Chapter Five #3
They discussed their families, and Imogen learned that growing up it had been just Amy, her parents, and her sister.
Amy described it as a quiet and harmonious household, and they were all still very close.
Imogen on the other hand had been the only girl amongst four brothers, which meant that her house had contained very little peace or harmony at all.
Though, as the only girl she had been incessantly doted on by both her mum and dad.
Imogen’s brothers still regularly teased her that she was the favourite child, and she secretly suspected that she was.
Amy told her a bit about LA, and in turn Imogen told her about Belfast—Amy said she hadn’t had a chance to visit the city yet, but she wanted to, and Imogen filed that information away.
Just in case another date would be on the cards.
She couldn’t see any reason why there wouldn’t be.
They were getting along really well, and Imogen had to admit, she was wildly attracted to Amy.
Her blond hair was pulled back today, and every time she smiled, Imogen genuinely felt her knees go weak.
Imogen would also be lying if she said that she hadn’t purposefully lagged behind two or three times to catch a glimpse of Amy walking ahead.
That view was much too good to miss. It seemed that part of Imogen had finally woken back up.
What shocked Imogen even more was that Amy seemed to be just as into her too.
“What’s a food that’s really popular that you can’t stand?” Amy asked her.
Imogen didn’t even have to think about it. “Sushi. Vegetarian, fish, or otherwise. I don’t get the hype and would rather go hungry than eat it. What’s yours?”
“Oysters.” Amy puffed her cheeks out. “Can’t stand them.”
“That’s a posh one. Are you a posh person? Over here, I can usually tell by an accent, but with you I’ll need you to tell me.”
Amy laughed. “I wouldn’t consider myself posh. Just been around a lot of oyster joints I guess.”
“Well, fear not. There won’t be any oysters on this trip.” Imogen paused to think of her next question. “What’s your ideal superpower?”
Amy didn’t miss a beat. “Being invisible.”
“You’ve thought about this.”
“Of course. Who knows when they are going to be offered up a chance to bag a superpower? One needs to be prepared. Besides, imagine how much you could get away with being invisible. All the things you would get to see.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure I’m a fan of your power. If you’re invisible, then I wouldn’t get to look at you. Seems like a waste to me.”
That made Amy smile. She bumped Imogen with her hip. “I wouldn’t be invisible all the time. Just when it’s required. What’s yours?”
“Flying.”
Amy nodded like that made sense. “I could see you as a flyer. Free and watching over the world. This damn hill would be easier for one thing.”
Imogen laughed. “It’s worth it at the top. You’ll see.”
And was it ever? When they finally made it, Amelia wasn’t sure how long she stood frozen to the spot, mouth agape, staring at the views that surrounded her.
“Hungry?” Imogen asked, pulling her out of her daze.
“I think I must be, but I’m not sure I fully know how to articulate right now.”
Imogen chuckled and gently took her arm and led her across to some picnic tables that didn’t hinder the spectacular view in any way.
In fact, they were even closer to the ocean which was glistening under the bright sunshine that had miraculously graced their date.
Amelia hadn’t seen the sun in over a week, but it had picked a good day to make an appearance.
Imogen set her backpack on top of the picnic table and unzipped it. “I didn’t know what you would want so I brought some options.” First, she held up two bottles of water and a couple of protein bars. “These were in case we weren’t getting along. Quick and practical.”
Amelia couldn’t help but laugh. “Did you think we wouldn’t?”
“Well, you just never know.” Imogen rooted around some more and this time pulled out a bottle of white wine followed by two plastic flutes. “But I had a better plan if we did.”
“Now I’m glad I pretended to be nice,” Amelia teased her.
Imogen grinned and proceeded to pull out more goodies, holding each one up as she did.
“Fresh ciabatta. A selection of cheeses. Some fruit—grapes and berries and stuff. Um, oh aye.” She pulled out a glass jar.
“Some of Sally’s homemade chilli jam. I can’t get enough of the stuff, and it goes really well with the cheese. ”
Once again, Amelia struggled to speak, because Imogen had just pulled off a first date masterclass.
