Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
SAM
Day Six
If you’d asked me last week if I expected to be setting up an elaborate dinner date in the coffee shop on a weekend for two nudists, I’d naturally have said no. But that was before Will was back in my life. I’m learning that with Will, anything could happen.
The warm coffee shop, usually alight with fresh air and bright light and the atmosphere of the outdoors meeting the indoors has been transformed into a cosy restaurant.
Each table has red pillar candles burning, wax dripping down the side, and the main table in the middle of the restaurant has been kitted out with plush pillows and blankets taken from the hotel.
‘They’re on loan,’ Will had said to me when he laid them out.
‘Stolen?’
‘On. Loan.’
Now I look at The Laurel Hotel branding with fear, anticipating the police will come and arrest us.
Will paces at the door, checking his phone. ‘It says the driver is on the way, but they should be here by now.’
‘It’s okay. They’re not even here yet.’
‘No, I know, but the point is the food is supposed to be here first,’ Will says. ‘We’re meant to be invisible.’
‘Invisible, right.’
I head to the kitchen, pouring two glasses of wine, and take them to the table, feeling the warmth of the candle on my hands as I set them down.
Will stops at the glass, looking up and down the street alive with revellers spilling out onto the famous stairs.
It’s the classic example of someone waiting for a delivery but pretending they aren’t.
‘Remind me what the point of this is.’
‘Well, Jemima feels like Tim doesn’t see her, and so I spoke to Tim last night and told him that Jemima wants to bring a bit of spice into their relationship again, and now we’re here.’
‘Spice?’ I scoff. ‘Like, sexually?’
Will gulps. ‘Oh God.’ He taps his forehead. ‘Well, maybe it will ignite something but at the first sign of anything … untoward … we throw them back out on the street.’ He looks at me, and I want to close the distance between us. ‘You realise they might get nude, don’t you?’
‘Seriously?’
I don’t judge. I promise, I don’t. But I am a little worried of having two naked diners in my coffee shop. It won’t take much for someone to walk by, and then gossip will spread like the wildfires we’re getting more frequently.
‘I’ll ask them to remain clothed.’
‘What happened to staying invisible?’
‘He’s here!’
‘Who? Tim?’
‘No, the delivery driver.’ Will opens the door, meeting the Greek bearded man outside. He takes a bag of Greek food, tipping the driver, before heading back inside. The aroma of something spicy greets me, my stomach rumbling. God, I could eat now. ‘Quick, help me get all of this ready.’
Ten minutes later, we’ve plated up braised chicken and shallots, with spiced potato and Halloumi fries on the side, along with a Greek salad that Mum would be envious of.
From outside, I hear a voice calling out for someone to ‘wait a second’, and then a man hurries to our door, pushing it instead of pulling.
‘Tim?’ I ask, but Will is already frantically rushing to the door.
‘Oh my God,’ Tim says, looking around the place, seeing the food. ‘All of this? Really?’
‘She wants excitement, passion,’ Will says. ‘Does she know we did this?’
‘No, not at all,’ Tim replies.
‘Good. Keep it secret. Sam and I are going to disappear. You’ve got two hours. Show her how much you love her, Tim.’
‘Appropriately,’ I hasten to add, and Will nudges me out of my own coffee shop, and up my apartment stairs.
‘Tim, you didn’t?’ I hear a female voice, which must be Jemima’s, say. ‘Oh, and you got my favourite food, too. What’s brought this on?’
‘I want you to remember how much I love you,’ Tim’s voice says, but Will drags me away from eavesdropping at the top of the stairs.
‘Is there a way we can monitor them?’ Will asks me, closing my apartment door quietly.
‘No, I’m not creepy.’
‘You’ve never installed CCTV?’
‘Never needed it. Now, they’ll be busy down there. Fancy a drink?’
‘Please. I’m exhausted after all of that.’
Sitting on my sofa, I fire up the PS5. Will choses to play a remastered version of the original Tomb Raider game, and I hand him the controls. His fingers brush mine.
‘What you did for them was nice, you know.’
