Page 4 of Part of Me
“You’re useless,” Tori replies with a shake of her head. I can’t argue with her because I am useless when it comes to organising things. She knows me well. “It’s a good job that you have me to help with this kind of stuff.” Marco comes back over at this point with our drinks and a complimentary basket of bread rolls.
“Now, ladies, what can I get for you today?” he asks, knowing full well that we haven’t even glanced at the menu.
“I will have the spaghetti carbonara,” I reply. He nods as this is something that I order often.
“And for you?” he says, gesturing to Tori.
“I will have the same.”
“Excellent choice,” he says as we both hand him our menus to take away. “If there is anything that you should need, just let me know.”
“Will do. Thanks, Marco,” I say with a smile as he turns and walks off. I take a sip of my drink and Tori helps herself to one of the bread rolls.
“Back to the subject of your birthday. I have already made plans and I will need to pick you up at eight in the morning.”
“Eight in the morning?” I ask, thinking that she must have gotten the time wrong.
“Yes.”
“Why so early?” What could we possibly be doing that would require her to pick me up so early?
“You will just have to wait and see,” Tori replies, taking a bite of her, now buttered, roll. “And before you ask, Luke doesn’t have a clue what we will be doing. He knows the time that I need to pick you up, but that’s it. I am not willing to tell him and run the risk of you finding out.”
“And how would I find out if you told Luke?”
“Oh please, Luke would crack under your interrogation.”
“He wouldn’t,” I say, not believing my answer.
“He would. You guys have been together for so long that you know each other inside out. He can’t keep anything from you.” I smile at how well she knows the pair of us.
“And you’re not going to give me a hint as to what to wear or anything?” I ask as I try to delve for clues.
“Nope.”
“Seriously?”
Tori sighs. “Look, just wear your normal weekend attire. I have everything else covered,” she says with a mischievous smile.
“Hmmm,” I mumble as I pick a bread roll up for myself.
“Anyway,” Tori starts, clearly wanting to change the subject. “What was so urgent that Luke had to rush into work today?”
“Oh, some final decisions needed to be made on some plans he’s been working on,” I say with a wave of my hand. “He’s been so busy with work recently.” I sigh.
“Is that a bad thing?” Tori asks me with a questioning look.
“Yes and no. I understand that he has an important role within the company, but at the same time, I feel that he is being put on a little bit too much.” I realise that I sound a bit needy, but I have to vent to someone about how I am feeling.
“Does Luke feel that way?”
“I don’t think so. He certainly hasn’t mentioned anything to me anyway.” Marco chooses this moment to bring our food over and places our meals in front of us.
“Enjoy,” he says with a little bow before leaving us to it. I breathe in the smell of the food and lick my lips hungrily. I feel like I should explain myself to Tori over the Luke issue.
“I don’t want to sound down on Luke’s work, he has done so well within the company. He is obviously amazing at what he does, otherwise he wouldn’t be the construction manager. I just wish that his work didn’t infiltrate on our weekends together. It’s hard enough to find time for each other through the week, what with his hours and mine.” Our schedules can both be hectic at times. My work follows more of a nine to five pattern, but there are the odd occasions when I have to work late.
I work as a receptionist for Deana’s Delights, a busy fashion house, but being on the lower rung of the career ladder my work hours only vary when there is a major event taking place. The personal assistants are the ones with the hectic work lives, not the receptionists.
