Chapter 12 #2
It wasn’t long before they were sitting at a round table in the corner of their favourite Greek restaurant.
Lisa and Alice had been at the same university as Eliza and Nancy, and they were also best friends.
When the four of them got together, they were pretty untouchable.
The live music was blaring, and it was like they were twenty-one again although, in reality, Eliza was the only single one, and the only one without a child.
Any other time this might bother her, but tonight she felt free.
There was so much still ahead of her – adventure, flirtation, first kisses.
It was possible that her friends’ lives weren’t for her – the well-trodden path of marriage and babies wasn’t everyone’s journey.
And as she recounted her wild last few weeks, she realised she was having a pretty good time.
‘OMG I want to meet this Luke guy!’ squealed Lisa. ‘He sounds amazing and so much more exciting than my husband and screaming children! Does he have any brothers?’
‘No brothers I’m afraid, just a sister whose wedding I’m actually arranging!’
‘You didn’t tell me that, Eliza!’ said Nancy. ‘You’ve got fully in there. I like it, even though that’s one hundred per cent breaking a rule. Anyway, getting the sister to like you is smart!’
‘Well, that isn’t exactly what I was thinking,’ giggled Eliza, ‘but I love arranging weddings. Since leaving Julian, I’ve been thinking about what I want to do next, and maybe I’ll focus on becoming a freelance wedding planner.
This wedding will be good for my website, so I can show people what I can do.
’ She tactfully left out the scary red letters she was receiving from her credit card company and decided tonight wasn’t the night for full truth telling.
As they finished their last course, and had another shot of ouzo, it was finally time for their favourite part. The ma?tre d’ stood up and shouted over the microphone, ‘We hope you all enjoyed your meals! Now, it’s time to smash your plates!’
There was a loud cheer from the crowd as everyone suddenly stood up!
‘Whoop! Whoop!’ shouted the girls along with the rest of the diners, grabbing a plate from the clean pile as they made their way to the dance floor.
Random, unique and the most fun for a night out, this tucked-away restaurant was always packed.
There must be a lot of frustrated people in London; everyone had some fury to vent!
Weaving their way through the crowd on the dance floor, Nancy suddenly grabbed Eliza by the arm. ‘Wait, Liza, isn’t that Luke? Behind me, throwing plates with that guy over there?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, Nancy, there’s no way Luke could be here.’ Suddenly feeling nervous, Eliza froze. ‘Wait. Are you serious? Is it really him?’
‘Well, the guy I can see is staggeringly hot, and surrounded by women trying to get his attention, so I think it’s him. Alice, Lisa, come here!’
‘What?’ they said together as they let their plates fly in unison.
Nancy motioned with her hand. ‘Look over Eliza’s shoulder, the hot one over there, I think that’s Luke. In fact, I’m sure it’s Luke.’
‘Oh, I think I recognise him; he looks so familiar,’ said Alice. ‘Or maybe it’s just that he looks like every Hollywood star I’ve ever dreamt of meeting. Is that actually him? Jesus, Eliza, what are you doing here with us?’
Eliza wriggled out of their grasp. ‘Girls, let me look, would you! I’m the only one who’ll know whether it’s him or not!’
She turned around quickly, pretending she was just flicking her hair out of her eyes. Always be subtle. ‘Yup,’ she squeaked, immediately hiding behind Nancy, ‘that’s him!’
‘Well, introduce us,’ demanded Lisa, ‘we want to meet him, and flirt with him!’
‘I can’t!’ whispered Eliza. ‘I’m too embarrassed. He’s going to think I’ve stalked him here!’
‘Stalked him? This is our favourite restaurant. This is our place! Maybe he stalked you!’ exclaimed Nancy. ‘Maybe he’s put an Apple tag on you, and he really is a spy! Let’s find out!’
Eliza shook her head.
‘Luke!’ shouted Nancy, glee in her eyes.
‘Nancy, I’m going to kill you!’
‘Luke!’ she shouted again, this time even louder. ‘Over here!’
Eliza watched in dread as Luke looked around the room, eyes landing on their group and immediately clocking Eliza. But rather than horror, a look of happiness and charm spread over his face.
‘Are you following me?’ he asked with a grin, as he wandered towards them amongst the sea of broken china and excited patrons.
‘Are you stalking me?’ asked Eliza straight back at him.
They held each other’s stare.
‘Now that would be telling,’ said Luke, as he leant over and kissed her on the lips, in front of everyone. ‘Good to see you. The city girl drawn back to the bright lights.’
Eliza didn’t know what to say; her voice seemed to have been stolen. All she could feel was his soft gaze and the sweetest pressure his lips had left on her own.
‘And there she was, just saying she wasn’t sure you’d even ever been to the city,’ said Nancy.
