Page 34 of Just Do It
‘It was OK. Kind of loud and packed but it was opening night so I suppose that was to be expected.’
‘Sounds amazing! Late night then? I’m not surprised you stuck with a quiet weekend.’
‘Oh. Yes… but I actually left early.’
‘Why? Oooh! Did you meet someone?’ Bella’s eyes widened and she plopped down in the chair opposite me, elbows on the desk, chin on hands, and waited.
Yes.
‘No, I mean… no, not like that. I just… umm. I managed to spill my drink all over me and… well, I just felt like heading home.’
‘Oh.’ She sat back, clearly disappointed by the absence of excitement in my weekend. ‘Lizzie, you really need to embrace life more, don’t you think, Finn? I mean, who knows if this is the only chance we get. You have to grab life by the horns and ride it, right?’
Her last words had been directed with her focus fully on Finn and it was clear, to me at least, there was a double meaning there. Finn’s expression didn’t change but he was one of the most incisive men I’d ever met and knowing Bella already had a thing for him, I doubted he’d missed the inference.
‘I think you have to do what you feel is right at the time,’ he replied, standing and lifting his hat from the hook and grabbing a folder from his desk.
‘Isn’t that the same thing though?’ I said, desperate to keep him in the room a little longer for Bella to work on as well as manufacture a connection between the two of them. Finn halted and Bella paused, one hip slightly thrown out as she leant against the wall looking like a model for a high-end EnglishCountry Lifephoto shoot.
‘I suppose it could be, depending on the circumstances.’
‘Sounds like you two have a similar outlook on life.’
Bella’s studied pout slipped into a wide smile as Finn looked over her head at me, his face impassive as he gave the smallest tilt of his head to the side that was best interpreted as a maybe.
‘Have you been to that bar, Finn? I’d love to try it but none of my friends are free this week.’ Bella really was taking the bull by the horns and I’d barely had to do anything. This was perfect!
‘I have been, yeah. Not really my thing, I’m afraid, Bella. I’m sure you’ll find someone to go with you soon enough though.’
Bella covered her crestfallen expression quickly. ‘Yeah, I’m sure. We’re just all so busy, you know? Got to live life and all that, right?’
He nodded, an understanding smile on his face. ‘Absolutely. That’s what you should be doing at your age. Taking all the opportunities you can.’
Bella forced out a laugh. ‘At my age? I’m hardly a teenager, Finn!’
‘No, I didn’t mean that. I just meant I’m older and tend to have a preference for the quieter things in life these days.’
‘Oh my God, you talk like you’re ninety!’
‘Some days I feel like it.’
If his aim was to put Bella off, he was doing well – but then he gave that killer smile and all the words in the world melted away into nothing.
‘I’m sure that’s not true at all,’ she said, moving towards him.
‘Oh, believe me, it is.’ He checked a message on his phone. ‘Sorry, I have to go. Elizabeth, there’s a query on site. Have you got a minute to come down and take a look?’
‘Oh. Right, of course. Is everything alright?’ This extension was hugely important to the museum. We’d waited for what seemed like forever for the funding and any hint of a hitch made my nerves spring as tight as violin strings.
‘Yeah, I’m sure it is but I’d rather double-check before we go ahead, just to be certain.’
‘Of course.’ I pushed my chair out. ‘Are you OK, Bella? Do you need anything before I go? I shouldn’t be long.’
‘I’m fine, thanks.’ She gave us both a brief smile and headed out of the office, disappearing back to the area she was currently working in as Finn and I turned the opposite way towards the lift that would take us to the basement. He pressed the button and we stood in silence until the lift arrived, then he signalled for me to go first and pressed another button as the doors slid shut. I glanced up at the numbers until Finn’s words pulled my attention.
‘What are you up to?’
‘What?’
