Seize The Day

Chapter Sixteen

A/N - Sorry for the mixup in the last chapter! As I've tried to explain, when I first wrote this story the heroine was Naomi, but that was also the heroine of the last story I posted here. I changed it to Sophie but the last chapter disappeared so I used the original version and forgot to change the name.  Much apologies, here's a quick extra to make up for it!

                “So what did he say?” Sophie was waiting for Vincenza to come home from work the following day. They’d not managed to speak in the time she’d been in Manchester, so she’d cooked dinner and was waiting for her friend when she burst into the house.

 Vin was all smiles, nervous smiles, but smiles none the less.

                 “Well.” She dumped her bag on the table, then turned back to her friend. “It was nothing to do with me, or the not sharing information with him - you were right. Not that it makes things any easier; I mean you can’t change who you are, and definitely not who your family are. I mean is it possible to get past that?”

Sophie grabbed her hands, “Earth to Vincenza Dorino...you, madam, are babbling. What the bloody hell happened?”

She sighed, “My daddy dearest is at fault! He bought Edward’s father’s business and then sacked all the staff, sold it off in little pieces...his life’s work. The coincidence, hey?”

                “And if you used your father’s name he’d have had more of a clue?”

Vin shook her head, “I told you that name is a curse, and this just proves it more! Edward has been so worried that he now realises that he’s over his hatred of the Alessandro name. He loves me too much...he TOLD me that Sophie, actually said the three little words!”

Sophie jumped up to hug her ecstatic best mate, “that is wonderful. I’ve waited years to see you relax, be happy and find love.”

Vin laughed, “to misquote Meatloaf, three out of three ain’t bad!”

Sophie turned to the fridge and pulled open the door, then with a gasp turned back to Vin, “uh-oh! Mother Hubbard fridge! We are sans vino blanco!”

Shaking her head at Sophie's blatant mix of languages, she searched for her bag, “Argh! You dish up; I’ll fly to Asif’s for it!”

They were halfway into the risotto when Vin finally looked up with a shocked expression, “shit! Sophie! How did it go with Bill? I’m SO selfish!”

“He was furious at first, we left him that note, but I found it under the sofa, it must’ve blown down, so he had no idea where we were and thought we didn’t care.”

                 “Oh!” Vin immediately felt awful for Bill, the ultimate moment of his life and his two best mates were nowhere to be seen. “And then?”

Sophie felt her face curl into a smile, she’d relived every moment of last night in such detail, and she struggled to find fault, other than she’d not really told him how important he was to her, how much she cared, she’d wanted to avoid talking then, but now regretted it. But it had been so special, he was so...sexy! She felt herself blush at those memories...again!

Vincenza saw the blush and instantly knew what it meant, “you slept with Bill!!! Oh. My. God.! I don’t think I can ask how it was...it’s all a little incestuous to me!” When she spotted Sophie’s face fall, she reached for her, “No! I don’t mean that it’s wrong, just that he’s like my brother, I don’t want a girly breakdown of his sexual prowess!”

Sophie sighed, “We couldn’t resist each other, and we didn’t really talk. He said we’d talk when he got back, and he wants me as more than a friend.”