Page 32 of The Vow We Made
“It’s beautiful.” She gasps. “There isn’t an inch not covered with colour.”
“I bet if you came here next week, you’d see something new. There’s so much of it.”
We stand transfixed for a while. “There are some truly talented people out there,” she says while we take in each love heart, alien and purple goddess.
She shivers as the brisk wind picks up. Instinctively, I put my arm around her, pulling her close, in the hope she benefits from my body heat. She doesn’t pull back this time, but this isn’t the green light to go full-on. I’m learning Victoria is not to be pushed too quickly.
A short walk from the tunnel is the National Theatre, and she seems enchanted by the statue of Laurence Olivier. “I love the theatre,” she blurts out with childlike eagerness. “How about you?”
“When I get the time,” I add, moving her on. I don’t want to rush, but we’re already late for our table.
“We should catch a show.” The words leave her mouth as if they’ve betrayed her, but they keep flowing. “When you’re free, of course, and if you’d like to.”
“This isn’t the first time tonight you’ve mentioned a second date. Are you asking me out again already?” I tease.
“If this one continues in the right direction, I could be.” Her eyes glance briefly towards me, her smile is shy, her actions coy. Despite giving as good as she gets, Victoria is beginning to relax. Whatever caused her reaction earlier has gone and I want to keep her good mood going.
We reach the OXO Tower and head to the rooftop. “Have you been here before?”
“Never.” Her eyes dazzle with delight. “But I’ve always wanted to.”
“I hope the food’s good, it’s my first time too.”
“Another first for us both.” She beams, lighting up the room as she follows the waiter past an impressive white bar. Victoria walks ahead, only glancing back over her shoulder briefly with an open mouth while we weave our way through a corridor of elegant chairs and tables. The contemporary smoked glass and metal frames show off the view of London, capturing us both, as we’re shown to our table. Victoria walks past the waiter and stands in a haze, while her delicate fingertips brush against the clear glass. She studies the city outside so I relieve the waiter of his duties, giving him the nod. My focus returns to Victoria who hasn’t taken her eyes from the sights across the water.
St. Pauls Cathedral, Kings College and Somerset House are the most prominent and set against a backdrop of old and new structures. The entire strip bathes in golden light while the Thames comes alive with music, lights and party goers. The restaurant itself is lit with purples and blues which only enhance the cool, contemporary interior.
Victoria blinks slowly then sighs out a deep breath. Her head tilts to one side and she seems a little more relaxed.
I pull out her chair to be seated before I take my own. “This is incredible. Thank you.” She says, her hand flat against the table moving closer to mine. Our fingertips just touch, her pupils dilate wildly and her face glows with the most beautiful smile. I’m knocked for six. Unexpectedly, she moves her hand away and appears embarrassed while I’m confused. I can’t spend the rest of the evening second guessing how she wants to play this.
Despite this, our dinner begins well as every time she speaks, I learn something new about her. She talks about her work as a make-up artist, mainly for TV and film production, but also how she recently started up a management company for others in her profession which has led to a significant opportunity with a major production company in Scotland. They start work on a movie later in the year and Victoria will be taking a business trip this week to, hopefully, secure a contract.
I want to know about that side of her life, the kinds of people she meets in her job and why she clearly loves it, but I also want to know what happened during our trip on The Eye. She held back and it could be something I said or the way I acted towards her. I only know I don’t want it to happen again and I’m not going to find out unless I go for a more direct approach. We’ve ordered food and our drinks have arrived. This seems as good a time as any to nip my worries in the bud.
I sit up and clear my throat. “Okay Victoria, I’ll be straight with you and I’d be grateful if you would do me the same courtesy.”
“This sounds serious.” She smiles while adjusting her seating position. “Go on.”
Her incredible rose-pink lips nervously rise at each corner. When they part, waiting for me to continue, I cast my eyes to my hands briefly as a way of getting away from their beautiful distraction and back on track.
“In the pod earlier, what happened?”
She gingerly shakes her head and plays with her napkin. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“As soon as I put my arms around you, everything changed. Did I misread the signals?”
“Oh no.” Her fingers run across her brow and I see her eyes pinch together. “I’m sorry, was it that obvious?”
I wonder if I came on too strong and hope to God I didn’t make her feel uncomfortable. That’s the last thing I want. But after the first time we danced together and our flirty drinks at the club, I couldn’t be blamed for thinking she wanted this to go somewhere. I’m confused by what it is she really wants from me and the only way I can resolve this is to be direct. “What did I do to make you change so quickly? One minute we’re getting along and I could have sworn I read you right but in the next minute you’re pushing me away.”
“I feel pretty shitty about it, Aiden. It wasn’t intentional.”
“Then what was it? Did I come on too strong—”
“No,” she interrupts, “not at all.”
“Then what?”
