AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He took another sip of his scotch, the smile still strong on his lips. ‘You can ask, Charlie. It’s okay. I haven’t dated since my divorce, but when has dating ever not been terrible?’
‘Right?’ I asked enthusiastically, turning my body towards him a bit more. Tentative friends could be good. ‘That’s always what I thought, but trust me, blind dates and online dates are a completely different category.’
‘I’ll have to take your word for it. It’s been a long while since I’ve dated in any shape or form.’
‘No online dates?’ I asked a little surprised.
‘Not yet. Not ever.’
‘Oh, you’re like a baby. The innocence!’ I clasped my hands together and gave him my sweetest smile. ‘You’re missing out on so many things.’
His smile got bigger as he took me in, his eyes lingering on my lips. ‘Yeah?’
I smiled back. ‘You have no idea. You’ll have to let me know how the first one goes. It’ll be fun, probably the best time you’ve ever had.’
‘Why do I have a feeling you’ll be the only one enjoying that date?’
‘I would never enjoy someone else’s misery.’
He laughed, the warm sound making me grin.
‘Deal,’ he agreed. ‘If I start online dating, you’ll be the first one to hear about my experience.’
The curiosity got the better of me and I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. ‘So, you’re not dating because you’re not over your ex?’ As soon as the words were out of my mouth I regretted them.
He gave me an interesting sideways look, complete with an eyebrow raise, and I had the decency to look away. I wiped the condensation on my glass to avoid looking at him.
‘That was a little personal, sorry. But now that I asked you something personal, you get the chance to ask me one, in return. If you don’t want to answer that’s okay too, of course.’
He chuckled and shook his head. ‘I’m over Lindsey. My ex. Trust me. Just don’t have time to date right now. It’ll happen when it happens, but it’s not gonna happen for a while. I’m not interested in dating at the moment. I’m not worried over it.’
I cleared my throat and nodded. ‘I can understand that.’ Lindsey had no idea what she had lost. I took a few more sips of my drink in the silence before I spoke again. ‘I find that relationships are hard. I’ve been thinking about this a little more than usual lately and sometimes I think it’s not worth going through the heartache to find someone decent to spend your life with. If you’re happy by yourself why bother, right? But sometimes I think we’re not wired to be alone and loving someone and being loved is… not a necessity, I don’t want to say necessity, but maybe one of the important things we’re looking for in life?’
In the aftermath of my words, he was quiet next to me. And the people in the restaurant went on with their nights, completely unaware of William and me. Was that too deep for a random conversation? Was he thinking why he even bothered to come and sit next to me? Which he had probably done because he felt sorry for me waiting on my own for an hour. There was lots of chatter, clinking noises and loud voices around me. In the grand scheme of things, I guess sitting with the guy I’d had the biggest crush on in my life after so many years and having a deep word vomit didn’t affect them much.
‘Sometimes it can be worth the trouble,’ William said eventually. ‘With the right person for you.’
‘Is there even a right person? The one? Or a perfect one?’
‘Depends on how you look at things. I don’t believe there is somebody perfect out there, but there could be someone perfect for you. Who complements you, who fits you, who is flawed – because we’re all flawed – but is perfect for you.’
‘Sounds nice.’
I cleared my throat, trying to ignore how vulnerable I’d just sounded even to my own ears.
‘Okay, your turn to ask me something very personal.’
‘Do I get to use it later?’
I relaxed. ‘Of course.’ After my comments, I didn’t want to get even more personal. ‘This is strange. I don’t feel drunk,’ I said casually. I never claimed I was good at changing a subject.
‘That’s usually what drunk people say.’
I raised my full glass, inspecting it thoroughly. ‘I know, but I really don’t think I am. This is my…’ I frowned trying to figure out my number ‘… third? I usually have a two-drink limit when I’m out, but I don’t feel bad. And I did slosh more than half of my second drink when you showed up so…’ When I felt his eyes on me, I glanced at him. ‘Okay, don’t tell anyone, but I’m not a big drinker. I’d never tried a martini before. I tried tonight. It was my first drink.’ I shook my head vehemently and put my glass down. ‘I didn’t like it. I took two sips. I guess that one doesn’t count and the second one got sloshed and this…’ I said, lifting my margarita glass between us, ‘is my first official drink.’
