Page 75 of Lovestruck at Sundown
“We hooked uponce.” Nina rolled her eyes and walked toward the front door. “You’ve talked to her more than I have at this point.”
“Well, that’s the plan for tonight,” I said. “Talking her into loving me again.”If she ever did in the first place.
“Let me know if you need my charms to lure her back into your good graces.” Nina shot an exaggerated wink at me, lifting the corner of her mouth into a playful smirk.
“Yeah, yeah.” I waved her off. “I’ve got Moira’s culinary powers in my corner now. But see you tomorrow!”
“Good luck with yoursis!”
I wrinkled my nose as Nina shut the door behind her.
“The drama is nonstop around here, as you can see.” I rounded the counter and grabbed a bottle of merlot William kept for me in his wine cooler. I told him I could keep them at my place, but he insisted his wine cooler had the perfect temperature setting for them. “And I sure need the liquid courage before Zara arrives.” I pulled out two glasses of wine and offered Moira one, which she accepted.
“So, how have you been after your breakup?” I slid the wineglass toward Moira. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“My ex and I had been together for three years.” She raised the wineglass to her lips and took a long sip. “So I won’t lie and say it’s been easy. We’d been living together for a little over a year, so the abrupt change has been an interesting adjustment. I moved out of our place and have been staying with a friend while deciding my next move. My boss offered to transfer me to Chicago or New York, but I wasn’t sure yet if I wanted to leave Austin until my plane landed in New York and all the memories of my time here came flashing back.”
“Oh, wow. So you met your ex here in New York?”
“I did.” Moira took another sip of her wine and beganprepping the fish to dip it in the batter. The oil was hot and ready in the deep-frying pan. “After I graduated, I came here and started working in one of my current boss’s restaurants. She also works for him in the restaurant group’s administrative department, and we clicked right away and started dating soon after. But when my boss wanted to open a new restaurant in Austin, he invited me and my ex to kickstart the project, so we moved to Texas.”
“I see.” The first few pieces of fish she had placed in the frying pot were now sizzling. So she checked on the broth and added a few more ingredients to it. I couldn’t understand how Moira remembered everything she had going on simultaneously on the stove, a superpower she and William shared. “And why did you decide to study in Sweden?”
“Stockholm has one of the best culinary schools in the world, and it was free.”
“What do you mean free? Do you have a European nationality?”
“I do.” She added the noodles to the broth and quickly flipped the fish in the frying pan. “My mom’s from Switzerland, and my dad is second-generation Korean American. I grew up in Virginia, so my initial thought was to study Culinary Arts in New York. But, man … the tuition cost was beyond my means. Still, I was going to start the process to secure a scholarship when a friend gave me the brilliant idea of checking out the program in Stockholm. And with my Swiss passport, the tuition was free. The rest is history.”
“Wow.” Moira’s story was fascinating to me. She’d been exposed to so many cultures, languages, and backgrounds. It reminded me of my culturally varied upbringing, except she had the liberty to do and move as she pleased, and I didn’t.
Moira and I talked a bit more about her family and herdream to become a restaurant owner one day while she finished preparing the fish and chips. It was almost 6:00 p.m.
When I was done setting the table and uncorking a fresh bottle of wine, the doorbell rang. Knowing Zara had arrived made my hands feel clammy and my stomach warm with anticipation.
This was my opportunity to finally set things straight between us, and I couldn’t mess this up.
“I’ll have your dishes ready in two minutes!” Moira shouted from the kitchen.
“No rush! Take your time!”
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly through my mouth, I summoned a smile and opened the door.
“Hey, Billie.” My jaw dropped. Zara looked stunning, as she usually did. Only this time, she seemed ready for a fancy party. She wore a long-sleeve red dress with a cowl neck and her hair up in a tight, slick bun, leaving two frontal pieces framing her gorgeous face.
Thank God I washed my face and changed into jeans and a sweater before she arrived, or I would’ve looked like a gremlin beside her. Never mind that I already felt like one, anyway.
“Thank you so much for coming.” I gave her a quick hug and waved her in. “You look gorgeous.”
“Thank you.” She pressed her lips into a small, awkward smile, and I guided her to the dining room and offered her a glass of wine.
“I assume you have somewhere else to be, so I don’t plan on taking up too much of your time.” I filled both of our glasses, and she took a sip.
“Oh, this is my go-to fish and chips outfit.” She chuckled at her own joke, and I smiled, but it didn’t do much to settle the palpable tension in the air. But I thanked her on the inside for trying to soften the mood. I could tell she was trying, too. “It’sum … Nathan’s birthday today. And we’re going out to a club to celebrate. I’m sorry I was unclear about it earlier.”
Shit. Nathan’s birthday. I’d completely forgotten about it. Not that it would’ve made any difference if I hadn’t. When I had discussed this particular subject with Nolan when I told him I’d seen Nathan on Thanksgiving, his advice was clear: Do NOT text your ex happy birthday.
That had been my initial reaction. I didn’t want to do it, but I wanted confirmation from a friend I trusted. And Lily, of course, didn’t mention anything about Nathan’s celebration because we had a strict rule of not talking about him. Ever.
