Chapter 25

Sam sat in silence, allowing him the space to think, and within the silence, he gained perspective and understanding of his own reaction to the sudden suggestion from his business partner.

He pondered over the task he would be faced with, and the workload, the overtime needed and its effect on Sam. Julie couldn’t cope with his long hours, and he wondered if Sam could.

Now settled in the living room, side by side on the sofa, Sam remained silent, and Aidan knew the depth of self-control she was exercising, and thus how keen was her desire for a life with him, an urgency to try to convince him. Indeed he felt the same: he wanted to be with her, but first she needed to understand his position.

“You’ve been very patient, my love, and you’ve given me time to think. So let me tell you what’s be going on in my head since Vicky laid this idea on me out of the blue.”

She nodded with a smile. This was more the Aidan she knew.

“I know why I didn’t greet Vicky’s idea with rapture, and I want you to know why as well. As they say in the movies, it’s not you, it’s me.

“I was born about ten miles from this flat, I was brought up here and went to University here. I even did my accountancy training in Manchester. Vicky and I started our business here because she too had been to university here and we both felt at home here even though she was brought up in London.

“So you see, I’m a local boy through and through, and I love this part of the world. People here are friendly, they greet you in the street, they strike up a conversation on the bus or train. All my relatives and friends are local, and the place I now live in – this ‘village’ of Cheadle – has its own identity. So my ties here are strong. OK so far?”

She nodded. She had felt the same about her neighbourhood in Vancouver.

“Until recently, we’ve only accepted clients who were local – in a fifty mile radius so we could visit them easily. Then one of them moved to London and wanted to stay with us, so we agreed. They liked us so much they told other companies, and recently the number of new clients has mushroomed, but all in the London area. I always assumed that if we expanded (and I did think having a branch in London was an option), Vicky would be the one to go. She was born and brought up there. So you can understand, I hope, that her suggestion today was a complete surprise.”

Sam nodded. “I see that. Go on.”

“That’s one aspect. The other is the whole business of setting up an office in some part of London. It’s only been a few years since Vicky and I were doing the same thing here, and it took all our time and energy, a lot of stress, long, long days, hours of discussions, getting finance, interviewing staff, it was exhausting.

“But it’s not so much that I can’t face going through all that again, it’s knowing the stress it put on Julie, and it led to our break-up. She couldn’t take me delaying a holiday yet again, and went with Caroline instead, with the results you know.

“I worry that it will destroy us the same way. That’s why I didn’t jump for joy when Vicky suggested I up sticks and move to London – apart from the fact I don’t much like London: It’s too big, too impersonal. So there you are. That’s where my mind is at now.”

Sam sat silently for a moment or two.

“I understand,” she said at length with some resignation. “That’s a formidable set of arguments for staying put here. It’s important to feel at home where you live. The only thing I’d say is that there are lots of ‘villages’ round London, just like here. You know, villages which London has swallowed up. But they still keep some of their identity like Cheadle has.

“I understand about the additional stress setting up the office, I know I can cope with that one: I had to work really long hours when I arrived here. In fact I can actually help you. But there’s another stress: if you were to come, my flat is very small, too small for two people to live there for long. We would have to find a bigger place, and rents are astronomical.”

“That’s easy. We’d buy a house.”

“Aidan, do you realise what houses are going for there?”

“Oh yes, but with the profit our practice is making, and if I sold this place, I could easily afford a deposit and a mortgage. In any case, I know Vicky would want the practice to support me buying a house, as it has with hers.”

“So where does that leave us?” Sam asked with a worried look. “From all the points you made, I can’t see you moving.”

“Oh, there’s only one way to go,” he said trying to keep a straight face. He paused. Sam looked even more worried.

He continued. “To be with you is all that matters, so there’s no two ways about it. I move south.”

She looked at him incredulously. “You’d leave all this that you love?”

“I love you more, so yes,” he said, hugging her to himself. “Of course I’ll move. As I said, to be with you is all that matters. It’s the only answer.”

Sam sat silent and her eyes filled with tears.

“Sam? What’s the matter now? Aren’t you pleased?”

“Oh yes, my darling, I’ve just realised how much you really love me, what you’d give up for me.” And with that she buried him in a torrid kiss.

When they emerged, Samantha was excited. Indeed she was usually so collected and balanced, her excitement amused Aidan.

“We’re going to be together! I thought we’d be apart most of the time, but now we’ll be together all the time. That apartment of mine really is far too small for two people, so you’re right: we will have to buy a house. You’re right about prices as well, but you say you can afford it. Well, we can definitely afford it – hell I could afford to buy a house by myself on what I’m making.

“You could even keep your flat on here, honey, so we can come back here often. You’ll need somewhere to stay when you come up to meet with Vicky anyway. I love you so much for leaving here and coming to live in London. You will be happy there: I’ll make sure of that!”

Aidan gazed at his excited fiancée, her eyes sparkling with the love in them. Once again he wondered how he had been so lucky to have found her in that little hotel in Edinburgh, and luckier that she’d come back to Britain to work. Luckier still that after being at sixes and sevens, and missing each other when he went to London to find her, she had been so delighted to be asked to marry him, and now was so excited, like a little child on her birthday.