Second Chance - Jane Green [57]
‘I know, I already checked it out, but I feel like something more fun, something different. Apparently there’s a great noodle place round the corner, which sounds great.’
Olivia grins. ‘Wagamama. It’s one of my favourites, and much more my speed. Let’s go,’ and with that they drink up and leave.
As soon as they walk in Olivia feels at home. All dressed up in the bar of the Dorchester is about as far removed from Olivia’s life as you can get. Not that those places are altogether unfamiliar to her – a large part of her childhood was spent in the smartest of London restaurants – but she had never felt entirely comfortable as a child, and was relieved, upon reaching adulthood, that she actually had a choice and didn’t have to frequent those places unless absolutely necessary.
She realizes as she sinks down on the bench opposite Fred, squeezed between strangers busy slurping noodles, that she has been playing a role tonight, something she is never comfortable doing.
‘You know what?’ Fred looks around the room, taking it all in. ‘I wish I wasn’t in this damn suit. I’d much rather be in jeans and sneakers.’
Olivia starts to laugh. ‘Thank you for saying that. I was just thinking I wish I was in my jeans and boots. When I’m all dressed up, I feel like I act differently, that I’m more formal and trying to be someone I’m not.’
Fred grins at her. ‘Same here. Tell you what,’ he looks at his watch, ‘how long would it take you to run home and throw on jeans, then get back here?’
‘About half an hour if I rush.’ Olivia smiles.
‘Okay. Done. I’ll run back to the hotel, and I’ll see you back here in thirty minutes.’
‘Are you sure you’re not going to do a runner on me?’ Olivia asks quickly, a hint of nervousness in her voice. ‘This isn’t another way of saying you think this is going to be an awful evening so let’s end it now?’
Fred looks shocked. ‘Are you kidding me? This is going to be a great evening. Let’s just get it started on the right foot. Hey, maybe we can catch a movie after we eat.’
‘That’s the best idea I’ve heard all week.’ Olivia laughs, and when they stand up and thread their way through the restaurant to the door, she doesn’t mind in the slightest that Fred again places a hand gently on her back to guide her.
In fact, if she has to be honest, she’d say the shiver that runs up and down her spine is something she hasn’t felt in a very long time.
Olivia wakes up early, as she always does, and lies in bed for a while replaying the events of last night. She turns her head slightly to see Fred, face squashed into the pillow, snoring gently, still sound asleep. Yes. It was real. Yes. She did bring him home to her flat. Yes. She had sex for the first time since George. And yes. It was fanfuckingtastic. Oh shit.
What now?
Not that Olivia has ever had any firm or fast rules when it comes to dating, but she’s never been the sort of girl who engages in one-night stands, and given that her mother utters phrases like ‘Why buy the cow…’ it’s hardly surprising that she doesn’t exactly go around jumping into bed with near-strangers.
But Fred doesn’t feel like a stranger. If anything, he feels like an old friend. Their email exchanges have been so frank, so honest, and in the days leading up to their meeting, so intimate, they seem to have propelled this… what, friendship? Relationship? Fling?… into a space that Olivia isn’t sure she is ready for.
Not to mention how strange it is to have someone in her bed who isn’t George. How odd to feel Fred’s body, how delicious to have someone so young, so strong, and so very eager to please her.
She was the one, last night, who invited him back, ostensibly to see ‘how real people live in London, not like the tourists stuck in your posh hotels,’ but in fact she knew exactly how it would play out, had been ready from the beginning of the evening, although she would never admit it.
Why else would she have ensured there were fresh sheets on the bed,