“Oh come on, Rachel, you owe it to yourself. It’s been three years since that wretched husband of yours ran away, and you’ve been working nonstop since then.”
Recognizing the familiar ring of determination in her friend’s voice, Rachel rolled her eyes to the ceiling and stood from her desk to close her office door. She returned, crossed her legs, and sat back in her executive leather chair with a soft sigh. From past experiences, she knew Tina wouldn’t easily be swayed.
“Just think of it — warm sun, fabulous food, excellent wine … and there may even be a handsome French gentleman to enchant you,” Tina continued. Rachel laughed at Tina’s glib remark.
“So?” Tina’s question sounded in her ear.
Blissful — a week in the south of France. Rachel deliberated and twirled a long coil of hair around her finger at the memories of the grand old house in Cassis she’d helped renovate. The image of long, lazy lunches in the shade of the massive plane trees in the back garden brought a soft smile to Rachel’s lips. But she had so much on her plate right now.
“Come on, Rachel, you haven’t been down here for ages.” Tina continued her slow dismantling of Rachel’s defenses.
“Tina, you know that’s not true. I was there last year after we finished the renovation. The kids fell in love with Arianne … we had too much rosé wine — ”
“That, my dear Rachel, was work. I’m inviting you for a break.”
“Thanks, Tina, but I just can’t take a week off right now. I’m working on two large proposals, both due by the end of the month.” She glanced through the thick glass wall of her office at the group of people in the meeting room directly across from her. By tomorrow, they would need her input on the design — a design she’d hoped to finish this afternoon.
“Nonsense, Rachel. You work much too hard.” Then the tone in Tina’s voice changed as she said, almost pleading, “You’ve been isolating yourself ever since Stuart left you and the twins. I worry about you … we worry about you.” Tina paused and then continued, “I miss my Rachel.” Finally, in a small voice, she added, “And besides, if you have to work, why can’t you bring your blessed work with you?”
Rachel exhaled slowly, contemplating Tina’s words. It all sounded so tempting, and a break from the bleak London weather would be heavenly. And Tina was right — the last three years had been grueling. Rebuilding her life, as a single mother at the age of twenty-six, was not easy. But she had to do it, for herself and for her twin babies, Mia and Iain. They were the reason why she’d resumed her once-stellar career as an architect and worked so doggedly at building this fledgling business with her business partner — to recreate a life where her children would be secure again.
Irritated, Rachel shifted in her chair at the unpleasant memory of her gutless husband’s selfish words on that horrible day, when he walked out of her life.
“I need time for myself — I’m just not cut out for marriage and two kids. I’m still too young for this. I want to travel to Africa and … ”
And so, when Stuart boarded that aging Boeing 747 for Nairobi, he left her with nothing — no love, no hope, no money, and no way to contact him. To her dismay, she later found that he did leave her with something — his outstanding bills. The credit card statements for new photographic equipment, outstanding rent on his studio, and three unpaid installments on their leased Volvo — all landed on her desk.
She struggled to sell their house, the incomplete basement blaring “desperate seller” from below. Eventually the nightmare ended when a newlywed couple fell in love with the house. Anxious to minimize the disruption to their lives, Rachel settled on the first apartment she could find — actually, Tina found it. Probably too spacious for what Rachel needed, but it was renovated to her taste, and conveniently located in Putney. In that apartment, Rachel created a new home.
While all this happened around her, Rachel was well aware of her commitment to Peter and their new business partnership — and the new career she was carving out for herself. She soon found that their frail business venture was consuming every spare hour of her time. Her body learned to cope with less sleep, and her social life came to a jarring halt. Weekends and evenings became a carefully orchestrated balancing act between caring for the twins, the demoralizing task of running a household as a single mother, and catching up on an ever-increasing workload at the office.
She bit her lower lip while she rationalized. A short break in sunny Provence would give her some fresh perspectives — new ideas. Besides, her parents had been nagging her to take some time off as well, though she suspected the idea of having the twins all to themselves was their true incentive. She smiled inwardly at the thought of how, at three years of age, the twins had already mastered the fine art of manipulating her parents. A couple of days bonding with Granny and Grandpa might be a real treat for them.
Oh, hell, why not?
“Fine, but just for a couple of days,” Rachel relented on impulse, and laughed aloud as she pulled her head away at Tina’s excited whoop of joy shrilling over the telephone.