Page 12 of The Paris Chapter

‘No,’ he replied, too quickly, as he started loading food onto two plates.

I snorted.

He shrugged. ‘Okay, yeah, I do feel bad about Joe, and what happened between the two of you, and then me invading your solo holiday and everything. I just want to try to make things up to you.’

‘Well, that’s sweet but it’s not really your job, is it?’

‘I don’t see it as a job; I like being nice.’ Then he grimaced. ‘That was cringey, wasn’t it?’

I chuckled. ‘Yeah, kind of. But I appreciate it. You’re very thoughtful. Bringing this home,’ I said, gesturing to the food.

‘I like feeding people,’ he replied. ‘Take it over to the table, I’ll bring the wine.’

‘A girl could get used to this,’ I muttered as I took the plates over. We were having beef bourguignon and fancy mash and vegetables, plus there were side plates of salad, and bread that seemed freshly baked. Ethan joined me, pouring us both a glass of red wine.

‘This looks amazing,’ I said. ‘Did you help cook it?’

‘Yep. Tuck in,’ he said, nodding at me to start. ‘I was on sauce duty so you’ll have to tell me—’ He stopped abruptly as I moaned. Then he cleared his throat. ‘Um, good?’

‘It’s amazing. If this is what your food is like, I have to come to your restaurant as soon as we get back to London,’ I said, nodding furiously, then I felt my face heat up. ‘Um, only if you would be okay with that, obviously.’

‘Why wouldn’t I?’ he asked, surprised. I decided it was best not to answer that. Ethan’s phone rang then, saving me. ‘Finally. I thought he was never going to call me back.’ He swiped it up from the table to his ear. ‘Joe, at last.’

My whole body went rigid as I watched Ethan get up and walk into the living room. I stuffed some more of the delicious meal into my mouth to stop myself from screaming out insults. I couldn’t help but try to hear their conversation. Ethan paced back and forth as they spoke, at first quietly then his voice grew louder.

‘You told me you paid for this place,’ Ethan said. ‘You didn’t have the decency to check with Tessa whether it was okay for me to come here… Yeah, well, she surprised you then, didn’t she? I’m going to give her half the money… No, I won’t tell her that… I’m not sure whether to believe anything you’ve told me… To be honest, mate, I don’t really care… I’ve got to go.’

I jumped as Ethan hung up on Joe and quickly marched back towards me. I hastily took a gulp of my wine to push the food down as I thought I might have forgotten to chew properly while I shamelessly eavesdropped.

‘Joe said he forgot you had paid for this place and would never have expected you to come here alone. I think he was pretty taken aback to find out you did,’ Ethan said as he sat back down.

‘I bet,’ I said dryly. ‘Joe told me once that I didn’t seem capable of much. Maybe I let him think that, I don’t know. He was overwhelming sometimes. I think he made me feel that I needed to let him lead things. Maybe I didn’t feel like I could quite be myself.’

‘Hmm. You’re right. He can be overwhelming. He can try to… take over. We met a long time ago. At school. You grow up and become different people but his family were really good to me. When I didn’t have anyone else.’

There was a short silence. I wondered if this was Ethan trying to tell me that maybe they wouldn’t be friends if they met now. I didn’t know Ethan that well yet but he did appear to be a very different man to Joe.

‘What did Joe say that you didn’t want to pass on to me?’ I asked eventually.

Ethan seemed to weigh up whether to answer or not. Finally, he did. ‘He said he hopes you’re well.’

‘He hopes I’m well?’ I repeated. No apology. No regrets. No admitting he was wrong. ‘Why am I not surprised that was the message?’

There was another short silence. Then Ethan sighed. ‘I needto say something. Joe told me, and some of our friends, a few things that I now wonder whether they were completely correct,’ he said, slowly and carefully, as if trying to make sure he said the right thing. ‘So I can’t help but wonder if he did the same to you. About me.’

I leaned back in the chair. ‘Huh. Maybe you’re right.’ I thought about Joe saying Ethan hadn’t wanted to meet me. It seemed strange now that instead of avoiding me here like I had assumed he would, Ethan had taken me out to see a romantic location to help my book and now we were having dinner together. He seemed to really feel bad for what his mate had done to me.

Ethan continued. ‘Joe has been a big part of my life, he still is part of it, so I don’t want to sit here and slag him off, or get involved in what happened with you two, but I also don’t want us to not get along because of him.’

‘Me neither,’ I agreed. ‘So, what do we do? Act like we’re meeting here now for the first time?’ I joked.

‘Why not?’ Ethan replied seriously.

‘I suppose we could try it,’ I said. I was dying to know what Joe had said about me while we had been together, but I also knew that no good could come of asking. I was already furious with Joe and upset that I had given him my heart. Maybe it was better to just try to move on as best I could. And while I was with Ethan, put it to one side. We only had a short space of time together. After that, we’d go our separate ways. ‘Okay, let’s do that.’

Ethan smiled. ‘Good. I’d like that too. So, I’m Ethan.’ He held out his hand across the table.

I tittered but reached out and shook his hand. His skin was warm and his handshake firm. Our eyes met, and again, I felt anunfamiliar but very welcome ease settle over me. ‘Nice to meet you. I’m Tessa.’

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