Chapter 14 #2
He checked his watch. After three p.m.
‘Right ladies, let’s head to the restaurant and make sure everything is set up there, and then we just need to nip over to the shop and pick up my suit.’
Val nodded. ‘That would be great – I’ll pop in and see Jen while we’re there.’ Jen was Val’s adopted daughter, who owned Sun, Sea, Ski.
Cammy paid the bill and they headed off to tonight’s venue, Cammy modifying his stride so that the click of Josie and Val’s high heels could keep up with him.
Josie and Val were unusually quiet as they walked – no doubt hatching a new derailment strategy.
He was relieved when they finally got there, with no mention of abduction or protest marches.
The restaurant, Grilled, was one of the most beautiful in the city, a throwback to a more glamorous era, with chandeliers and intimate booths.
Dinner for two cost about as much as a flight to Majorca, dinner for four would cover the return journey, but hey, it was going to be worth it for the romance, the tranquillity, the perfect ambience of it all.
Besides, it was Lila’s favourite restaurant, mainly because it was frequented by celebrities and she could take surreptitious selfies and post them on social media.
Hang on, that made her sound really shallow.
Although, he supposed, sometimes she could be.
But then, so could he. There was a reason that he never left the house without stopping at a mirror to check he looked good.
There was a reason that he enjoyed the finer things in life.
There was a reason that Fake Bake profits in Glasgow had increased since he’d moved back to the city.
And there was a reason that he was planning to propose to his beautiful girlfriend in the flashiest restaurant in town.
Did it make him a bad person? No. Did it make him perfectly suited to Lila? Hell yes.
‘Cammy, mate, how are you? Good to see you.’ Neil, the restaurant manager, was a regular customer at the shop and straight out of the Cammy school of suave élan. He spotted Josie and Val and immediately opened his arms, giving them hugs and double kisses. Neither refused.
‘Och, son, if I was twenty years younger and single,’ Val told him.
Josie shook her head. ‘Och no, Val. They’re all into filming it these days – sex tapes. I’d rather watch Emmerdale.’
Cammy looked at Neil with an expression of desperation. ‘Save me. Please. I’ll give you anything you want.’
‘Not enough money in the world, pal,’ he said, laughing, earning a nudge of rebuke from Val.
‘Anyway, so listen, I was going to call you just to let you know we’ve had to tweak a couple of things tonight,’ Neil said, with a definite hint of apology.
Cammy’s face fell. What the fuck was going on today? Was this one of those shows where a hidden camera follows someone and throws all sorts of crap in their way just to get a reaction out of them?
‘What’s happened?’ he asked, fearful of the answer.
‘The French football team are over here, playing Scotland at Hampden on Sunday.’
‘Yeah, I’ve had a couple of them in the shop. Spent a fortune.’
‘They’re coming here for dinner tonight,’ Neil added, then let that sink in for a moment.
Grilled was romantic. It was intimate. It was exclusive.
It was the perfect place for a proposal.
Not, however, if two dozen bloody French football players were taking up the rest of the fricking restaurant.
For Christ’s sake, this was a nightmare.
And now he was torn between a rock and a French bloody hard place.
This was Lila’s favourite restaurant, so he knew it was where she would want her engagement to happen. But on the other hand, it could be completely ruined by a crowd of blokes discussing their tactics for World Cup qualification.
Bollocks. This wasn’t going well.
‘But look, I said I’d take care of you and I will,’ Neil promised hurriedly, trying to salvage the situation. ‘I’ve allocated them one section of the restaurant, and I’ve booked you Lila’s favourite table in the window. With any luck, you won’t even notice they’re there.’
He sounded more optimistic than confident. The restaurant was small, maybe 100 covers at most. Cammy reckoned the chances of not noticing an influx of international sportsmen were slim to none – approximately the same as the chances of anything going right today.
But what choice did he have? If he swapped restaurants at this late stage, there was every bit as much of a chance that it could all go wrong because he hadn’t had time to prepare it properly.
