Chapter 26
Cammy
Nothing was going to plan.
For a start, he got there first, which – on the positive side – gave him enough time to sort out the ring.
Neil, the manager, was nowhere to be seen so he gave it to the waiter who came to take his drinks order and introduced himself as Jude.
‘Can you give this to Neil please? I’m proposing to my girlfriend tonight and Neil has it covered.
The ring is to be brought out with dessert. ’
‘No problem at all,’ Jude said, slipping it in his pocket and going off to get the requested bottle of bubbly. Not Cammy’s drink of choice, but this was Lila’s night. He’d stick to water until the deed was done. Slurring out a half-assed proposal probably wasn’t the best way to seal the deal.
As he watched Jude depart, he did have a moment of hesitation. He’d just given over the most important component of tonight’s events to a guy who didn’t look old enough to legally marry let alone to oversee another person’s proposal. Enough. He was just panicking, of course it would all be fine.
It would.
His phone buzzed with an incoming text, and he checked it anxiously, worried that Lila was cancelling.
It was Josie.
Not too late to change your mind. We’re here for you. Can storm building and have you out of there in seconds.
His reply was succinct.
Go away.
At least keep us regularly updated? We’re old, could die at any minute.
I’m switching my phone off.
Smiling, he flicked the handset to silent and put it back in his pocket.
Josie and Val coming tearing in here would be a nightmare.
He had plenty of time to ruminate over that, and at least a dozen other disaster scenarios in the twenty minutes he spent sitting on his own before Lila’s mum and dad came in. They were late, but at least they were there.
Okay, this was progress. Although, he would feel easier if Lila was here too.
He tried to engage as they chatted away about the round of golf they’d played that afternoon, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t distracted.
So much for the French bloody football team being at the other end of the restaurant.
He’d thought they’d be right up the back on the raised area, separate from the rest of the diners, but no – they were smack bang in the middle and just a few feet away from their table.
Great.
It did somewhat blow the romantic ambience.
He could see Neil, the manager, floating around in the room, but, probably wisely, he avoided coming within shouting distance of Cammy.
Instead, he gave him a thumbs up from a distance, and then pretended to ignore Cammy’s glare of annoyance.
He’d be making sure he recommended trousers that were way too tight next time he was in the shop.
Lila’s parents were still talking. Sometimes, he thought they were a strange couple.
Lila’s mum, Louise, looked just like her daughter, even shared her mannerisms, her voice, her opinions.
They said if you wanted to know what your wife would be like in twenty years’ time, look at her mother.
Going with that theory, Lila wouldn’t change much at all.
Her dad though – Cammy had never quite clicked with him.
Apparently he’d worked away most of Lila’s life, and that would probably explain why he always seemed a little…
detached? Once or twice, it had actually jarred with him to see how much Lila sought to get his attention, his approval even.
That said, he was a nice enough bloke, good company, and Cammy knew he had to stay most definitely on his good side if he wanted to marry his daughter.
A thought struck him. Shit, should he have asked him first? He should have.
It wasn’t too late. Lila wasn’t here yet – now was his chance.
‘Jack, Louise, you know I love your daughter very much…’
Crap, he’d gone with an adaptation of the corny line and now Louise was frozen, her glass halfway to her mouth.
‘We do,’ Jack replied, a shade of anticipation in his voice.
‘Well, I’d like to ask her to marry me and I’d like your blessing.’ There. That was okay, wasn’t it?
Louise gasped, yelped, then threw her arms around him. He took that as a blessing delivered. Jack, on the other hand, merely nodded, as if he’d been asked if it was Friday or if he’d like a sauce with his steak.
After a pause, he seemed to muster up the right words, even if they weren’t exactly delivered with overwhelming enthusiasm.
‘That’s fine with us, Cammy. Welcome to the family.
’ He shook his hand, and Cammy marvelled again at how cool he was, unruffled, like he was dealing with a situation that really didn’t matter too much at all.
Cammy decided never to play him at cards – that kind of poker face would be unbeatable.