‘I felt bad for her yesterday,’ Will says, as his fingers clamour over the controls as Lara shoots a T-Rex. ‘She gave me Jackie Collins and I thought, she’s a romance girlie looking for a good time.’
‘Don’t encourage the nudists,’ I joke.
‘Hey, I’m a nudist now, apparently.’
Jesus Christ. I run my thumbnails over my palms, trying to distract myself from the vision of Will naked. My other hand covers my lap, afraid of revealing my thoughts to him. ‘Yeah, how did that go?’
‘Oddly enjoyable,’ Will says, his eyes never leaving the screen. Lara flips, her guns drawn, her bullets firing. The T-Rex hisses, snapping his jaws at her. ‘I think I might do it again.’
Good God.
‘A new-found passion?’
‘Maybe.’
‘You never sent me any pics.’ I keep my tone light, because I’m mostly joking. Ninety-five per cent joking. Okay, fifty per cent joking.
Will laughs. ‘I think we should do it.’ The T-Rex dies, and I’m glad of the distraction. Will punches the air, before pretending to blow out his guns. ‘I’ve still got it.’
I don’t want to ask him to elaborate. It’s not for me to push. But the thought of going to The Laurel and hanging out with Will naked is … enticing. From the corner of my eye, I sweep over his body, lingering on his thick thighs. Get a grip on yourself, Sam.
‘I was so happy when they released these games again,’ Will says. ‘Remember how much we loved playing them?’
‘I do,’ I say, but my voice is choked and I look away.
‘You okay?’
‘Uh, yeah,’ I announce, standing up. ‘Just thought about checking on the lovebirds.’
‘Tim said he’d text when they were leaving,’ Will says. ‘Invisible, remember?’ Will pats the seat next to him. ‘Come on. Come play with me.’
Does he mean for that to sound like an innuendo?
Does he know what he’s doing to me? My feet are numb as I head back to him, fresh glass of wine.
Sitting beside him, I feel his warmth, feel the hairs on my legs brush against his.
He doesn’t shift, instead he welcomes the touch.
His arm slinks behind me, across the sofa, his other hand moving the controls.
Lara stomps across the screen, over the slain corpses of the T-Rex and velociraptors.
Resting my head against the pillow behind me, I turn to look at him. ‘Do you think we’ll stay in touch after you go?’
Will pauses, allowing Lara to let go of a ledge she’d jumped to reach. ‘You’re already thinking of me going?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I don’t want you to.’
Will grins, his arm moving closer to me. His fingertips graze my neck and I shiver. ‘You going to miss me?’
‘I’m going to miss being fake boyfriends,’ I say.
Will giggles, his mirth so warm, my new favourite sound. He makes Lara climb. ‘We’ll keep in touch, Sam. I don’t know why we ever lost it.’
‘No, me neither.’
Will places the game control down, leaving Lara standing precariously on the edge of the ledge. Am I about to fall, too? I look at Will’s face, his handsome smirk, the way his Adam’s apple bobs as he takes me in.
‘Will…’
I could reach out, pull him to me. I’m about to rest my head against his shoulder when a crash from downstairs sends him scattering like a terrified cat.
I follow after him, feet thudding across the floor, down the stairs.
I crash into Will at the bottom of the stairs.
Catching my breath, the sound of joy and unadulterated pleasure reaches me.
Jemima has pushed Tim onto the table, empty platters scattered on the floor. Her kisses land on every available surface of the man, and as she rips at his shirt, buttons ping across the room.
‘Okay, I think that’s all for tonight,’ I announce to the room, clapping my hands and leaving Will hunched over in hysterics by the doorway.
‘Thank you for eating at No Name Coffee House tonight.’ Jemima doesn’t apologise.
She allows Tim to guide her towards the door, but she keeps snatching at him like she wants to devour him.
They’ve barely even looked at me. ‘Unfortunately, we no longer do food but feel free to stop by for coffee anytime.’
‘Tip is on the table,’ Tim whispers, face bright and lipstick stained.
‘Have a good night.’
I wink at him, turning my back on the couple that won’t make it back to their room in one piece.
Will wipes a tear from his eye. ‘I do love bringing people together.’