Chapter 4
4
L eia ran away from the manor and down the high street, her footsteps a percussive slap-slap-slap that broke the night-time silence.
Foxbrooke was a small town, with streets so ancient and picturesque they were often used for filming period dramas. This late in the evening it was quiet and peaceful which was what Leia needed. She reached a glass-fronted shop, the windows papered up on the inside, a sign outside reading ‘The Clear Palate – opening for business soon.’
Fumbling to unlock the door, she let herself in.
Inside, her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and the space. Tables and chairs were piled high in the middle of the room, covered by a dust sheet. At the back end was the kitchen, and a corridor that led to the toilets, utility rooms, a small office, then the rear of the building.
This had been her dream. To open her own restaurant. It had been their dream. Her and Tim. But somewhere along the line he’d fallen out of love with her and into the arms of her friend, Leanne.
‘It’s your fault. You never made time for me. You always put the business first. I’ve tried to make it work with you, but you make it too difficult. I need you to buy me out.’
Leia pulled a chair from the pile and sat down, staring at the whitewashed walls as memories continued to needle and taunt her.
‘We can’t have any colour on the walls and definitely no local artists exhibiting their crap. We’re not a community café. The food should be the focus, not some tasteless painting some old git did.’
‘You pretentious FUCK!’
She stood, pushing the chair back with a screech, and stalked towards the back of the building.
Flicking on the office light she went to a pile of boxes, rooting through them until she found the one she was looking for. She carried it back into the main room and turned on the lights.
Fuck Tim. She wasn’t going to let him ruin this for her. She was going to make this place her own and that started tonight.
Inside the box were small tins of paint she’d bought to try out different colour schemes. They were unopened after Tim’s pronouncement on the necessity of sticking with white. ‘We’re called The Clear Palate, Leia. Let’s have all our messaging on-brand, okay?’
She prised open the first lid. Inside was a golden sunny yellow. She held it in one hand, a small paintbrush in the other and faced the white wall.
Thoughts of Tim flooded through her like an overflowing storm drain, full of filth. She couldn’t do this with his energy tainting her.
‘Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering,’ she said out loud. ‘The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.’
Her eyes fluttered closed.
‘Remember, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force.’
She let out a long, slow breath.
‘Let go of your anger. Let go of your hate.’
In her mind, she imagined standing beneath a waterfall of pure white light as it flowed into her body.
‘I am one with the Force and the Force is with me.’
She opened her eyes.
‘I am one with the Force and the Force is with me.’
She dipped the brush into the pot, lifted it, and flicked the paint at the wall. It splattered in an arc of golden drops, glistening in the light.
‘I am one with the Force and the Force is with me,’ she continued, dipping and flicking, dipping and flicking, her voice getting stronger and louder as the white walls came to life.
When the yellow paint pot was empty, she moved onto another, then another, until there was only one left.
‘I am one with the Force and the Force is with me!’ she roared as she flicked the last of the paint from the final pot.
She turned in a circle, exhilarated as she surveyed her handiwork. The walls were a riot of colour and excitement. This wouldn’t be a place where people photographed their food, it would be a place where they enjoyed it and the company of the people they shared it with.
There was a knock at the door and she spun to face it.
‘Yes?’
It opened and Ben entered. His eyebrows lifted as he looked from her to the walls and back.
She glanced down at her chef’s whites, now rainbow splattered.
He cleared his throat. ‘It looks amazing.’
‘I am one with the Force and the Force is with me.’
He nodded.
They stared at each other in silence, her heart tumbling in her chest from the rollercoaster of emotion she’d been on that night.
He looked wretched and uncertain, his broad shoulders hunched as if carrying the weight of the world on them.
‘Can I come in?’
She shrugged, torn between wanting to run into his arms and kick him onto the street.
He took a step forward and she took one back.
‘Look, Leia. I’m just going to lay it all out and you can do with it what you want. I’m going to get to the point and then fuck off and leave you alone.’
She crossed her arms in front of her.
He ran his hands through his hair. ‘Okay, I admit that wasn’t really getting to the point.’
She squared her shoulders, bracing herself for what was coming next.
He held her gaze without blinking. ‘Leia, I love you. I’ve been in love with you since I was fourteen. I left for Oz because I blew it and wanted to make something of myself. I wanted to prove I was a better person than you thought I was.’
Every muscle in her body tightened.
‘I stayed in touch with Luke, so I knew you were in a long-term relationship with Tim. When I won those awards, when I accepted them, the only person I thought of was you. I wanted to show you what I’d done. I wanted to make you proud. I didn’t lie earlier. My heart’s always been in Foxbrooke because you’re my heart.’
Her eyes started to sting.
‘When I was offered the chance of my own restaurant, I didn’t want to take it because it felt like I would be finally closing the door on any chance of us. And when Luke told me what Tim had done, I didn’t think twice about coming home.’
He let out a sigh.
‘I didn’t let on I knew what had happened to you because I could only imagine how difficult it must have been. I didn’t want you to think I was the same twat who you knew from ten years ago. I wanted you to see I’d changed. I wanted you to trust me again.’
She bit the inside of her cheek to keep tears from spilling out.
‘Leia, it’s okay if you don’t want to be with me. No matter what happens between us, I’m not leaving Foxbrooke. But I need you to know that I love you and I want to be with you. Working with you tonight…’ He broke off and smiled, shaking his head. ‘It was perfect. I’d love to work for you—’
‘What? Here? ’ she choked out. ‘When you’ve been in charge of a kitchen twenty times the size?’
He nodded. ‘I left my ego behind in Oz. I just want to be happy. And I’m happy next to you.’
‘You’d be fine not being the boss? Working under me?’
His eyes darkened. ‘I’d do anything to be under you.’
Heat burned across her cheeks. ‘But I could never afford you.’
He shrugged. ‘I’ve got plenty of money saved up. If you offer me the job, I’ll do it for minimum wage.’
She didn’t know what to say. She could see how earnest his expression was and feel the truth of his words. They may not have seen each other for a decade, but before that she’d seen him almost every day for most of her life. Take away the childish pranks when they were growing up and she knew without question he was a good man.
The light seemed to dim in his eyes and he opened his palms as if to show he had nothing left to hide.
‘I’ve said what I wanted to,’ he said. ‘Luke’s got my number, so you can always reach me. You can ask me anything, interview me, chew me out, whatever. I’ll be there.’ He gave a rueful smile. ‘This has been the best night of my life. Thank you, Leia.’
He turned to the door.
‘Ben! Wait.’
He didn’t move.
She crossed the room and took his hand, tugging him to face her.
His eyes were strained, his lips pressed together as if steeling himself for the final crushing blow.
‘Ben, I—’ she broke off, her mouth dry. All the feelings she’d bottled up for years about him were finally bubbling to the surface. He’d spoken his truth and now she would speak hers.
‘Ben, I love you, too. I was so hurt back when we were kids because I loved you so deeply. After you left, I squashed those feelings down. But they never really went away. And now…’ Heat bloomed inside her, burning her skin. ‘They’re even more powerful than before. I love you.’
He looked completely stunned. ‘I… I didn’t know.’
She smiled, feeling lighter than she had in years. ‘Ben Walker. Yoda one for me.’
He lifted her up with a whoop.
She shrieked with laughter and threw her arms around his neck as he spun her around.
He stopped moving, leant down and brushed a kiss across her lips. ‘Leia Perry, I love you so much. I’ve got a really good feeling about this.’
‘And so have I,’ she replied.
His lips found hers again and she let his kiss take her to another galaxy far, far away.