Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
LUKE
A lthough I’m happy to be meeting a friend of Louisa’s because I take it must mean that she thinks we are going to last, I must admit I was kind of hoping we would spend the evening just the two of us. Having said that, Justin and Emily are both nice people and the four of us have been getting on really well and having a good laugh together, and I can’t say I’m not enjoying the night.
“To good company and good food,” Justin says, raising his glass.
Me, Louisa, and Emily all raise our glasses and repeat the toast, clinking our glasses together and drinking. The food has been really good too, he is right about that. I haven’t been here for years, but I think it might become somewhere I come more often. It could even be somewhere I would bring potential advertisers for a working lunch if it’s open lunch times. I will have to check the website tomorrow.
We still have dessert to go, and I’m already full, but I have no intention of missing out on the cannoli I’ve ordered.
“Please excuse me,” Emily says, pushing her chair back. “I have to use the ladies’ room.”
“I’ll come with you,” Louisa says and the two of them leave the table together.
I watch Louisa as she walks away, and I glance quickly at Justin and see him watching Emily. It seems those girls have both of us wrapped around their little fingers and if Emily is even a little bit like Louisa, she doesn’t even know it.
“You know you’re not good enough for her, don’t you?” Justin says when the women are out of sight.
“Excuse me?” I say, keeping my voice level because although he has pissed me off, I don’t want to show it at the moment because I’m sure I must have misheard him.
“I said you’re not good enough for her,” Justin says. “She should be with me.”
“What about Emily?” I say, purposely not commenting on Louisa because I’m afraid that I will punch his face in if I do and I really don’t want to do that in the middle of a restaurant.
“Emily’s a cool girl,” Justin says. “But she’s no Louisa.”
On that one, we agree, but I don’t say that.
“Well, you’d best get used to being with Emily because Louisa is mine,” I say.
“You’re just keeping her warm for me mate,” Justin says with a grin. “We were together before, and we will end up back with each other. You’re just a wild oat that needed to be sowed first.”
“You’re delusional,” I say. “And if you lay so much as a finger on her, I won’t hesitate to knock you out.”
I’m sure Justin would have had some sarcastic come back to that, but he has to keep it in because the ladies are back, and he doesn’t have the balls to say it in front of them. I do, but I choose to let it go because I don’t want to embarrass Emily, although I do wonder if I should warn her. I decide not to. I don’t know her and their relationship is none of my business.
Our desserts arrive as the women are sitting back down and we all focus mostly on them, eating quietly except for the odd comment about how good the dishes are. Louisa tops everyone’s glasses up from the shared bottle of wine on our table and uses up the last of it. I’m glad because I’m ready to get out of here the second, I can do so without looking rude.
“Anyone want coffees?” Justin asks. I shake my head and so does Emily. Louisa doesn’t seem to have heard him. “Tia? Coffee?”
Louisa looks up then and glares at him.
“Shit, sorry,” Justin says. “Tia was an old nickname I had for Louisa when we were dating. She had this phase where all she drank was Tia Maria and the name just stuck.”
I raise an eyebrow at Louisa who just looks down at the table and refuses to meet my eye. Emily looks about ready to punch Justin, and I guess I’m not the only one who didn’t know before tonight that these two used to date.
“No one for coffee. Ok. I’m going to go and grab us a round of Sambuca shots instead then,” Justin says. “That’s much more fun anyway isn’t it.”
He seems awkward and embarrassed, and I think the shots are just an excuse to leave the table, which he does, so quickly, he almost knocks his chair over as he gets up, but he catches it at the last second.
“I’ll come and help you carry them,” Emily says, and she gets up a bit more calmly than Justin and the two of them go towards the bar.
“When were you planning on telling me that Justin is your ex-boyfriend?” I ask when Louisa and I are alone.
She finally looks at me.
“Truthfully? I wasn’t planning on telling you at all. It’s ancient history, we weren’t good together as a couple, and we are just friends now,” she says. “It’s not something I really think of so it’s not something that would have come up.”
I figure if Louisa was still into Justin, she wouldn’t have chosen to introduce me to him, but I’m still kind of angry that she hid that from me. Especially in light of what he said to me while the women were away from the table.
“He’s still into you,” I say.
“No, he isn’t,” Louisa says. I go to interrupt her, but she goes on, ignoring my attempt to butt in. “And even if he is, it doesn’t matter because I am not into him. I am into you.”
Most of the anger goes out of me at that. How can I be angry at her for not telling me something that she doesn’t deem important, and her not deeming it important is actually a point in my favor too. I’m still angry at Justin, but he’s not important to me and I decide to just let it go. He can be as bitter and as crude as he likes. I’ve still got the girl.
I glance up to see if he and Emily have been served yet and see the bar is empty. I look around and see them beside the bar in a quiet corner of the restaurant. It looks like they are arguing, because their arms are gesticulating wildly and Emily, who is facing towards us, looks absolutely fuming. I nod subtly towards the arguing couple.
“It looks like Emily isn’t taking the news too well,” I say.
“Hopefully she will get over it, because Justin actually said to me earlier that he thinks she’s the one,” Louisa says.
I have to hand it to Justin; he is good. He’s letting Louisa believe that he only wants friendship too, that he has moved on and found this amazing girl, and the whole time, he is just biding his time, waiting to get her on the hook again. I’m not stupid enough to voice this thought to Louisa.
“Oh no, she’s storming off,” Louisa says.
I look back up in time to see Emily reaching the door and leaving the restaurant. Justin doesn’t go after her. Instead, he heads back to the bar and picks the drinks he must have already purchased up, and he comes back towards the table with the four shots in his hands. He sits down and seems to deflate as he does so.
“I was going to say Emily had a family emergency and had to leave, but what’s the point in lying? She has ended things with me and left,” he says. He flashes a grin at Louisa. “I guess she feels she can’t live up to you.”
“Should I go after her?” Louisa says. “Tell her how things are with us, that she has literally nothing to worry about?”
Justin looks even more deflated as he shakes his head.
“No, let her go. If she’s going to throw a tantrum whenever she doesn’t like something, I’m better off without her,” Justin says.
“It was hardly a tantrum,” I interject. “She just lost trust in you because you lied to her, that’s all.”
“Luke,” Louisa says. “Do you have to be so blunt? Justin is upset.”
“Sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean it to come out like that.”
I’m not sorry in the least and I definitely meant it to come out like that. The only reason I toned down what I said was because I didn’t want Louisa to think I was having a sly dig at her because she hadn’t told me about Justin.
Justin pushes a shot towards me and one towards Louisa. He picks up the other two.
“To being single and getting an extra shot,” he says, and he downs the two shots one after the other.
I shrug and swallow mine and Louisa does the same, grimacing at the taste as she swallows it.
“Maybe we should call it a night then,” I say.
Louisa nods her agreement, but Justin shakes his head.
“Don’t go yet Louisa, please,” he says. “I really don’t want to be alone at the minute.”
Louisa looks at me begging me with her eyes to understand.
“Do you mind?” she says to me. “You can go if you want to, and I’ll get a cab later.”
“Don’t be silly,” I say. “We can stay a while.”
Like I’m leaving her alone with someone who has already made it clear he wants her back and now he’s doing the whole sad puppy thing to get her attention. As much as I don’t really want to spend any more time with this loser, I will sit here and pretend to be all sympathetic and that will hopefully be the last of Justin I have to see.