Page 79 of Never Too Late
‘How… how long are you here?’ he asked, a hesitancy in his voice as he shifted his weight.
‘The lease on this place is six months. After that, we’ll see. I don’t have any plans.’
‘That sounds unlike you.’
I shook my head as I tidied the cleaning supplies back into the basket I’d assigned them. ‘Not really. Not now. Although you’re right that I used to plan everything when I was here before but I’ve found life tends to do its own thing, however many charts and spreadsheets you make. It took me decades but I’ve decided to just go with the flow now, as they say. See what life brings and all that.’
‘It brought you India, finally. I was glad to hear that.’
‘Thanks. Yes, it was amazing. And India brought me a good friend. So I’m pretty pleased with how it’s going at the moment.’
‘And that, in turn, brought you back to Paris.’
‘It did.’
He stepped towards me. ‘I am “pretty pleased” about that.’
I had no intention of falling for Tomas Bertholle again but God, he was beautiful. In a different way from how he had been but if anything, it had only made him more handsome. He’d lost that perfection of youth, replaced instead with smile lines around his eyes that showed paler in his tan when he was serious and a kindness that hadn’t shown as obviously before.
‘Are you?’
Another step. ‘Very. Please let me take you to lunch.’
I made him wait but I saw from those smile lines he could still see straight through me.
‘OK.’
He stepped back as though to open the door.
‘Tomas! I have to change,’ I said, catching his arm.
‘Why?’
‘Did you go blind? Look at me!’
‘You look beautiful.’
I opened my mouth. Closed it again. Then opened it once more but my brain still couldn’t decide on which words to form.
‘Even when you are pretending to be a fish.’
I grabbed a duster from the basket and flicked him with it. The laugh that followed hurtled me back through the years and twisted itself with the man standing in front of me now. My mind tumbled images and words and promises together until it was all one big, jumbled mess. A mess I wasn’t about to even begin thinking about tidying today. If ever.
‘I’m going to change. Take a seat. I won’t be long.’
‘I have heard that one before.’ He grinned as he took a pew on the squashy armchair and picked up the book I’d left there earlier. ‘Is this good?’
‘I’m enjoying it,’ I called out as I disappeared behind the bedroom door.
Five minutes later, I’d had a quick wash, changed, twisted my hair up and applied a quick base and slick of lipstick. Seeing Tomas’s double take when I reappeared in the allotted few minutes I’d promised was a joy.
‘Now who’s pretending to be a fish? Shall we go?’
He hurriedly placed the book back on the coffee table and made quick, long-legged strides across the room in order to beat me to the door, opening it for me.
‘After you.’
‘Merci.’
