Page 4 of Second Chance Summer
She rolled her eyes. ‘Thanks, I love you too, Étienne.’
‘You’re welcome. You’ve told me often enough you’re always busy, always “on” and always at the office. Richie says you’ve been sleeping here and you haven’t been eating properly.’
Lily gasped. ‘Richie said that? You do know he works for me? That he’s signed an NDA?’ She was joking but was still shocked that her PA had called Étienne. To be fair, he washer emergency contact, but she felt bad that he’d had to rush over to see her.
‘He cares about you. We all do.’
‘I’m fine,’ Lily said, though Étienne’s words were hitting home. She had been working round the clock, and she’d missed quite a few important family events in the past few weeks alone – something she wasn’t proud of, but her business was all-consuming. People were counting on her. And yet, as hard as she worked, it was impossible not to letotherpeople down.
‘Lily?’
Étienne frowned down at her, his warm brown eyes full of concern. ‘If you carry on like this, you’ll get completely burned out and there may not be a way back.’
‘Work has been busy. Challenging. I’ll admit, I’m a bit knackered.’
He sighed deeply. ‘For once in your life, listen. You can describe what happened – and is happening to you – any way you like. Lack of sleep, not looking after yourself, not eating properly, pressure of work, stress – unresolved grief …’
She snorted. ‘Unresolved? It’s been over two years.’
‘That’s not a long time and Cara’s accident would have floored anyone. Losing a sister is a huge shock and you practically carried on as normal.’
Normal. Tears stung the back of her eyes. What was a normal way to react when your beloved sister was killed in a car accident at the age of thirty-seven?
‘Don’t give me any clichés about me blotting out the pain with work and not dealing with it adequately,’ she said,painful memories giving her tone a sharp edge she hadn’t intended.
‘Dealing with itadequately?’ The way he flinched made her instantly regret her words. ‘“Adequately” is not a word I’d use to describe the way I felt about losing Cara.’
‘Étienne, I’m sorry … I didn’t mean to be insensitive. Maybe I am a bit tired …’
‘It’s up to you,’ he said briskly, choosing not to answer her or let her off the hook. ‘You’re smart – or at least I thought you were. Work it out for yourself – you clearly don’t need me or any medical professional. I have other patients who welcome my help. I came here on my way home from a particularly shitty shift in A&E.’
Lily noticed the slate-blue smudges under his eyes, the lines around his mouth, the exhaustion. ‘Oh, God, I am so sorry. Look, let me give you a cliché that we can both agree on. We all deal with that stuff in our own way and – maybe you’re right. I do need a break.’
He picked up his bag. ‘You do what you want. I’m going to take the girls home, stuff my face with pizza and watchFrozen. Again.’
‘The girls – the girls arehere?’
‘Yes. They’re in the chill-out room downstairs watching your corporate video and eating their own weight in those mini biscuit packets you provide for the staff.’
‘What? Why? I––’ She let out a groan of horror. ‘Oh My God. I was supposed to pick them up fromThe Lion King, wasn’t I? And take them to meet the cast afterwards and for dinner?’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh, Étienne. I am so sorry. I must apologise to the girls. Oh, God. How did I forget?’
‘Because you had more important things on your mind?’
‘No. Yes. I am sorry.’
‘It’s an overused word.’
‘I mean it. I’ll make it up to them.’
‘No need. Their nanny took them. They still met the cast and she brought them here in a cab after I’d heard you were taken ill. They can do without dinner, but they did missyou.’
‘Please can I see them?’
‘Richie’s gone to fetch them.’
