The Pitch: City Love 2 by Belinda Williams

comfortably, looking directly at me with his usual calm expression.
    “Is there anything you’d add or change?” I asked finally.
    He stood. “Nothing at all. I’ll be here for the review next week, but it will be for the purposes of an observer trying to pick errors or gaps in the presentation. Nothing more.”
    I should have been satisfied with his response, but for some reason I felt unsettled by it. Like I was all on my own again. The thought annoyed me. I’d been on my own since day one running Grounded Marketing. Now, for reasons I couldn’t articulate, I’d come to rely on Paul’s insights and presence in my business.
    We walked to reception together. He turned to face me when we reached the glass entrance doors.
    “There is one mentorly piece of advice I am going to give you,” he said.
    “What’s that?”
    “You need to switch off this weekend.” That irreverence I’d first noticed in his eyes twinkled brightly. “Completely.”
    I grimaced. “Completely?”
    “No work at all this weekend. Give yourself a break for a change.”
    “Easy for you to say. You have an empire that you can delegate to.”
    “Not true. There’s always something to be done. I’ve just learned to compartmentalize. Time for work, then time for life.”
    It sounded like logical advice, but I had no idea how he achieved it. “I’ll try,” I replied.
    Paul looked like he was about to say goodbye, then he surprised me by taking a step closer. “Take it from someone who’s been there,” he told me softly. “If you don’t make time for life, one day you’ll wake up and the only thing you’ll have is work. It’s not worth it.”
    We both knew he was referring to his own experiences.
    I shrugged, attempting to lighten the mood. “That would require I have a life outside of work to ignore in the first place.”
    Paul smiled. “Don’t deprive yourself of opportunities, Madeleine. You’re still young.”
    I rolled my eyes. “So you keep reminding me.”
    “I wasn’t talking about men, you know,” he said, with a knowing look on his face. “There’s more to life than being in a relationship.”
    “Tell that to my girlfriends,” I muttered.
    Paul’s smile deepened. “Don’t tell me they have another blind date lined up for you?”
    Wouldn’t you like to know? I thought, then reprimanded myself. For all my girlfriends’ talk on the weekend, I still wasn’t convinced Paul was harboring secret feelings for me. Probably more a fatherly duty of care.
    “They’d like to,” I told him, carefully.
    “What have you got to lose?”
    Ha! I wanted to shout. If Paul was so interested in me then why encourage me to go on another blind date? A perverse part of me suddenly wanted to agree to Scarlett’s ruse to prove how wrong she was.
    “Madeleine?”
    I shook myself. I hadn’t answered his question. “I could lose my sanity. Or dignity. Both essential to running a good business.”
    “You’re smarter than that. Just go and have some fun,” he advised.
    “You’ve got this weekend with your boys, don’t you?” I asked, wanting to change the subject.
    He nodded. “Can’t wait. I get to play cricket Dad to Jack on Saturday, then I was going to take him and Noah to the movies and generally spoil them rotten.”
    “That sounds so much more fun than risking another dreadful dating experience.”
    He grinned unashamedly. “It is.” He leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Have a good work-free weekend, Madeleine,” he said warmly, then turned and walked toward the elevator.
    Inexplicably I felt the tension I’d been trying hard all week to ignore lift. I watched as he gave me a brief wave then stepped into the elevator.
    I sighed. The thought of Paul Neilsen as something more than my mentor was definitely distracting and a fantasy I didn’t want to relinquish quite yet. However, I was beginning to realize there was too much at stake to indulge in that line of thinking. The business