Page 10 of Destined
I regret that our parting was so abrupt this afternoon. My call was of a rather personal nature, and I fear it has left me quite out of sorts. Please accept my apologies for having been less than a gentleman. I would be grateful for an opportunity to correct this oversight with dinner sometime soon.
Sincerely,
Sebastian
Sitting back in her chair,Serena contemplated the email on the screen of her laptop. It seemed she’d read the situation so wrong. Clearly, her emotions had clouded her judgment, and she’d read more into the situation than there was. But he’d blown hot, then cold. She wasn’t wrong about that. She was so confused. Deciding to hold off on replying for the moment, she marked the email as unread.
On a whim, Serena collected her things and headed for the door. It was rare for her to leave the office before the end of the workday unless it was to meet with clients or suppliers, but she suddenly had a hankering for the feeling of sand between her toes. There was very little to beat the therapeutic value of a long walk beside the ocean. The ebb and flow of the tide soothed a chaotic mind like little else. Just the balm needed to soothe a turbulent soul.
13
Serena
Serena leanedback against the front door she’d just closed behind herself. Letting out a huge sigh, she let her eyes roam the open space of her home. The inviting room never failed to welcome her, no matter how lousy her day had been. Today had been somewhat of a roller coaster ride, and she was grateful it was finally over.
The walk on the beach had done her a world of good, the lapping of the waves on the sand both hypnotic and soothing. It helped to quiet the mind, stop the constant brain chatter, and let one to just be. The vastness of the ocean, stretching as far as the eye could see, allowed her to put her problems in perspective. Nothing seemed quite as bad when she had time to absorb the peace of her surroundings.
Sebastian’s behaviour had bruised her ego, no doubt about it. But to be fair, she’d been a willing enough participant. And if she was being honest, she had noticed that the call he’d taken while she was with him seemed to have upset him more than he’d been willing to admit. In the heat of the moment, she’d been too busy being hurt and pissed off to realise that she’d overreacted.
His email had caught her off guard. Sebastian seemed to be a proud man, not the type to apologise. To anyone. But she was glad he’d reached out. Perhaps all was not lost after all.
Pushing away from the door, Serena head for her bedroom. She still needed to do a little work this evening, but a quick shower and a light supper would further perk her spirits up. A good night’s rest would also improve her mood.
Sitting down at the desk in her home office, she pulled her laptop out of its bag and powered it up. She needed to answer Sebastian’s email and get some work done. She had a gala to plan and not much time to plan it in.
Serena mulled over how to answer Sebastian’s email. After today, she’d come to realise that a balance needed to be struck between business and personal. She couldn’t, wouldn’t, ride another emotional roller coaster like that day had been.
While she wished things could be different, it was important to protect herself from repeating the way she felt earlier. She just needed to find the right words. After staring at the screen for long minutes chewing her lip, she finally put fingers to keyboard and dashed off a response.
From:Serena Callum [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent:04 October 2019 19:06
To:Sebastian Marino
Subject:RE: Poor Behaviour
Importance:High
Sebastian,
Thank you for your email. I understand regarding the phone call and hope that the news wasn’t too dreadful. About dinner, let me check my schedule, and I’ll get back to you soonest.
Sincerely,
Serena.
Before she could changeher mind, Serena hit the send button. That done, she settled in to work on Sebastian’s project. Losing herself in work always brought her an escape. Loneliness, issues she didn’t want to think about, they all disappeared when she lost herself in work. She could get so absorbed in what she was doing time would just fly by.
True to form, Serena glanced up at the clock on the opposite wall and realised she’d been at it for hours. Far more than she’d intended. At least she had a solid outline as her reward, but now her body protested the fact that she hadn’t moved in those hours. Definitely time for bed.
Saving her work, she shut down her laptop and headed for sleep. Tomorrow was another day.
14
Sebastian
For weeks,Sebastian had been feeling restless. As his father’s health continued to deteriorate, it felt as if there was an ever-tightening noose around his neck. Nobody was saying it, but the expectation was that when his father eventually passed on, he would return to Italy and run the family empire from there.
