The Undomestic Goddess

by Sophie Kinsella

(and if you think it’s the same thing, you might as well give up law now) and

Tasting gravy with your eyes closed is a fairly intimate thing to do, it turns out. I’m not sure I want anyone watching me.

That is the last time I ever go after a man, ever. My original strategy of waiting politely, being ignored, and then being passed over for someone else was a million times better.

They knew they belonged together and that was more important than anything else in life.”

“Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing all the answers. You don’t always have to know who you are. You don’t have to have the big picture, or know where you’re heading. Sometimes it’s enough just to know what you’re going to do next.”

Except all the things I never knew I wanted. Things I had no idea about until a few weeks ago. Like fresh air. Like evenings off. Unburdened weekends. Making plans with friends. Sitting in the pub after my work is done, drinking cider, with nothing to do, nothing hanging over me.

If I’ve learned one lesson from all that’s happened to me, it’s that there is no such thing as the biggest mistake of your existence. There’s no such thing as ruining your life. Life’s a pretty resilient thing, it turns out.

“It’s not deluded crap!” I reply, incensed. “Just because I’m not ‘using my degree,’ just because I’m not in some office, I’m wasting my life? Guy, I’m happy. I’m enjoying life in a way I’ve never done before. I like cooking. I like running a house. I like picking strawberries from the garden—”

“There’s a nursery in Cornwall I’d die to own. Fantastic piece of land, fantastic business—but I didn’t look at it. I preferred not to be six hours away from you.” He shrugs. “I guess you’re right. That was pretty narrow-minded of me.”

“Guy … I don’t want to be someone who doesn’t look out the window.”

“Sometimes you don’t need a goal in life,” I reply, lifting my chin. “You don’t need to know the big picture. You just need to know what you’re going to do next.”