Page 11 of You Lied First
She nods her head towards Sara and Celine. ‘You want to have lunch there?’
‘I thought you wanted to stop?’
‘I just wanted a moment after what happened. I’m shaken. Ihitsomeone.’
‘I get that. You can have a moment at the restaurant.’ He points towards it. ‘It’ll be cool and quiet.’
Margot sighs. ‘I only meant a coffee. If we have a huge lunch no one will want to go out for dinner and I’d really hoped we could go to …’
Guy stops abruptly, wrenching her arm back painfully, which forces her to stop, too.
‘If you don’t want to be here, say it, and we’ll go home. All right?’ He glowers at her. ‘The point is this is what our guests want to do and that’s why I’m going along with it. I’m being a politehost.’
They stare at each other, then Margot starts walking towards the restaurant.
‘Okay,’ Guy says after a beat. ‘Good.’
9
SARA
‘I’ve no idea what to order,’ I say once we’re all seated. ‘There’s so much. I like hummus. But is hummus and bread enough, or should I get something else as well? Does anyone want to share a salad?’
‘Tell you what, why don’t I order for everyone?’ Celine says, looking around the table. ‘We can do sharing plates.’
‘Tell you what. Why don’t you do just that?’ Margot puts her menu down. ‘But count me out.’
‘Are you sure?’ Celine asks. ‘The food here is insane. You’ll be missing out!’
Margot smiles. ‘I’m good, thanks. I’ll just have a coffee.’
When the food that Celine’s ordered starts to come, it doesn’t stop. Dish after dish appears from the kitchen: hummus and tabbouleh, plates of fresh Arabic bread, Fattoush, za’atar flatbreads and kibbeh, followed by platters of kebabs and diced fried potatoes laced with garlic and chilli. Somehow the waiters squeeze them all onto the table.
‘Did you order the entire menu?’ Guy asks, smirking as yet another dish arrives.
‘Whoops,’ Celine says, not looking contrite at all as the plates are passed around. ‘I want Sara to try everything andwe have two teenagers here! Flynn’s a growing lad, aren’t you? You must be eating for England to get those muscles! We can pack it to go if there’s too much. It’ll always get eaten. It’s even better the next day.’
‘It’s delicious. A feast! But I feel bad that you’re not eating,’ I say to Margot. ‘Can I tempt you with a bit of hummus?’ I hold it out for her but she shakes her head.
‘No, thanks. There could be pine nuts in it.’
‘Oh!’ says Celine. ‘I forgot about your allergy.’
‘No worries.’ Margot takes a sip of her coffee.
‘Is it a serious allergy?’ I ask. ‘I mean, all allergies are serious, but do you carry an EpiPen?’
‘Of course,’ Margot says. ‘I haven’t needed it for years but I always have it with me. Flynn, can you please put your phone down now the food’s here?’
‘Sorry,’ he says. ‘We were just checking Liv’s mum’s website.’
‘“Your gut knows right from wrong”,’ Liv says. ‘Very deep, Mother.’
I remember that one. The message had been from a young girl who’d stolen a lip gloss from a small corner shop because her friends had dared her to. She’d been wracked with guilt and messaged to ask if she should take it back and own up, or just put it back. In the heat of the moment, with her friends all stuffing things in their jackets while another diverted the owner, one cheap lip gloss hadn’t seemed like a big deal, so she’d wanted to know why she felt so bad she couldn’t sleep – and what to do next time she found herself in the same situation.
‘Well, listening to your gut is always good advice,’ I say. ‘You would do well to remember it.’
‘We’d all have far fewer problems if we bore that in mind. Wouldn’t we?’ Margot says to Guy.
