Chapter 37
I pulled the key from my pocket and rested my hand on the handle of the apartment door.
‘Thank you for seeing me home.’
‘Any time. Could I see you again?’
‘When?’
‘As soon as possible.’
‘Tomas…’
His head dropped and he nodded a couple of times before raising it again and meeting my eyes. ‘I know. I’m rushing things.’ He shook his head. ‘Exactly what Christophe told me not to do.’
‘Have you been talking about me?’ I asked. There was a flirtatious tease in the words. Paris certainly brought that out in me it seemed. Having put the skill away for quite some time, it was good to know it hadn’t rotted away to dust.
Hugh and I had sort of drifted together – in the same way that we had drifted apart now that I thought about it. We’d been happy but passion wasn’t a big part of our relationship. Tomas, on the other hand…
‘As often as I can.’
I looked up through my eyelashes. ‘Well, don’t make it a habit. You’ll bore people before I even get a chance to meet them.’
His hand lifted, the back of it brushing my jaw with the lightest of touches. ‘Never. No one could ever get bored with you, ma chérie.’
It sounded like a cheesy line but it wasn’t. The look in his eyes, the tone of his voice. I knew Tomas and I knew he meant it. Which is why I kissed him.
It was as though, in that moment, all the years in between shrank away.
He responded immediately, his mouth against mine, his breath warm and tasting of the wine we’d drunk.
One of his hands snaked under my coat and curled around my waist, pulling me closer while the other cupped the back of my head.
His lips moved from my mouth to just beside it as he whispered my name and the featherlight kisses traced their way along my jaw and down my neck.
I let out a moan and Tomas pulled me even closer.
‘I always loved it when you made that noise.’
I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. My body had forgotten this. Forgotten how it felt to feel like this. Forgotten that I could feel like this. And I was not about to interrupt it with conversation.
‘Evening!’
My daughter was less concerned about interruptions.
I pulled away, partly in surprise, partly as though I had been caught doing something I shouldn’t have. The look on her face suggested the same. A bubble of annoyance rose to the surface and threatened to burst. I swallowed it back down but curled my hand around Tomas’s arm.
‘Hi. Been anywhere nice?’ I kept the tone light. I was not going to be made to feel like I was having some sort of sordid, illicit affair.
‘No, actually. The people I was supposed to meet stood me up and then posted all over their social media about how great this new restaurant we were all supposed to go to together is.’ She shot Tomas a look as if it were his fault.
‘Oh?’ I frowned, holding out my other hand towards her.
I knew behind the tough exterior, she was bruised.
She hesitated. I waited. Tomas shifted his weight and from the corner of my eye, I saw him taking an intense interest in the light fixture.
But he didn’t try to leave either. ‘Did you call them?’
‘Yeah.’ She shrugged one shoulder as she fiddled with her key.
‘Apparently, they forgot.’ Her jaw was set.
‘Despite the fact we’ve been planning it, and the content we were going to make, for weeks now.
’ She dropped my hand and shoved the key into the lock, turning it with a lot more force than was strictly necessary.
‘And here’s the best thing!’ Sash spun back to us.
‘The content they’re uploading? Those were my ideas.
’ She rubbed her hand across her forehead.
‘I’d made a big thing on my channel that I was going there. I’m going to look an idiot now.’
I followed Sasha into the apartment, tugging Tomas along with me.
‘I’m sure people will understand. They follow you because they enjoy what you do.’
‘But I didn’t do it, Mum.’ Her shoulders slumped in defeat. ‘And I thought we were friends.’
I pulled her close, my heart squeezing at the sadness in her voice. ‘I know, love. I’m so sorry they let you down.’
‘Can I ask which restaurant it was?’ Tomas’s voice was soft and empathetic.
‘Giardo’s,’ Sasha replied before remembering that she hadn’t decided to like him yet.
He gave a thoughtful ‘hmm’. ‘Have you heard anything about “Quatorze”?’
‘Only that there’s a six-month waiting list to even be considered for a table.’
‘Would it be helpful to get a reservation there so you can still get the content you were planning up? Or at least…’ He stopped. ‘I have to be honest, I enjoy watching various YouTube channels but as to the creation of them, I’m rather ignorant.’
‘It’s OK,’ she said, her immediate upset currently standing in front of her grudge against Tomas. ‘The problem is, I won’t be able to get the content filmed, edited and up in time for the next video.’
