‘Hi,’ she said, a boy swinging on each arm.
‘Hi,’ Etienne said, his heart plummeting.
‘Great job yesterday,’ Walker said to Isabella as he left, tucking a pound coin into the boys’ hands for lollies on the way home.
‘You smashed it,’ said Fox and she made sure she was focusing all her attention on Fox as he talked, so that she hardly glanced at Etienne. She looked pale, he thought, as though maybe she hadn’t slept well either.
‘Are you all ready for opening night?’ Fox asked and she talked for a while about Tutto Mio, last-minute arrangements, more marketing. How she was hopeful because they had steady bookings for several weeks ahead now. She was saying all the right words but her tone lacked her normal enthusiasm.
‘We’ll all be there to celebrate,’ Fox said, trying to disentangle the boys from around her legs. ‘These two love meatballs.’
‘Great.’ She squatted in front of the two boys. ‘I’ll save you both a mega portion!’
Straightening up, she finally looked directly at Etienne. Her blue eyes met his.
‘I’m sureyou’llbe far too busy to come, with so many better options,’ she said and it wasn’t a question. ‘Anyway,’ she kissed Fox on the cheek. ‘See you there.’ She left to a chorus ofciaos from the boys and lots of blown kisses.
‘Wow, you weren’t wrong,’ said Fox. ‘She really hates you.’
Chapter Fifty-One
Isabella
When Isabella arrived, The Lit Lounge was temporarily quiet: the calligraphy club had already been and gone, the lunchtime knit and natter group not yet arrived. Rosie and Wren were behind the counter, Wren sipping a coffee, Rosie reading a book, taking a well-earned ten-minute break. Barney lay on the counter, belly up, purring. As Isabella walked in, Amber caught the door behind her and linked her arm.
Wren put two cups under the coffee machine and by the time they pulled up stools at the central reading bar, an espresso was in front of Isabella and a cappuccino was in front of Amber.
‘Don’t go holding back on the good stuff, sister,’ Amber said as Wren shook the powdered chocolate on top. ‘This is what I live for.’
Isabella saw Amber was wearing the Tutto Mio blue shirt and knew she would have come from the restaurant for a break. She’d been working so hard.
‘How’s the food poisoning?’ Amber asked. ‘Feeling better?’
Wren and Rosie looked over. Isabella opened her mouth to smile, or say that she felt fine, but nothing came out. Just a sudden and overwhelming fear she was going to cry.
‘Are you still feeling ill?’ Wren asked.
‘You do look pale,’ Rosie added, putting the back of her hand to Isabella’s forehead.
Isabella slumped and put her head in her hands.
‘Something tells me this isn’t food poisoning.’ Rosie pulled her stool closer and put her hand to Isabella’s head, stroking her hair. Isabella wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and go to sleep. To forget everything.
‘I got Etienne’d,’ she said, sitting back up, ‘without even getting properly Etienne’d.’
She saw the sympathy on her friends’ faces, the way they reached out to her, the arms around her shoulders.
‘You haven’t had sex?’ Rosie asked and Isabella shook her head. The sex, or lack of it, wasn’t even the thing that she was missing.
‘You fell for him?’ Wren asked.
Isabella nodded, tears spilling from her eyes. She brushed them away, frustrated. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry after last night. But seeing him this morning in the park had been a step too far. She hadn’t been expecting it, and the sight of him knocked the air out of her lungs like a slap on the back. She’d hardly dared look at him, scared to see the coldness on his face again as she had yesterday. But when she had finally looked at him this morning, he looked. . . sad, resigned. And that made it worse, and more confusing, and now she was crying. Again.
Nobody saidI told you so. Nobody said she had been warned. Everybody just piled on to hug her and hold on.
Finally, she wiped her eyes, blew her nose and slurped her espresso down in one gulp.
‘Honestly, that man,’ Wren said.