‘You said that?’ asked Luke, looking at Eliza quizzically. ‘I mean, I know I’m rural to the core, but I can find my way around a city, too. I wonder what else you said . . . actually, don’t tell me,’ he said, as he broke into a big grin.
Eliza wasn’t sure what was happening, but suddenly her worries faded away.
Turning to Alice and Lisa, Luke tucked his hand into Eliza’s making her shiver. ‘Nice to meet you,’ he greeted them. ‘I’m Luke.’
‘We guessed,’ said Lisa, laughing. ‘I’m Lisa, and this is Alice. We were at university with these two. What are the chances that you’d end up in the same restaurant tonight? The world is a funny place!’
‘Isn’t it just,’ said Luke. ‘Eliza didn’t tell me she was coming to London tonight, so I guess it’s fate.’
‘I guess it must be,’ said Eliza flirtatiously, ‘because Luke didn’t tell me he was coming to London tonight, either. Just left a rather open-ended note . . .’
Nancy decisively cut through their chat. ‘Well, it looks like tonight Farmington does London. Luke, you’re with us, and we’re off to do karaoke. In fact, where’s your friend? Will he come, too?’
‘What, Stavros? He owns this place! He’s an old friend. When I’m in town, I always drop in to see him, smash a few plates, and have a drink.’
‘You know the owner?’ asked Eliza disbelievingly. ‘You get even more intriguing by the minute.’
‘Why is that so strange? Stavros and I grew up together. In fact, if you hang around long enough, I might even take you to Athens to see where the story began.’
At that moment, Stavros came bounding up to them, slapping Luke on the back. ‘Luke, you have friends here with you! And they’re all beautiful! This is a very rare occurrence. How did you girls nab this handsome loner?’
‘Oh, come on, Stavros,’ shrieked Nancy. ‘Are you going to tell us that Luke isn’t always surrounded by a harem of women? We won’t believe you – I mean, just look at his chiselled jawline – that thing could cut glass.’
‘Nancy, you can’t just objectify Luke like that,’ giggled Alice, while Stavros crowed, ‘Yes, you can. Look at him, he’s like a Greek god!’
‘Anyway, Stavros,’ said Nancy, changing the subject. ‘We were going to head next door for some karaoke. Are you coming?’
‘Absolutely not!’ Stavros shook his head, his shoulder-length hair curling over an open-necked shirt. ‘Now you are my guests, we will make music and dance and sing my way, Greek style!’
‘It’s a good offer, Nancy. I’d take it if I were you,’ said Luke, in a stage whisper. ‘Stavros’ lock-ins are legendary.’
And before they knew it, a tray of ouzo was in front of them, and they were all downing shots. The live music started up again, and the girls rushed to the bustling dance floor, where all the smashed plates had already been swept up by busy waiters.
Eliza and Nancy were doing their best attempt at channelling Zorba the Greek doing the Shakallis dance, and failing miserably. They were hopelessly out of time and sweating madly from the exertion of trying to do the repetitive squats.
Then, Eliza felt a hand on her back. ‘Here, follow me, it might be easier,’ said Luke, as he joined them.
His feet moved in perfect unison with the music, Stavros joining him halfway through.
Luke still had his arm around Eliza, but as he and Stavros got more and more into the dance, the girls all backed away to watch.
Luke being good at Greek dancing wasn’t on her bingo card.
Eliza turned to the other girls wide-eyed, as Luke and Stavros continued to spin across the floor. ‘How is this my life right now, where some hot farmer I met in the countryside for a fling is now in London doing a spectacular Greek dance?’
‘I have no idea,’ said Alice, ‘but I’m so here for it.’
Stavros then shouted from the centre, ‘Come on, girls, join us! Anyone can do this dance, it just takes some practice!’
And with that they all joined arms again, totally messing up the dance, but having the most brilliant time.
As the music slowed to a calmer pace, they wandered over to the bar to get a drink. Eliza watched Nancy sidle up to Luke and shuffled a little closer to them to listen in.
‘Luke, the mystery man. What’s your story? As Liza’s best friend, I think it’s my duty to know. From the outside, you certainly look too good to be true. And as of yet, we have found no chink in your armour.’
Peering around an overly affectionate couple embracing at the bar, Eliza could just about see Luke’s flash of a grin. ‘Why does everyone have to have a fault, Nancy? What’s yours? You seem like a pretty good package.’
‘Well, compliments will get you everywhere, Luke.’ She laughed, glossy hair swinging. ‘I suppose I am pretty perfect. Okay, you win, you can be perfect, too. Just don’t hurt her. Her ex was such a dickhead. I always loathed that pompous twat.’
The couple shifted and blocked Eliza’s view just as Luke’s face darkened, but thankfully the couple’s snogging didn’t drown out their voices.
‘So, why did she stay with him for so long?’ she heard Luke ask.