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Alex wasn’t someone who could be railroaded and while it was an admirable trait for a secretary, as he imagined he’d spent a lot of time trying to make sure his well-crafted plans didn’t go down the Swanee. “It’d be good to be seen doing normal things. Like shopping, going to the gym. We could have another trip out for coffee, but more coupley.”
“You do have a point, but let’s get tonight out of the way first. I think I might be too nervous to eat, though and I’m worried the wine will go to my head.”
“At least you’ve had a date in public with a bloke—this is my first time.”
“I hadn’t thought of it like that.” Alex chewed the inside of his cheek. “We probably should have discussed this already. I don’t suppose it’s too different, but having said that, I’ve never been out with a woman.”
Dorian wasn’t used to being nervous and he was starting to get unsettled. “Maybe I should call Ben and ask him.”
“Come off it, Dorian. It can’t be that hard. We do need our own guidelines rather than societal conventions, for example, if you try and push my chair in or order on my behalf, I will stab you with a fork.”
Dorian laughed and Alex smiled. “No rose bouquets either, I take it?”
“As you saw, I’d much rather have a bag of jelly babies.”
“I noticed your sweet tooth.”
“Some people might say all of me is sweet, but then the last person who said it cheated on me with a fishmonger from Clapham.”
Dorian might have had a weird dating history, and had hidden his relationship with Robin behind smoke and mirrors, but he hated cheaters. “Then that fucker didn’t deserve you.”
Alex seemed startled by his defence. “Oh, I didn’t mope and pine over him. And my dating history isn’t tragic just not very va va vroom.”
“No great love of your life? Or the one who got away?”
Alex shook his head. “No, I’ve never been in love. Not met the right person I suppose. I’m rather particular and a bit bossy. You?”
“I was with Robin for six years. First person I ever loved, and maybe always will a little.”
“Six years is a long time.”
“Yeah. I did think he was the one, or at least I told myself that. But the reality is, if he had been the one, I’d have come out when he asked me.”
Alex took hold of his hand, he hadn’t been expecting it. “Must’ve been hard.”
“I thought we’d get back together, and it took a while, including some pretty shitty behaviour on my part, to come to terms with it not going to happen.”
“What’s right in one moment, isn’t necessarily right for the next. Then life can throw curveballs so really, you just have to adapt.”
There must be a story behind Alex’s philosophy. He was a few years younger than Dorian, and he was pretty certain he’d never have been so profound. “Sounds like you learnt a hard lesson along the way.”
“Not directly. My dad is my mum’s second husband. Her first was the great love of her life and he died in an accident. She decided never to fall in love again, and then she met my dad fifteen years later and he changed all that.”
“Wow.”
The look on Alex’s face spoke to his devotion to his parents, and Dorian felt a pull towards him, not quite understanding it but wanting to be someone that Alex would be enamoured with too. “They are completely bonkers, and free-spirited and eccentric is a nice way to say they cause pandemonium wherever they go.”
“I can’t wait to meet them.”
Alex shook his head. “Absolutely not. I would die from mortification. Anyway, what about your parents?”
“My dad died a few years back but we weren’t close—he travelled a lot for work and that was his real passion in life. My parents divorced when I was about twelve and I was sent off to Harrow the year after. Still got my mum and my step-dad, lovely woman, adore her… but she’s a bit of a reserved type.”
“Good job we’re only fake dating, you could imagine the chaos if they were to meet. My mum would want to make her something, she’s an artist, and I doubt your mum would find it appropriate.”
“Such as?” Dorian asked, intrigued.
“Put it this way, when my brother brought home his girlfriend, she created her a hair band made out of Barbie doll heads stuck together.”
