It May Rain

Chapter Nineteen

APRIL

"And this area is called Nyhavn. It's one of the most famous tourist spots in Copenhagen. Throughout the year Danes hold several events here such as the Christmas market, summer markers, Midsummer's Eve and the Copenhagen Jazz festival, to name a few. It was originally built-"

"Hugo, baby...can we please pause the city tour for lunch now? I'm absolutely starving."

He grins at me and plants a kiss on my forehead.

"Of course we can, Maeby. I know just the place off Kongens Nytorv. But I've still got so much to show you afterwards. We've barely seen half of what I want to show you."

My stomach grumbles in appreciation as he drags me off to get food.

***

Several hours later, my feet are throbbing from having walked around Copenhagen all day. My feet haven't felt this sore since my last bartending shift, which is a near-distant memory for me now.

I accepted the role at Magnus + Son and have been there for almost a month now. It's infinitely better than my role at Sugar Rushes because the work I put in is always appreciated, and I'm also invited to some of the big decision making meetings. There's only one store due to open in London but there's plans to open more soon after, and the strategic planning behind it means everyone on the team gets to voice their thoughts and discuss options. The more opinions the better seems to be the motto.

It's also enabled me to see Hugo in an entirely different light.

He might be relatively young, but he's a beast when it comes to business, whether that be when meeting suppliers, negotiating deals, pitching products, analysing balance sheets, or in general team meetings. I've been shadowing him to get a feel for the place and I have to say, he sure knows his stuff, which he claims is down to having been mentored by Magnus and Konrad from a young age. His godfather sees him as a second son so he's been moulding him to become the second in command one day, once Magnus retires and Konrad becomes the CEO of the company. It's a role I can definitely see him growing into.

Hugo has told me a lot about Magnus, and he has nothing but admiration for him. Ever since his parents separated and his father moved to New Zealand, Magnus has been the nearest thing to a father figure for him (geographically speaking). Hugo always speaks highly of him, and says despite his success with the bakery chain, he's still humble and insists on having as normal a life as possible.

Nevertheless, I've still got butterflies in my stomach as we make our way to Hugo's godparents house. They live in the countryside about forty minutes drive from Copenhagen city centre. The drive there is giving me ample time to ponder what they could be like and what I should expect when we get there.

Will they like me? I'm just an average girl from northern England who knows nothing about creating or running a business. Until Hugo offered me a job I also had no career prospects.

When I met Hugo's mum a couple of weeks ago I wasn't this nervous, so I don't know why I'm feeling more nervous about meeting his godparents. His mum was welcoming and made me feel at ease immediately, but I could tell she is super protective of her baby boy, even if he is a twenty four year old man. I wonder if his godparents will be the same...

"Here we are. It's just down this lane," Hugo announces, snapping me out of my reverie.

I peer out of the windscreen but it's pitch black save for the car's headlight beams. I can make out the faint outline of trees surrounding us, and the ground feels a little rougher than the smooth main road.

"I can't see anything," I murmur.

"Yeah, this part's always a little tricky to navigate in the dark. They were considering putting lights down this track, but in the end they decided not to. That way no one accidentally ends up down here and it's better for privacy."