‘Sash has a strict schedule for her channel,’ I added. ‘She’s never missed one in eleven years.’
Tomas looked impressed. ‘It’s hard work to do that. It shows you have a passion for it.’
Now that we’d all entered the apartment, she flopped down on the nearest armchair and put her face in her hands.
‘I sometimes think a normal job would be easier.’
‘True,’ Tomas agreed. ‘But not what you want to do, I think?’
She peered up through her fingers at him before dropping them onto her lap. ‘No. Not really.’
‘So? New plan?’ he asked.
‘I guess,’ she replied, as I moved to the kitchen, careful not to make any sudden movements in case I spooked her. The current atmosphere was so much more pleasant than the eggshells we’d been walking on until now.
‘Do you have any other content you could use for the next video and explain that plans changed – perhaps for the better? But your viewers will have to wait a tiny bit longer to see?’ He held up his thumb and forefinger to emphasise his words.
Sash pushed herself up a little. ‘Better?’
‘Perhaps. If you’re free tomorrow evening, I can get you a table at Quatorze. Would that help at all?’
She sat bolt upright. ‘What? Impossible.’
He raised his brows. ‘Ah, nothing is impossible.’
A faint frown creased her forehead as I nudged her shoulder to take the camomile tea I’d made her.
‘Oh! Thanks, Mum,’ she said, taking it and immediately putting it down on the coffee table in between them. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Absolutely.’
She scrunched her face, scratched her neck then looked back at him. ‘Why are you doing this? I haven’t exactly been… welcoming.’
I cleared my throat. Sash chewed her cheek. ‘That’s an understatement, obviously. I’ve given you a hard time since I met you. Actually, I’ve been quite the bitch if I’m honest, which I promise isn’t like me.’
Tomas chuckled. ‘I think you are being a little hard on yourself. Yes, you have been tough on me. But I can take it. And actually, I think it made me like you more. Your mother always defended those she loved with her whole heart. You knew I hurt her before and don’t know me enough to trust I won’t do it again. ’
She nodded.
‘You ask why I would help you. The simple answer is because I care for your mother and she loves you very much. By doing this, I make you happy – I hope. And that in turn makes her happy. I also don’t like to see people taking advantage of others, which is what seems to have happened?’
Sash huffed in agreement with the latter then looked over to where I’d taken a seat before turning her gaze back on Tomas.
‘Don’t hurt her, OK?’
‘Sash.’ I felt my cheeks flush but their conversation continued without looking at me.
‘I don’t plan to.’
‘Good.’
A pause.
‘You really think you can get a table at Quatorze?’
He held up a finger, pulled out his phone and scrolled for a moment before making a choice.
‘Gerard? Bonsoir, c’est Tomas Bertholle… oui, très bon, merci… Est-il possible de parler à Simone, s’il vous pla?t?’
A short but warm conversation followed in rapid French and two minutes later, there was a table booked in Sasha’s name. From what I understood, he’d mentioned that she was a dear friend of Tomas’s with a fantastic YouTube lifestyle channel.
‘Voila – 8 p.m. tomorrow night. Simone asked if you’d perhaps be interested in a behind-the-scenes tour of the kitchen while you were there?’
‘No! Are you serious? Oh my God!’
Tomas shot a glance at me and I nodded. Despite the seriousness of her expression, this was definitely a good ‘Oh my God’.
He continued. ‘She also offered an interview, if you wanted, but not tomorrow as she wants you to enjoy your meal.’
‘You’re serious? Simone Deschamps said that?’
‘Oui. But she did ask me to emphasise that if you didn’t, she wouldn’t take the slightest offence.’
‘Yes! Yes, yes, yes!’ She was laughing now.
‘I’m taking it that this is someone you admire?’ I asked.
Tomas and Sash turned to me as one, exchanged a look that stopped just short of an eye roll before Sash spoke.
‘She’s only the hottest chef at the moment, hence why you can’t get a table in her restaurant for months at a time. At least, most people can’t.’ She turned her eyes to Tomas briefly with a grin before turning back to me. ‘Honestly, Mum. If you did social media, you’d know who she was.’
‘I do do social media. I watch your videos.’
‘That doesn’t really count.’
‘Yes, it does. It just means I’m very fussy about how I spend my time.’
She bobbed down and kissed me on the cheek. ‘Thank you. But it still doesn’t count.’
‘Well. That’s not changing any time soon. I’ve no desire for any of the rest any more.’