There’s fish and chips, and games on the beach, and fairground rides.’ He shook his head. ‘And there’s very little in the way of grown-up conversation.’
‘But—’
‘In fact, anyone attempting even that much grown-up conversation’—he held up his hand, his finger and thumb a couple of millimeters apart—‘gets wrapped up in seaweed and chucked into the sea.’
‘OK, OK, I get it. You like noisy holidays. So what are we going to do?’ She fixed him with a let’s-negotiate smile.
‘I think you should go to Tuscany,’ said Zack. ‘You’ll have a great time.’
The smile faltered. ‘You mean… on my own?’
‘We don’t like the same things.’
Louisa’s eyebrows had gone right up. ‘On my own?’
‘Look, we need to talk.’ Zack put down his cheese knife; God, he hated this bit. ‘The thing is, I really think you’d be happier with someone else.’
‘I’d be happier with someone else,’ Louisa echoed, dumbfounded. ‘On holiday?’
‘Not just on holiday. In general. In your life.’
‘You mean… instead of you?’
‘No, no… well, yes.’ He was rubbish at this. How did other people do it? Please don’t let her start crying.
‘You’re finishing with me?’
‘Not finishing. I just think it would be better if we… you know, called it a day.’
Louisa put down her spoon. ‘But it wouldn’t be better for me. I don’t want to call it a day.’
OK, this wasn’t getting them anywhere. Zack took a deep breath and said steadily, ‘Yes, but I do.’
She let out a wail of anguish. ‘Zacky, why?’
He cringed. She’d just called him Zacky. Could he cite this as reason number one?
But that would be cruel. He didn’t want to be cruel. ‘Look, you’re great. It’s not you, it’s me. I work too hard. You deserve to be with someone who’ll make you happy.’
‘You make me happy.’
‘I wouldn’t.’ Zack shook his head. ‘Not in the long term.’
‘But I thought we were in it for the long term!’ She was crying now, trying to reach across the table for his hands. ‘I’m thirty-five, Zack. This was our future. I thought we’d end up having kids together, the works!’
This was the first he’d heard of it. ‘You don’t like kids,’ Zack pointed out. ‘The whole point of going to Tuscany was because there wouldn’t be any kids there to ruin the holiday.’
‘Other people’s kids. That’s completely different. I still want some of my own!’
Some?
‘I’m sorry.’ Zack stood up. ‘I should go. You’ll be fine…’
‘I can’t believe this. I cooked you dinner.’ Louisa flung out her arm in the direction of the kitchen. ‘Boulangère potatoes and rack of lamb! From a proper butcher!’
‘I know, and it was great.’ Maybe he should send her flowers tomorrow to say thanks. God, it was all so complicated and fraught. Why was it so much easier to walk away from a rocky business deal than from a no-hope emotional relationship?
‘Are you seeing someone else?’ She searched his face.
Zack kept his expression carefully neutral. ‘No, no one.’
‘Sure? Because that would make sense. More sense than you just deciding out of the blue that, hey, we like different holidays so let’s break up.’
‘I’m not seeing anyone else.’
‘Not even whatshername? That cute little PA of yours?’ Mascara was leaking into the creases around Louisa’s carefully made-up eyes. ‘Ellie?’
‘No.’ He shook his head. He saw Ellie almost every day. But not in the way Louisa meant. It killed him to see her and not be able to do anything, but it would be even harder to bear not seeing her at all.
At least they were in Louisa’s flat, meaning he could be the one to leave. In the hallway, she tried to throw herself into his arms. He gave her one last apologetic hug.
‘How about Disney World?’ She mumbled the words damply into his shoulder. ‘We could go there if you like.’
He didn’t reply.
Louisa pulled away and gazed miserably up at him. ‘No?’
‘Sorry.’ Zack shook his head; it was time to get out of here. ‘Bye.’
Chapter 25
OK, was this sneaky? He didn’t resort to underhand tactics as a rule. But if they helped, why not?
Zack bent down, unclipped Elmo’s lead, and pushed the front door shut behind him. Elmo, tail wagging, trotted down the hallway to greet Ellie.
‘Hello, baby! Did you have a lovely walk?’
Wouldn’t it be great if she could be saying that to him?
‘Morning.’ By the time he reached the office, Elmo was up on her lap. ‘On a diet?’
‘No.’ She looked at him, mystified.
‘Good. You can have one of these, then.’ Zack opened the lid of the cake box to show her. ‘I