Chapter Thirty-Four
Lisa rested her head on the table and groaned. Even the smell of the gingerbread latte and the sound of Michael Bublé attempting to spread some Christmas cheer to the coffee shop crowd wasn’t doing it for her. Christmas shopping usually meant ordering a hamper from the nearest department store to be delivered to her parents and sending a voucher to herbrother. This year she wanted to try harder. She wanted to hand pick them something special. But, when she arranged the day, she hadn’t imagined it following a night of her lying awake overthinking every minute of seeing Nathan in the bar, and then getting up early to feed Kitty-Kat, Sheldon and MrMistoffelees before being picked up by Felicity and Melissa.
‘I’m so sorry, Lisa. I reallythought Pete would help.’
Lisa lifted her head and peered at Felicity with one eye open. ‘It’s not your fault Flick, or Pete’s, you were trying to…’ she lifted her head fully off the table, revealing dark rings under her eyes ‘…well, to be honest, I don’t know what Pete was doing but you were trying to help.’
‘He said he thought he’d force the situation. See how Nathan wouldreact to you with Dom. He thought then you’d know if he liked you back.’
‘Oh God, did you tell Pete I like Nathan?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘He didn’t tell him, did he?’
‘No, definitely not. I checked and swore him to secrecy.’
Secrecy, the word stung, reminding Lisa that Pete and Nathan were conspiring with secrets of their own.
‘Wait, you like Nathan, as in“like” like?’ Melissa swung her head between Lisa and Felicity. ‘When did that happen? At golf you seemed—’
‘I don’t think I ever stopped liking him.’ Lisa was surprised by the ease with which she spoke the words. It seemed since confessing her buried feelings to Felicity she was willing to share them with anyone except Nathan himself. ‘Pete won’t tell him, will he?’
‘No. I don’tthink they even see each other much. Didn’t Nathan say at the bonfire parade he hardly ever goes to Cin Cin? It was just unlucky for you he was there, I guess.’
‘Hmmm.’ With the familiarity of the waitress and seeing Nathan and Pete together Lisa was pretty sure Nathan was a regular.
Melissa stirred her coffee. ‘So how did he react to seeing you with…’
‘Dom,’ Lisa andFelicity finished together.
Picturing the situation again, Lisa cringed. ‘He left.’ She banged her head back against the table.
Melissa wasn’t ready to let it go. ‘But, hold on, how did he leave?’
‘Does it matter? He left.’
‘Well, did he seem casual, did he seem hurt, did he give you a longing look, did he clench his jaw or his fists, did he push past him bangingshoulders and giving him a hard stare,’ she took a breath, ‘ooh, did he challenge Dom to a duel?’
Flick burst out a giggle and then realised it was an inappropriate time to laugh and attempted her best this-is-no-laughing-matter face. ‘Sorry, Lisa. If Melissa appeared onMastermindher specialist subject would be films of the last decade. Since having Bella her cinematic cravings and lackof sleep mean she’s clearly overdosing on Netflix. I didn’t mean to laugh.’ Turning to Melissa she added, still trying to control her desire to laugh, ‘This is real life and that’s not helpful.’Though it is bloody funny!
‘OK, not the duel thing,’ Melissa conceded, ‘but how he reacted must have told you something.’
Lisa pondered. ‘He seemed… he seemed…’
Flick and Melissaleaned forward tilting their heads in anticipation.
‘He seemedcoolabout it.’ Lisa sighed.
Both Felicity and Melissa resisted the urge to slink back into their seats.
‘He was polite, he shook Dom’s hand and left like a normal,cool, unfazed person who bumped into someone they knew in a bar. No jaw clenching; no pistols at dawn. No duel.’
‘It is a reaction,’ Melissaoffered weakly.
‘Not the one she wanted,’ said Flick.
‘It’s OK, I knew it. We went out for old times’ sake. Maybe for him that put to bed…’ she blushed at the reference ‘…I mean, maybe that gave him closure over the past, over what happened at the prom.’For me it made me see what I let go.‘I knew he was cool aboutus, me,’ she corrected realising there was no ‘us’ as far asshe and Nathan were concerned. ‘He told me.’
