No,I thought to myself.Sebastian isn’t capable of loving anyone.
CHAPTER27
ELLY
Ididn’t expect Sebastian to come to play with me after the training session with my coach. I hadn’t exactly given him the friendly vibe after our brief encounter in the kitchen and I hadn’t heard from him since, no calls, no texts which he usually made to confirm if he would be back in time for a game.
I lingered casually. Part of me wanted him to come and for whatever had happened in the kitchen to feel illusory. As if it had never happened. We could go on playing tennis as we did before. And then have dinner. And I would again balk at calling my mom.
But it did happen, and his words still stung. Which is why another part of me didn’t want him to come. I didn’t want to face him and I didn’t want to face the truth. That all of this, all of his being nice, spending time with me, laughing, joking around, telling me things which sounded so close to his heart…were all part of a contract he had drafted up one evening in his private office not far from where I stood. It was all planned out. So, it was all fake. All pretense. All a part of a play.
I looked back at the house. In the afternoon, the place always looked like it glowed. The glass reflected the sunbeams so that even though the sun was slowly making its way down, its rays were as strong as during the day. Not far from the house stood the garage, the infinity pool, the housekeeper’s cottage, and the beginnings of a vegetable patch that I had started. Why? I didn’t know. It just felt good to be outside and have some sort of purpose.
That’s where I went. With the busy schedule my trainer and physiotherapist had me under, I had been neglecting my little project and felt a pang of guilt for it. I replaced my tennis racket with a watering can, and began to tend to my lettuce plants that looked a little parched.
“Hey.” His voice startled me and I dropped the can.
Sebastian came over and picked up the can, handing it back to me. “Sorry. I seem to be constantly startling you today.”
In more ways than one,I thought.
I pursed my lips. “Yes.”
He squatted down by the plants, feeling the leaves of the carrots between his fingers.
“They were doing well until recently,” I said. “And then my whole schedule changed and…I’ve not had the time.” For some reason, I felt like I had to defend myself.
He nodded and stood up again. “I have a few seeds for a tomato plant from Matteo. Shall we plant it?” he asked casually.
I was a little confused. “You mean…together?”
“Well, yeah.”
Is this another part of his plan? Sweeten me up so that I don’t back out of the deal. Probably.
Not that I have any choice in backing out. My mother’s health is at stake here.
I nodded and turned back to the plants.I should stop trying to invest so many emotions into this whole scheme. Like he said, it’s just business.
Half an hour later, he was patting the soil when I let out a long “ohhhh” sound. The kind of sound you release when you’ve realized you’ve missed out on a crucial step and it’s a little too late to salvage the whole process.
“What?” he asked, swiveling round to face me.
I showed him the article I’d been reading on my phone while he finished settling the soil. “We were supposed to start them in pots. The seeds, I mean.” A rookie mistake for sure.
Sebastian stared at me and then down at the patch of soil he had just filled in.
“I’m glad that Matteo isn’t here. He would’ve given me a good telling-off for not following proper procedure.” Sebastian wiped his brow with the back of his hand, leaving a long streak of soil across his forehead. He was completely covered in soil from his formerly crisp-white socks to his bare knees, to his branded off-white T-shirt and now even his hair had bits of soil hanging from their ends. He looked like a kid that had just been permitted to jump in a sandbox.
I couldn’t help it. I giggled.
“What?” Now he looked confused.
I took a photo and showed it to him. He quickly started patting the soil off of himself.
I chortled. “I’m keeping this photo, by the way,” I warned him between laughs.
“What? Why?” He reached for my phone, but I quickly pushed it back into my pocket.