it was late for anyone to be calling and hoping it was Rick although he’d told her he’d be travelling most of the day.
‘Hello?’
‘Hi, princess,’ Rick said.
‘Hey.’ She went to the living room, flopped down on her comfy red sofa and hung her legs over one side. ‘I thought you were travelling today?’
‘I arrived safe and sound. It was a long day but it’ll be worth it.’
‘I’m sure you’ll be great.’
‘Thanks,’ Rick said. ‘Hayley, I need to ask you something.’
She heard a loud knock on her door.
‘Hold on,’ she said into the phone as she got up. ‘I think my neighbour’s at the door. I didn’t get home until late and the postman leaves my stuff with her. I still can’t believe I forgot my Filofax in Chicago. Sorry, did you want to ask me something?’ She walked over to the door and as she opened it, the phone slid out of her hands and clattered to the floor.
‘Yes.’ Rick was down on one knee with a mobile phone in his right hand and a solitaire engagement ring in his left. ‘Will you marry me?’