AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Just… a showing. Some up and coming designer. He’s been commissioned to do a hat for the Duchess of Cambridge’s tour to Australia.” It was a white lie. The showing was to take place the following week. Fudging the dates wouldn’t hurt anyone though.
Alec stood to accompany her but she waved him down. “Don’t worry. I can see myself out.”
He continued to stand anyway, and followed her to the door. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, but her skin was pale; her eyes gleaming.
“Okay. Can I call you?”
“Sure.” She pressed a chaste kiss against his cheek. “I’d like that.”
She left when the race was in its infancy. She never saw him win. And even if she had, it would have done nothing to cheer her. He was no longer in her life. But that didn’t mean she was happy with the risks he took.
* * *
Their first Non-Date was dinner at a popular celebrity haunt in Notting Hill. And while she liked Alec, it underscored all of the reasons she had for not wanting to get involved with him. The bulbs flashed in her face as they made their way through the wrought iron doors.
“Paparazzi love you, huh?”
She lifted her shoulders. “You can take the model off the runway… but all the world’s a runway, anyway.”
A slender waitress showed them to their table and Alec immediately apologised. “I wanted to impress you. I didn’t think. Obviously this was a terrible choice.”
“It’s fine,” she demurred. “Honestly, I’m not precious about having my photo taken.”
His smile was uneasy.
“Why do you want to impress me anyway?” She asked with a teasing smile. “We’re just friends, right?”
“Right.” He cleared his throat. The waiter appeared and Alec ordered a bottle of champagne. “That’s okay?”
“Fine,” she nodded.
“Did you happen to watch the rest of the race?”
“No.” She hadn’t needed to. Ferrari’s victory, led by Leonardo Fontana, had been splashed over all the papers the next day. Along with a huge photograph of him cradling the cup.
“Beatrice was thrilled for him. He probably heard her all the way over there.”
Aurora’s smile was heavy on her face. “Do you mind if we… don’t talk about it?”
He sat back while the waiter popped the cork on their champagne and poured it into two crystal flutes. Then, he leaned forward. “It’s just, I was thinking about what you said the other day. The dates. Three
years ago was around when he had that God awful crash, wasn’t it?”
Beneath the table, she clasped her hands together. “Yes.”
“What came first? The break up, or the crash?”
“The crash.” She lowered her gaze, staring at the table with a heart that was sinking.
“So you guys broke up right after?”
“It probably sounds incredibly callous. He was in hospital. But he was so badly injured, Alec. I mean, he was in a coma, he had broken bones. It was terrible. Seeing someone you love in such a state is a nightmare. And then, he came out of it, and almost the first thing he asked was when he’d be able to race again.” She sipped her champagne. “How many times can you go through that? Every time he got in his car, I would have wondered if that was going to be the day that he died. I never liked him racing before the crash. But having seen him like that once… I couldn’t do it.”
“And he didn’t understand that.”
“No.” She shook her head to clear the cloud. “But this is not what I want to be discussing on my first non-date in years. So let’s talk about something that doesn’t make me want to weep.”