‘When are you going to ask her?’ Louise chirped, unable to keep the beaming smile off her face or the pure excitement out of her voice.
‘Tonight,’ Cammy replied. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t ask you before now. It was a spur of the moment thing.’
‘When you know, you just know,’ Jack said, but he wasn’t looking at Cammy, he was looking at his wife, his hand over hers, her grin now even wider, the two of them locked in their own moment.
The volume from the football tables lowered sharply, and as Cammy turned to investigate, he immediately saw why.
Lila had just walked in the door and she was gliding towards them.
She was poetry. Mesmerising, intoxicating poetry.
Every second thought he’d never admitted to having, every doubt, every hesitation was squashed right there and then.
She was the most breathtaking woman in any room and he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with her.
A response, it would seem, that was shared by the guys with the fancy footwork at the middle two tables.
Almost all of them had eyes on her now, a few of them continuing conversations, but most of them having given up trying to speak and stare at the same time.
Cammy saw Lila register their attention, and put just a little more hip action into her strut.
She liked to be admired. Nothing wrong with that.
Jealousy had never been high on his radar.
Years of loving Mel while she was married to her first husband had forced him to dampen any twinges of envy and it was a life lesson that had stayed with him.
Damn, Mel again! Why did she keep creeping into his thoughts today?
He fought to get back on message. Yep, he was thinking about how jealousy was a wasted emotion.
Pointless. Anyway, while he knew Lila enjoyed the approval, she would never act on it.
Not once had she ever given him a reason to doubt her fidelity and that was saying something given that she could absolutely have any guy she chose, including, it seemed, her pick of these French footballers.
As he stood to greet her, he felt like the luckiest guy in the room – which was saying something considering at least twenty of his dining companions earned more than ten million a year and were adored by an entire nation of almost 67 million people.
Lila kissed both her parents before sliding into the seat to the left of Cammy.
‘Hey babe, tough day?’ he asked her and watched as a shadow crossed her face.
‘It wasn’t great. You know one of those days when you know what you want to achieve and you just can’t get there? That was today.’
‘Did the last appointment not work out?’ he asked, aware that he wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about.
Lila visited doctors, they then ordered her company’s products.
That was about as much as he’d picked up because she avoided talking about work at home.
‘Way too boring – let’s talk about something else,’ she’d say when he tried to take an interest and ask her about it.
She clocked the bottle of champagne in the ice bucket at the side of the table.
Cristal. Her favourite. ‘Oooh, are we celebrating something?’ she asked.
There was an irrepressible chirp from her mother and Cammy thought for a moment that she’d given the game away, but then saw that Lila had already been distracted by the two rows of tables to her right.
‘Is that the… the…’ If she hadn’t had Botox, her brow would have been frowning in puzzlement.
‘French football team,’ Cammy answered, while filling the glass in front of her with bubbly liquid. And, he saw, a couple of them were still casting glances in Lila’s direction.
There was no avoiding her reaction. Back a little straighter, boobs a little higher, smile a little wider and a dramatic flick of her hair. He knew she probably had no idea she was doing it – it was a completely unconscious reaction.
Great. The night he’s proposing to the woman he loves and he’s in a packed, noisy restaurant, with other blokes ogling his intended fiancée.
This wasn’t going well. Perhaps he should postpone, but he’d already told her parents and he definitely didn’t trust Louise to be able to keep this one a secret – she was already sitting there with an expression of rapt anticipation that was hard to miss.
It was a relief when the waiter appeared in front of them with his tablet out, ready to take their order. No common pads and pens in this place.
Lila hadn’t had a chance to look at the menu but he knew that wouldn’t matter.
‘A green salad, dressing on the side,’ she said, repeating the same order that she placed in every restaurant they ever went to.
No meat. No fish. Nothing other than green salad leaves, kale and spinach.
As a rule, he avoided carbs and treated his body well, but Lila took discipline to a whole other level.
Except, it would seem, when she was responding to some casual interest from a nearby table. As he gave his order – steak, side salad – he noticed her flick her hair yet again. Okay, time to get this back on track. Small talk. Get control back with casual conversation.