One that Amelia could have only dreamed of.
The setting, the activity, the food, the company.
Usually, her dates consisted of dinners at pretentious restaurants, or drinks and dancing at equally as pretentious clubs.
No one had ever done anything like this for her—not once in her entire life.
Frankly, she felt quite choked up about it.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled.
“This is perfect, thank you,” she said softly, trying to hide her rush of emotion.
“You’re welcome.” A blush rose on Imogen’s cheeks, and she looked away like she was suddenly self-conscious, which she had zero reason to be. Amelia genuinely couldn’t think of anything better than this.
Amelia took a few moments to regroup as she took a seat across from Imogen at the picnic table—before she became a complete sap.
She busied herself by sorting out their disposable plates and cutlery while Imogen laid out the food and poured them both some wine.
Her thoughts drifted briefly to Steve. It was surprisingly easy to forget he was there at all, which probably meant he was doing his job well.
Amelia almost glanced around for him, then stopped herself.
The last thing she wanted was to draw attention to the fact she had security trailing her on a date.
If he was close, he’d simply be keeping an eye on the area, and on hand in case Amelia needed him.
Which, as she already suspected, she didn’t.
Perhaps he’d realised that too and gone back to wait in the car already.
Oh, Amelia really hoped that was the case.
On their next date, Amelia was going alone, without question.
She didn’t care who tried to fight her on it.
Famous or not, she had the right to some privacy.
She pulled her focus back to their current date and lifted her plastic wine flute. “Do you pour the best wine in Ireland too?”
“Funnily enough, that’s one thing that I’ve found myself extremely well qualified for,” Imogen replied with a smile as she passed Amelia over her drink. “Who knew all of those wine parties I had in my twenties would pay off?”
“You know, you’re really good at this whole dating thing too. I find it surprising that you don’t do it often.”
Imogen finished filling up her own flute and took a quick sip before answering. “Is this the part where I have to answer the more difficult questions?”
“I told you, you don’t have to,” Amelia said. She wasn’t trying to pry—not this time anyway. It was more that she was genuinely curious as to why someone as sweet and beautiful as Imogen hadn’t been snapped up already.
“No, I don’t mind.” Imogen shuffled on her seat like she was readying herself. “It’s a common story, really, why I don’t date. Girl meets girl, girl falls in love, girl gets her heart broken, girl swears off relationships for the foreseeable future.”
Amelia tilted her head sympathetically. “Oh no.” She hated the thought of somebody breaking Imogen’s heart even though she had suspected it might have been the case. “How long ago was that?” Amelia asked, pulling a piece of bread apart and adding some butter.
Imogen began filling her plate too. “Not that long. About a year.”
“Can I ask what happened?” Then Amelia shook her head like that would wipe the question. “Sorry. You don’t have to tell me the details.”
“No, I’ll tell you. It’s fine.” Imogen went on to tell Amelia about what had happened with Chelsea. All the unfortunate details. “It seemed like the more popular Chelsea got online, the less she seemed to care about our relationship. She was getting the attention that she needed already, I guess.”
“From strangers,” Amelia said disgustedly.
Because none of Imogen’s story sat right with her.
There were a ton of amazing influencers out there—Amelia knew some personally—but this Chelsea did not sound like one of them.
Good content did not necessarily equal a great person, and from the sounds of it, most definitely not in this case.
“That’s not the same as a loving relationship. ”
“Yeah, well, it got worse. Anytime Chelsea got hate online and I tried to reassure her, she said it was my fault because I was dragging her down. Affecting her content with my negativity about her followers—the same followers who were saying all the horrible things about her. When the hate got worse again, I told her that she could quit if she wanted to. Escape the constant criticism. Then she said that I didn’t support her dreams.” Imogen sighed.
“Then she broke up with me on a live stream.”
Amelia stared at her in disbelief. No wonder Imogen had shut herself off afterwards. She would have too. The thought of someone making Imogen feel that small made Amelia’s stomach twist.