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She nodded.
‘Blame that on my father.’
Tarek had a cut-glass English accent. He’d been to boarding school in England, but it wasn’t that which surprised her; it was the very English idioms that he suddenly came out with that she didn’t expect.
‘Oh, how he loves England, and his old college.’
‘Sounds as though he really enjoyed his time here. He must have fallen in love with the place.’
Tarek regarded her thoughtfully.
‘What?’ Freya put an elbow on the table, her chin in her hand, studying his dark eyes. She wondered what his father looked like. Did Tarek take after him?
Freya steered the conversation back to his father. ‘So, was there something in particular he loved about England?’
‘Someone,’ said Tarek, surprising her. ‘Once, he said he met the love of his life here.’
‘Your mother was a student here too? They met at Cambridge?’
Tarek shook his head. ‘No. My mother never ventured out of Egypt. Theirs was an arranged marriage.’
‘Was?’ repeated Freya.
‘She passed away a few months ago. My mother was much younger than my father. He didn’t marry until his thirties, so he didn’t expect to lose her so young.’
‘I’m so sorry.’ Now she understood why his father had wanted to accompany him to England.
‘My father talked of his wish to visit England many times, but my mother wouldn’t come, so he put off the trip.’ He lowered his voice. ‘I think it’s just as well. Something tells me it isn’t Cambridge he’s returned to see after all these years.’
‘You think there was someone before your mother?’
‘They’d been betrothed since my mother was twelve, but …’
Freya leaned towards him, staring at him with rapt attention. ‘What happened?’
‘It was the eve of his wedding, when he was due to fly home, so mother told me, and he’d missed his flight. It was all because his Cambridge friends had found out about his wedding and taken him on a stag night.’
‘Oh, dear. I imagine that wasn’t something he intended to do.’
‘No, it wasn’t.’
She imagined it wasn’t something he’d forget in a hurry, either.
‘My father was open to all new English cultural experiences.’
Freya frowned. ‘I wouldn’t exactly call that cultural.’ Although she imagined not all stag parties involved getting drunk and doing really dumb things, but she guessed most fell into that category. ‘What happened?’
‘I think he met someone that night and fell in love.’
‘In one night? Are you serious? That’s crazy.’
Tarek disagreed. ‘It happens – love at first sight.’
There followed a very uncomfortable moment in which they both sat staring at one another across the table. One of the diners interrupted them, asking, ‘Is this chair free?’
‘Yes,’ they both said in unison, neither one of them turning to look at the man standing there with a hand on the chair.
‘Er … thanks.’
