Tempting Fate Part 24

She orders a cup of tea from a pa.s.sing waiter, ignoring his surprise at the unusual request in the bar that is famous for its singles night on this particular day of the week, then gets stuck into the novel she has been meaning to read for weeks.

*Is this seat taken?'

She isn't sure she heard properly as she looks up. Oh G.o.d. She should have got rid of the other chair. Why didn't she antic.i.p.ate this was going to happen? She hesitates, looking at the man standing by the table, not wanting to be rude; but if she says it's taken he will soon see there is no one to join her, and if she says it's free she will have to fend off yet another awful man.

He doesn't look awful. He is wearing a Barbour, and how could she not warm to a man in the coat that always reminds her of home? He is rugged, and has kind eyes. How is she supposed to be so rude as to say it's taken?

*I'm sorry?'

*Is this seat taken? May I sit here?'

*You're Englis.h.!.+'

He smiles. *So are you.'

Gabby puts her phone back in her bag. *Where are you from?'

*London.'

She looks at him. Since coming to live here she has met a lot of people who are English and say they are from London. *Where?' she used to ask excitedly, always hoping they would be from her *village'; hoping they might say Belsize Park, or Primrose Hill, or Camden Town.

Invariably they'd say, *Guildford.' She has no idea why, but it seemed everyone she met who said they came from London, ended up coming from Guildford. *Right,' she'd say, covering her disappointment. *Surrey.'

*Where in London?' she asks dubiously, awaiting the Guildford reply.

*Maida Vale.'

*No!' She is delighted. *I'm from Belsize Park!'

He grins from ear to ear before doing what all good Londoners do when far from home and connecting with someone from their village: declare their school. *City of London.'

*South Hampstead!'

*Oh my G.o.d!' He laughs. *Don't tell me a nineteen seventy-nine to eighty-six?'

*Not quite. I'd have been in the year below you.'

*I think I went out with the whole of your year.'

*Who? Who?' It is an unspoken connection, an immediate familiarity, as Gabby leans across the table towards him.

*Sarah Diamond.'

*She was in the year above me!'

*Emma Montgomery.'

*My year!'

*Daisy Luckwell.'

*My G.o.d, you were busy!'

*What can I say? I was very charming when I was at school. Didn't you know City boys?'

*Not really.' She shakes her head. *I was too busy falling in love with the boys at UCS.'

*Oh please!' He waves a hand dismissively. *How could you possibly have fallen in love with boys from that school? Maroon-and-black-striped blazers! What little taste you must have had. You should have looked further afield to us, where the real men were. We played rugby. And tennis. Very manly.'

*Oh yes. And cricket. Very manly.'

*What's the matter with cricket?' He feigns hurt. *I'll have you know I'm an excellent bowler.'

*You're certainly bowling me over,' she says, and grins, before her hands fly up to her mouth. *Oh my G.o.d. I didn't mean that. I was just making a double entendre. I didn't mean that to sound like a come-on.'

He laughs. *First of all, I'm just thrilled to hear someone p.r.o.nounce "doobl ontond" correctly, and secondly I haven't had such a nice come-on in years. Even if it wasn't one. What are you drinking? Sorry, I can see you're drinking tea but that's completely ridiculous. You can't sit in a bar on this ghastly singles night and drink tea and think that's okay. You need something far stronger to give you the fort.i.tude to get through this evening.'

Gabby cannot stop smiling at the banter. *Why? Are you that bad?'

*Oh I'm much worse.' He grins. *Let me guess. Cosmopolitan.'

She grimaces. *Do I really strike you as a Cosmopolitan kind of girl?'

*Good point. Pint of Scrumpy?'

*If I knew you better I'd tell you where to go.'

*Vodka and tonic, lots of lime?'

*Perfect.' She watches him as he heads over to the bar, knowing this isn't going to be such a bad night after all.

*Excuse me?' She looks up into the face of a leering, perma-tanned man. *Is anyone sitting here?'

*Yes,' she says, and smiles at him. *I'm afraid there is.'

*I'm Julian.' He extends his arm over the table and they shake hands formally.

*Gabby.'

*I hate to ask the obvious question, but do you come here often? Know that if you say yes I may have to get up and leave, but no pressure.'

Gabby laughs. *I have been here before, but for dinner. This is the first time I've been to the singles scene, and it is, as you said earlier, ghastly, as I knew it would be, and the only reason I'm here is because my girlfriend has been begging me for weeks to accompany her, and in the end I ran out of excuses. I also thought: it's one night a how bad can it be?'

*Worse,' Julian says.

*Clearly.' They c.h.i.n.k gla.s.ses in a silent toast.

*So what brings you here, in your Barbour and brogues? Are you looking for a glamorous divorcee to tuck you up at night?'

His face grows serious as he studies his gla.s.s, before looking up at her again. *Actually, I'm here in much the same way you are. I'm newly separated and my mates at work have been trying to get me out for a night's drinking for weeks. I kept trying to put them off, but in the end I also ran out of excuses and thought I'd just get p.i.s.sed and get it over with.'

*p.i.s.sed as in English p.i.s.sed?'

*Yes. Drunk. Not angry.'

*G.o.d, it's nice to meet someone who speaks the same language,' Gabby says. *I've been here for ever a I'm an American citizen a and I love this country more than I could ever imagine, but when I'm with someone English I just feel I've come home.'