At least here he’d already picked the champagne, the table decorations, and organised for the ring to be brought out with dessert.
The ring.
That jogged his memory and made the decision for him. He was just going to stick to the plan and hope for the best.
‘Look, let’s just go with the original plan,’ he announced to Neil, noticing that even Josie and Val weren’t commenting on the latest twist of doom. Maybe it was those two that were causing this with their subliminal vibes. Jinx One and Jinx Two. ‘Man, first the ring disaster and now this…’
‘What happened with the ring?’ Neil asked, curious.
‘Shop shut down. Owner did a runner,’ Val announced, like a Crimewatch presenter delivering the facts of an open case.
‘Had to buy another one instead,’ Cammy added.
‘Unlucky, mate,’ Neil whistled. ‘Not going well, is it?’
‘Had better days,’ Cammy agreed. ‘But hey, it can only pick up from here.’ He was crossing his fingers as he said it, while deciding that all facts from here on would be double-checked.
‘Right, so we’ll come in for dinner. The table will have her favourite white flowers.
The champagne will be on ice. Oh, and her parents will be joining us, so we need the table to be set for four. ’
Neil looked like he was about to object, then clearly decided not to kick a man when he was down and adjusted his response. ‘No worries, I’ll make that happen.’
Cammy carried on. ‘I’ll bring the ring with me and give it to you. Then, after the meal, when the waiter or waitress brings out dessert, they will also deliver a silver tray and the ring will be on it.’
To their credit, neither Josie or Val came out with a single sarcastic comment at that point. Perhaps they were mellowing. Or coming down with a dose of romance. Or lockjaw.
‘And then I’ll ask her to marry me and she’ll say yes, and we’ll live happily ever after, while doing our damnedest…’ he pointed to Josie and Val, ‘to avoid these two.’
Neil nodded thoughtfully. ‘I think that about covers it. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ve got this and I’ll make sure it’s everything you hoped it would be.’
‘Mate, at this stage I just want it to happen without any more disasters.’
Neil held out his hand and Cammy shook it. ‘It’ll all be good. Like I said, don’t worry. Everything is going to be perfect and it’ll absolutely be a night you’ll never forget.’
Cammy didn’t doubt that. He just wanted to remember it for all the right reasons.
As they went back out into the afternoon chill, Cammy pulled out his mobile to call Lila again. He wasn’t surprised when it went to voicemail.
In the beginning they’d speak a dozen times a day on the phone. Now it was just a couple of actual conversations and a few chats with her answering machine, but that was understandable – she was packing in the clients to make sure she smashed her targets every month.
‘Hi, this is Lila. Leave a message…’ He hung up. He’d try her again later.
‘Right, mission command, what do we still have to do?’ he asked Val.
‘Just pick up your suit from the shop and that’s it,’ Val answered.
Josie interjected, her words dripping sarcasm. ‘Still think you should have organised a Red Arrow flyover. If I were Lila, I’d feel a bit short-changed to be honest.’
He laughed, despairing. ‘Josie, it’s at night. We wouldn’t be able to see a thing.’
‘Well I’ve got a pal in the ambulance helicopter. I could get him to fly past the window and flash his lights a couple of times.’
Cammy turned left and led the way. ‘Thanks, but we’re good. I’m beginning to wish I’d gone to work today and just asked her in the kitchen tonight with the ring pull off a can of Fosters.’
Val tried to console him. ‘I know it’s not going to plan, but nothing is irretrievably broken.
And let’s face it, you’ve had enough disasters for the day, so that’s all the drama over and out of the way now.
So let’s nip into the shop for ten minutes, get a cuppa and we’ll all be laughing about this in no time.
From here on in, there will be no surprises or drama. ’
‘What makes you so sure about that?’ Cammy asked, waiting for profound words, sincere reassurances, witters of wisdom.
‘I told you already – I can feel it in my water. You’ve got to be positive.’
Not exactly the deep, philosophical reply he’d hoped for. So far, the only thing he was positive about was that the day could only get better.