Chapter 19 #2
As he stalked off to let her in, Claire got out of bed and scrabbled for her clothes. She was just buttoning her shirt when she heard Luca letting himself back into the flat. She froze, not sure if he would want her to meet his sister or if she should hide in the bedroom until she was gone.
‘Claire!’ he called from the other room, resolving her dilemma. She smoothed her hair and went into the living room where Luca was standing with the petite, dark-haired girl she had bumped into the other morning. She was dressed casually, but expensively, and she was immaculately groomed.
‘This is my sister, Ali,’ Luca said. ‘Ali, this is Claire.’
‘Hi, Claire. We sort of met before.’ Ali smiled wryly. She gave Claire the once-over as they shook hands, and threw Luca a jaundiced look that spoke volumes. It obviously wasn’t the first time she’d encountered a strange half-dressed woman in his flat.
‘Yes, well… sorry I had to run off that time,’ Claire said. ‘It’s nice to meet you properly.’
‘Well, I’d ask what you two are up to, but I’m afraid you’d tell me,’ Ali said. ‘I was going to see if you wanted feeding,’ she said to Luca, ‘but I can see you’re busy.’
‘Oh, we’d fin— I mean, I was just leaving anyway,’ Claire said hastily. She was gutted that her last day with Luca would be cut short, but she didn’t want to get in the way.
‘No, you weren’t,’ Luca said shortly. ‘We were going to go out for brunch,’ he said to Ali.
‘We?’ Ali’s eyebrows shot up and she turned to her brother.
‘Yes, we.’ He shot her a warning look. ‘You’re welcome to join us, if you promise not to be a brat. If that’s okay with you, Claire?’ he asked.
‘Yes, come!’ Part of her didn’t want to share Luca with anyone for her last precious hours, but it was better than nothing. Besides, she was intrigued to learn more about his family.
‘Oh, this is brilliant!’ Ali said, looking from one of them to the other. She turned the full beam of her dazzling smile on her brother. ‘You have a girlfriend! I knew it!’
‘Oh, I— we’re not—’ Claire began.
‘I’m so glad!’ Ali interrupted. ‘You must come to my birthday party,’ she said to Claire.
‘That’s very kind of you but—’
‘You have to bring her,’ Ali said to Luca, cutting off Claire once again. ‘I’m sure Mum and Dad would love to meet her.’ Claire was almost afraid to look at Luca, sure he would be freaking out, but he just smiled at his sister helplessly.
‘We’ll have a proper chat then, get to know each other properly,’ Ali said to Claire. ‘It’s next month ? did he tell you? The fifteenth of June. We’ll use the sunroom, but if the weather’s good we can be out in the garden. Anyway, I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you then.’
‘Aren’t you going to come to brunch with us?’ Claire asked.
‘No,’ she said, aiming a sly smile at her brother. ‘I know where I’m not wanted.’
‘Oh, of course you—’
‘It was really nice to meet you again, Claire. Don’t forget – fifteenth of June,’ she babbled, as she made her way to the door.
‘Dressy, but not too dressy,’ she said, turning in the doorway.
‘You don’t want to upstage the birthday girl.
And don’t worry about a present. Just get me something small and very expensive.
Only kidding!’ She giggled. ‘Well, bye.’ And then she was gone.
‘So that was your sister,’ Claire said to Luca.
‘Yeah.’ He sighed. ‘That was Ali.’
‘I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to say that I couldn’t go to her party. I couldn’t really get a word in.’
Luca gave her a wary look. ‘You don’t want to come to her party?’
‘Oh, it’s not that I don’t want to – I mean she seems lovely, and I’m sure it’ll be fun, but—’
‘She is lovely. It will be fun.’
‘But she only wants me to come because she thinks I’m your girlfriend. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to set her straight about that but…’ She waved her hand helplessly in the direction of the door.
‘She invited you. You should come.’
‘But she thinks we’re… together. And I’m sure you have someone else you’d rather bring.’ She had no desire to be subjected to an evening playing the fifth wheel, watching Luca with some other girl while she stood on the sidelines. Just thinking about it made her want to cry.
‘No.’
‘Sorry?’
‘No, I don’t have anyone else I’d rather bring.’ Luca looked right into her eyes then and her breath hitched.
‘But… everyone will think we’re together.’
Luca shrugged. ‘So? We know what we are to each other. What does it matter what anyone else thinks?’
Did she know what they were to each other? Did Luca really know what he was to her? Despite what she had said to him that morning, she wasn’t at all sure she knew herself.
‘Look, you know you’re not my girlfriend. I don’t give a toss if anyone else thinks you are.’
‘But your mum and dad—’
‘Will be very impressed. Come on, you can make me look good for once.’
She smiled. ‘You really want me to come?’
‘Yes, I really do. What do you want – a gilt-edged invitation? Actually, there probably is a gilt-edged invitation somewhere. So…?’
‘So…’ She hesitated.
‘Please, I really want you to come. If you agree, I’ll do whatever you want in there for the rest of the morning,’ he said, waving to the bedroom.
‘You don’t have to.’
‘Come on, I want to. It’s not like it isn’t one of my favourite things too.’
‘Wait – you don’t even know what I’ll pick yet.’
‘Yeah, I do.’ He smiled. ‘I know all your favourite things.’
‘Yes, you do,’ she whispered. Their eyes met and for a moment they just stared at each other. ‘Okay, I’ll come,’ she said finally.
‘Oh yes, you will – I’ll make sure of that.’