*I have that effect on all women,' Julian says. *Seriously, it isn't meeting someone English, though. At least, I don't think so. It's meeting someone from your "village". We probably went to the same parties. I'm sure if we tried we'd come up with a ton of people in common. Were you hanging out at the Dome?'

*Yes!' she says in delight. *The Mud Club?'

*Yes!'

*Hang on a' she peers at him a *didn't I snog you on New Year's Eve in nineteen eighty-five?'

*Oh my G.o.d! That was you? I've been looking for you for ever!' They both laugh. *So what's your story, Gabby? Husband? Kids? What brought you here ...'

*I had a husband,' Gabby starts, leaning forward so he can hear.

*What?' The music has just been turned up and he cups his ear. *Can you speak up?'

She leans even further forward and speaks loudly. *Not really!'

*Have you eaten? This place is too d.a.m.n noisy for me. Do you want to leave and grab something to eat?' he asks, his lips up against her ear.

She beams up at him. *That would be lovely!'

Josephine turns to see Julian, before gaping at Gabby. *What? How is it that you've met a cute guy already?'

*He's not a romantic prospect,' Gabby a.s.sures her. *He's from the same place as me. We have friends in common. To be honest, it's getting a bit loud in here. Would you mind terribly if I left?'

*You're going to get in a car with him? A stranger?'

*No! We're just going across the street. I'll be back.'

*Oh. Okay.'

*You're sure? Because I won't go if you're not okay with it.'

*It's fine.' Josephine leans forward. *This guy Rich is really nice. I'm more than fine.' And she winks.

*Be back later,' Gabby says, giving Josephine a kiss on the cheek.

She told Josephine he isn't a romantic prospect, and the truth is she is enjoying herself too much to even think about whether he is a romantic prospect or not. There is certainly banter, perhaps one might call it chemistry, but Gabby suspects it's from familiarity, rather than any s.e.xual attraction. He feels like a brother, like someone she has known for ever, for while she does not know him, she has known a million men, boys, like him, and feels completely safe and comfortable in a way she rarely feels with people she has just met.

They walk across the street, both chattering nineteen to the dozen, and walk into the restaurant there. Julian guides her in through the door, one hand on the small of her back, then helps her off with her coat, hanging it on the rack by the door.

How lovely it is, Gabby thinks, to be with a man who knows what to do. He pulls the chair out for her before sitting down himself, and shakes out his napkin as soon as he sits down, smiling over the table at his new friend.

Gabby sighs. *This is so much better. Thank you for suggesting this. I felt like my ears were going to pop.'

*I haven't forgotten you were about to give me your life story,' Julian says. *I think you were at the part where you had a husband.'

*Ah yes. I was.' Gabby is quiet for a moment, because she is not sure how to edit her story to make it palatable. He may feel like someone she has known for ever, but what will he think if she tells him the truth? Is it necessary to tell anyone the truth? Would it not be better just to say she and her husband split up and she has a baby? But she has tried that before, and everyone gasps in horror at how disgusting her husband is, that he could leave her when pregnant.

She may be furious with Elliott now, but he is not the bad guy here. He does not deserve to be castigated for something he did not do.

*I had a husband,' she starts, her eyes flicking to the door, then she stops, abruptly. *Oh s.h.i.+t,' she says. *And there he is.'

She looks at Julian like a rabbit trapped in the glare of headlights.

*Do you need to hide?' he leans forward and whispers.

*I don't want to see him,' she whispers back. *Or his ghastly girlfriend.'

*I like it that you like the word "ghastly".' He is still whispering. *It's my most favourite word. I've made a pact to myself to use it at least five times a day.'

*This really is ghastly,' she says. *Seriously. I don't want to see them.'

*Stop being a baby,' he commands. *I can't throw my Barbour over your head and pretend to be dining with the incredible shrouded woman.'

Despite herself, Gabby laughs, just as Elliott spots her, and stops in his tracks.

*Don't look now,' Julian says out of the side of his mouth, *but the ex has seen you.'

*If you had thrown your Barbour over my head I wouldn't be able to look now,' she mutters, wis.h.i.+ng she could stop smiling. *I wish you had.'

*Don't be silly,' he says gently. *If I had then we'd have to cut a hole in it so you could eat, and that wouldn't be very practical, would it?'

Gabby bursts out laughing before sinking her head in her hands. *Oh G.o.d. This is awful. I don't mind saying h.e.l.lo to Elliott, but the smug ghastly girlfriend? Ghastly!'

Julian peers over. *She does look rather smug. Very American perfect. Not my type at all.'

*Oh no? What's your type?' Gabby couldn't help the question, but Julian says nothing, merely smiles and raises an eyebrow, lifting his water gla.s.s in a silent toast.

*Watch out', he says. *Here they come.'

*Elliott!' Gabby summons every ounce of graciousness she has ever possessed, flas.h.i.+ng a charming smile at them both. *Tris.h.!.+ What a small world!'

*Lovely to see you,' Trish replies, without stopping, continuing through the restaurant to their table, shooting a look at Elliott as if he should follow her. Which he doesn't. *Elliott?' she says.

*Be there in a minute,' he says, turning to look at Julian. He extends a hand. *Hi, I'm Elliott.'

*Julian. How do you do?'

*Oh. You're English. Are you a friend from home?'

*No,' Julian says pleasantly, not offering anything else.