Page 33 of You Had Me at Chateau
I listen quietly, feeling a pang of envy as they chat about what they do for fun. I wish I had time for arts and crafts. If I have any free time, I spend it tidying my apartment or washing my hair. I’d love to be like them, enjoying long breaks between books, but I always seem to find myself stumbling sleepily from one project to the next. Any downtime I do have, like a true millennial, I spend it staring at screens – something that feels a bit too much like work sometimes. I mean, they said we’d grow up to have square eyes, and I guess I do wear glasses!
At first, I liked my fast-paced way of working. I loved being busy, doing a job I love – I felt so lucky – but this new book is kicking my arse. I just can’t get excited about writing another romance novel, and I get that my editor wants me to write more of what worked before, but that doesn’t feel authentic to me. I’m a writer, a creative, with ideas that I want to bring to life. What I need is to find that balance between doing something I enjoy and something I can make a living from. Right now, it feels like it can only be one way or the other.
‘Amber, you seem quiet,’ Gina says, pulling me out of my thoughts. ‘This is a space where we can talk freely, you know.’
‘You have just as much right to be here as us,’ Mandy adds, somewhat patronisingly. ‘You shouldn’t feel like you don’t fit in.’
I haven’t mentioned feeling like I don’t fit in, so Mandy’s comment only makes things feel more uncomfortable. I decide to change the conversation.
‘I met Henri, before I came down,’ I tell them.
‘Oh, isn’t he gorgeous?’ Gina says, bouncing her eyebrows up and down.
‘He’s single,’ Bette points out, practically singing the words. ‘I asked.’
‘I get the impression he’s on the lookout,’ Mandy chimes in. ‘For a mature woman, though, someone refined and experienced.’
Gina nods thoughtfully.
‘He’s clearly a very flirty man,’ she points out. ‘Relentless, really.’
If Henri was flirting with me earlier then I shouldn’t read too much into it, because Gina makes it sound like he’s that way with everyone. Well, if I were a ten out of ten, I would probably flirt with everything with a pulse too, just to flex that I could.
‘I do genuinely think he’s interested, though,’ Mandy points out again. ‘I think one of us could have him, if we wanted.’
‘How could he choose between us?’ Bette asks.
Yeah, because that’s going to happen.
Okay, sure, I’ll play along for a second. Well, surely Bette is out, because she’s married. The rest of us may be single, which is surely the minimum requirement, but that still doesn’t mean he’s actually interested in any of us.
‘I fancy my chances,’ Gina says with a confident smile. ‘Seeing as though I have youthful maturity on my side.’
‘Are you calling me old?’ Mandy snaps, semi-playfully, but I suspect she is genuinely a little offended.
‘No, I’m calling Bette old,’ Gina jokes.
Thankfully, Bette laughs, so I do too.
‘I suppose you think you’re in with the best chance, being the youngest?’ Mandy says to me, still ticked off.
‘We’re all romance writers,’ I point out. ‘We’re all familiar with the tropes, which surely means any of us would be in with a shot equally – we’re all experts in falling in love.’
Hopefully that’s the best thing to say, to defuse the situation.
Mandy narrows her eyes at me as a smile slowly creeps across her face. Oh, I don’t like the look of that.
‘How about a wager?’ she suggests. ‘The four of us compete, using the tropes, to see which one of us can woo the foxy Frenchman first.’
I laugh but then I realise Mandy is serious. I mean, obviously using the tropes in our books makes sense, because they’re the themes of romance, and it’s easy to do a storyline like ‘brother’s best friend’ on the page, because you’re making it all up, but you can’t exactly force that one in real life, can you? At least not with a man you’ve just met.
‘Oh, I love it,’ Gina says excitedly. ‘Let’s do it!’
‘I’m in,’ Bette says – then she must notice the look on my face. ‘Oh, Bernie won’t mind. You know what they say, what happens in France stays in France.’
No one says that.
‘So, Amber, are you in?’ Mandy asks. ‘Or are you scared that you’ll be beaten by one of us oldies?’
