The Rose and Chalice had such a rustic, cosy atmosphere, complete with burning fires and comfortable looking sofas, that it felt like an authentic country pub. Lucy began scanning the faces scattered about the place, looking for one she recognized, but she needn’t have bothered… Claudia’s shriek would have been audible across the river! Following the ear-piercing decibels, they spotted Claudia and Dan sitting at a table near the fireplace at the back of the pub, already halfway through their first drink.
They made their way through the crowded pub to their table, being careful not to nudge any drinks over as they did so. Lucy clocked Claudia’s gobsmacked expression at the sight of Rory, which, with a well-timed elbow in the ribs from Dan, she hastily rearranged into a normal smile. Both Claudia and Dan stood up to kiss Lucy and greet Rory, welcoming them and exchanging the usual platitudes of ‘Nice to meet you’ et cetera. Lucy was so proud to be here with such an incredible catch, she could feel the envious eyes of all the other women on her back, and felt a wave of smugness rise within her. She had been very impressed with the confident way in which Rory had introduced himself, firmly shaking both Claudia and Dan’s hand, saying their names whilst looking them directly in the eye. He asked Lucy what she would like to drink and offered to buy another round for Claudia and Dan, before turning to weave his way back through to the bar.
Immediately, Claudia burst out with, ‘Oh my god, he is just divine! You lucky cow!’ to which Dan retorted, ‘Easy, Clauds or I’ll start to get jealous!’
Lucy beamed. ‘I told you he was good-looking!’ she said as she helped herself to a handful of salt and vinegar crisps from the packet that was lying open on the table. She was really craving salty food at the moment, and thought she might get some chips with her meal to hit the spot. ‘I’m starving… in fact I think I’ll go and get some menus and help Rory carry your drinks. You’re eating right?’ she asked.
‘Definitely,’ replied Dan, peering over her shoulder to scan the specials that were chalked up on the blackboard.
Lucy joined Rory at the bar and grabbed a couple of menus from the stand, tucking them under her arm then waiting for the barman to pull their pints.
‘They seem like a lovely couple!’ said Rory. ‘And this pub is a great find. The food looks amazing… check out that burger over there,’ he said, pointing over at a table to their left where a tower of pulled pork was spilling over a brioche bun.
‘Oh yum! I might have to get one of those,’ agreed Lucy, taking the two glasses of wine and following Rory back over to Claudia and Dan.
‘Here we go!’ announced Rory. ‘Yours was the Guinness right?’ he joked with Dan, before proffering a lager. ‘Only having a laugh, we Irish aren’t all as obsessed with the black stuff as you might think, you know!’
They settled into a happy chat about Ireland. Dan had been on a recent work trip to Dublin which had included an enlightening tour around the Guinness factory. Claudia asked Rory all about his family, clearly doing her best to get as much information out of him as possible, eager to size him up. She shrieked with disbelief when she heard that he had seven nephews and nieces; three from his sister and four from his older brother.
‘Wow! I think having one nephew is more than enough responsibility for me!’ said Claudia, referring to Sebastian, now, incredibly, over one year old already.
‘I don’t think anyone would disagree with you, Clauds!’ laughed Lucy. ‘You’re not exactly what I would describe as a natural with kids after all…’
Rory asked Claudia and Dan what they did for a living, showing interest in hearing about their respective careers, asking plenty of questions.
As their food arrived, they passed out cutlery and condiments, marvelling at the mouth-watering pies and burgers. During dinner the conversation moved on to Rory and his architecture and Lucy began to tell them about his amazing house in Holland Park. Claudia was fascinated to hear about the development of the house from its less than desirable beginnings: her father had run a business renovating properties for years. As the conversation flowed, Lucy sat back and admired Rory, his endearing self-deprecation, the way the vowels rolled lazily off his tongue and those frequent bouts of deep laughter. She loved listening to all his anecdotes about life and could tell that both Claudia and Dan were held captive by him too.
The two couples ordered a round of highly calorific desserts followed by coffees. By this time the alcohol had loosened their tongues and, as was so often the case, lowered the tone of the conversation. It was always at this stage of the night that Claudia was at her most hilarious, with Dan her witty sidekick, and she had all of their attention gripped as she described a recent sex-tape scandal at work that would have had even the most liberal of people blushing to the very roots of their hair!
As the pub began to close, they spilled out onto the pavement along with the other punters, kissing each other goodbye and promising to organize another date for the diary soon.
Claudia hugged Lucy tight and whispered in her ear, ‘This is it, I think it really isit!’
Lucy beamed at her friend. If anything tonight had confirmed what she was beginning to suspect, that this really was different, that Rory really could be the one she had been waiting for.
