Chapter 4 #2
“Ditto,” she mumbles before slipping the keys into her bag and hooking her arm through mine. “I have a good feeling about you.” She gives a heavy nod as she leads me down the opposite end of the cobbled street and I follow her happily.
We sit down at Cafè Milano, our table under the warm summer sun, the marina to our left. Rue orders us two coffees whilst we look over the menu.
“What are you thinking?” Her eyes pop up to look at me, and I twist my lips.
“I think I might go for a salad with some fries on the side.” I bob my head up and down.
“That sounds good. I might do the same.” She places her menu down and looks around for our waitress.
She begins to speak in French and asks for two Caesar salads and two sides of fries with a bottle of champagne. She passes the menu to the waitress and thanks her before her full attention is on me.
“So.” She places her elbows on the table and rests her chin on her hands. “Tell me about you. What brought you to Monaco?”
I suck in a breath.
Did I really want to offload? But then, maybe it would be good to speak to a stranger about it.
She catches me and tilts her head to the side, kind of giving me a look of pity… or is it sympathy?
“Broken heart,” I say as rushed as I can and she gives a knowing nod.
“Sorry to hear that.”
“It is what it is.” A nervous laugh bubbles out of me, and I throw a shoulder up in a shrug.
“Just wasn’t meant to be.” She sighs, just as the waitress brings over our ice bucket with our champagne and places two glasses down in front of us.
I swipe my phone from the table and take a picture before posting it on my socials. The cork gets popped and the bubbles are spilling into our glasses.
“Merci,” Rue thanks the waitress and she smiles back before disappearing.
I take another picture and Rue raises her brows.
“Sorry, it’s work.” I give an apologetic smile and place my phone down for a moment.
“Work?”
“I’m an influencer.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I mean, this wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I fell into it and I am getting paid for doing something I love so.”
“Makes perfect sense.” She nods and curls her finger around the stem of her champagne flute and brings it to her lips; I mirror her actions.
“How long have you been here for?” I ask her cautiously, her eyes batting around my face.
“Four years now. My parents moved out here and I could have stayed at home back in Kensington, or I could have moved to Monaco… I chose the latter, and I have never looked back.”
“I don’t blame you.” A wistful sigh passes my lips as I look around at the beautiful marina with all the super yachts.
“Have you been here before?” she asks, and I shake my head.
“Well, that’s a shame but I am glad you’re here now.” She holds her champagne flute out in front of me. “To new friends and Monaco.”
I echo her toast, my voice soft as we clink glasses, both smiling as we take a mouthful.
After fighting about who was going to get lunch, Rue won. Her arm is linked through mine as we take a slow walk back to my apartment to put the now warm and probably a bit mouldy fruit into my fridge.
“Wow, nice place,” she says as we walk into the main lobby, her eyes bouncing around the room.
“It’s a rental,” I say quickly. I don’t want her to think this was my penthouse. I walk forward and press the button for the lift, the doors pinging open almost instantly.
“It’s very quiet.”
“Yeah, it has been.” I nod as we step into the lift and I slip my card into the penthouse slot before the doors close and lift us to the top floor.
“Penthouse.” Her perfectly shaped brow arches.
“Rental,” I remind her, a silly grin on my face.
“Still… penthouse.”
“I didn’t pay.” My cheeks burn, my eyes flitting to the floor.
“Oh, influencer perks.” She nods.
“No,” I rush out, “my friend does the PR for one of the Formula One drivers.” I roll my lips.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
“Who?” She wiggles her brows and I half laugh, half choke on my inhale.
“Royce Lexington,” I whisper his name, an ache searing through my chest.
“Lucky lady… he is hot.” She sighs. “And recently single…” She winks, and I finally allow myself to look at her, a weak smile on my lips, my fingers locked together. The doors ping open and then it hits her.
“OH.”
I nod, ducking my head down and rushing out of the lift. She follows me as I unlock the door and push through and walk straight into the kitchen.
“So, he is the reason you came to Monaco.”
I nod, unable to speak all of a sudden. Maybe the rawness of the situation has stripped me of my voice.
“And your friend booked you a penthouse in Monaco… where a lot of the F1 racers live…”
“They’ve got a week off, then three races back-to-back coming up,” I squeeze out, my throat burning. “Nowhere near Monaco. Plus, Royce rarely comes over here.” I start pottering and putting my shopping away.
Rue sits at the breakfast bar, swinging herself side to side on the stool. “What was he like?” she asks and her question lodges itself between my shoulder blades, winding me.
“Pretty damn perfect.” I breathe out slowly as I spin to face her. “I wish I could say he was an ass, but he wasn’t. Never treated me disrespectfully or anything like that.”
“I’m sorry babe, always worse when they are actually decent.” and I nod, ignoring the way the tears prick behind my eyes.
“Yeah,” I nod,
“You’ve got me now, I won’t let you be lonely.” She smiles wide, her perfectly white teeth on show.
“I’m glad I wandered into your shop.”
“Me too.” She smiles.
“So… the rest of the drivers…”
“Totally hot.” I sigh, placing my hand on my chest before a soft laugh bubbles from me.
“Do you think you could introduce me to any?” She smirks, and I shake my head.
“Doubt it, to be honest. I am not sure I want to get back into that crowd, but who knows.”
“Totally get that, babe.”
“Shall we get some plans in?” I ask and excitement flashes across Rue’s eyes.
“One hundred percent,” she says a little louder as she fumbles for her diary and opens it on the current date.
Suddenly, I’m glad Nora pushed me to Monaco.