Page 51 of Just Do It
‘You have to! I reckon you’ll love it.’ His boyish enthusiasm made me laugh. ‘OK there’s a lot of belief to suspend, especially for you, but you’ll get all the references about Egypt and the history stuff. And it’s funny.’
I remembered Friedrich’s disgust whenever he caught sight of clips of, or adverts for, any such films.
‘It’s a serious subject. They’re just making a mockery of it all. It’s pathetic.’ He’d sniff and dismiss them. As he didn’t own a television, something he seemed rather proud of, luckilythe conversation didn’t come up too often but I did remember one poor date of Colette’s get short shrift from him when he’d mentioned being a fan of the same film in a vain attempt to find some sort of connection on a double date. Colette had been livid and I’d been mortified. I’d pulled Friedrich aside and attempted to explain that his comments had, and I was sure in error, come across as rude but he’d been unapologetic. It was moments like that that I’d had doubts about our relationship but for the most part we had surrounded ourselves with like-minded people and for them, Friedrich was charm itself. It wasn’t surprising that he and my best friend hadn’t got along. Something I’d regretted constantly. But in the end, after years together and subconsciously accepting that we were a permanent thing and one day, when our careers gave us time, we’d likely make it official, I’d discovered that Friedrich had been seeing a young intern on the side and that had been the end of that.
‘You’re quiet over there. You OK?’
‘Yes, sorry. Miles away.’
‘Anywhere interesting?’ Finn asked.
‘No,’ I answered. ‘Nowhere important at all. So where are we eating?’
‘Here?’ I peered at the cosy, romantic restaurant tucked down a lane. I’d held on to Finn’s hand as he took us this then that way before we ended up at the small, brick-fronted building with large, filigree frosted windows. Old-fashioned gas-style lamps burned outside casting puddles of warm light onto the cobbles.
‘Is that OK?’ Finn looked down at me, his expression serious.
‘Yes! I’ve always wanted to go here.’
The frown cleared and the smile returned. ‘Oh, good! I thought I’d messed up.’
‘No, not at all. I just… my previous boyfriend thought it was “too romantic”.’
Finn let out a surprised laugh then quickly cut it short. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just that… how can something be too romantic? Isn’t that the whole point?’
‘That’s what I thought but I suppose it depends on who you’re talking to.’
I moved towards the door but Finn held back. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘If this place brings back unpleasant memories, we can go somewhere else. Selfishly, I don’t want you sitting in there thinking about your ex.’
I reached back and took his hand. He let me pull him closer. ‘That is most certainly not going to be the case.’
The smile I knew that I was falling in love with tilted his mouth. ‘I’m very glad to hear that.’
‘Come on,’ I said, tugging his hand. ‘I’m starving.’
Finn reached over me to push open the door and we entered into the cosseted, intimate feel of the restaurant.
‘Room for pudding?’ Finn asked once the main course plates had been cleared away.
I shook my head. ‘I’m so full already. Everything was delicious.’
‘Want to share something?’
‘You really want pudding, don’t you?’ I laughed. ‘It’s fine to have one without me having one too.’
He gave a little wiggle of his head and wrinkled his nose.
‘It is!’ I said, laughing as I reached for his hand resting on the crisp white linen tablecloth. His hand turned, enclosing mine within it, his thumb gently brushing against my palm.
‘I know. But it’s nice to share.’
‘OK then.’ I’d seen some desserts passing by and they did look incredibly tempting. Everything with Finn was so much more relaxed. So easy. Before I’d met him, my life had been totally structured. I wasn’t hungry so I didn’t need the pudding. But what about the occasional indulgence? That was OK, wasn’t it? Was I really going to lie on my death bed thinking, I’m so glad I didn’t have that melting chocolate pud that time? The more likely scenario was quite the opposite. What was it they said? It's the things you didn’t do you regret, not the things you did.
‘I just need to nip to the loo. Choose whatever you want.’
‘I’ll wait until you come back. We can choose together.’ His hand released mine and I grabbed my clutch and headed towards the back of the restaurant. I could feel the smile on my face and had no interest in trying to cover it. But then I saw something that wiped it off completely. I dipped my head and hurried on my way.
