Chapter 12 #2
Peter returned her smile and his expression relaxed again. “You mentioned working in Italy a lot. Tell me about your favourite places there and the food you enjoyed.”
His eagerness to move past the awkward moment and turn the conversation to the very subject he’d said had worried him in the first place reminded her of his generous spirit.
Grateful for the chance to make up for her rude and snappy tone, Gaby shared some stories from her Italian adventures.
She talked about her time working in beautiful hotels on the Amalfi coast, describing the glittering sea and the pretty towns built into the stunning coastline.
She shared memories of her time in Tuscany, with its verdant countryside and elegant vineyards.
She told him about some of her most memorable meals in Italy.
The delicate translucent pasta dishes that were so beautiful they could’ve been works of modern art.
The hearty Italian stews devoured with thick slices of bread.
The pizza enjoyed straight from the oven while walking the streets of Naples.
And she told him about the best gelato she ever had, creamy scoops of pistachio and hazelnut inside a crisp chocolate-dipped cone and which she’d savoured one evening in Florence as she wandered through the Loggia dei Lanzi with its stunning sculptures and awe-struck tourists.
She talked about how these places had become beloved to her, every memory a cherished part of her.
His gaze and attention were unwavering as she spoke, the smile on his lips encouraging her to keep talking, the look in his eyes one of… admiration?
Or something else she couldn’t quite pin down?
“That all sounds fantastic, Gaby,” he said. “I’m so happy you’ve done all those things you said you wanted to do when we were young.”
“It’s a big world and there’s so much to see. Every time I tick off a destination on my list of places I want to visit, I can’t help adding another three or four.”
“You have an actual list?”
Gaby nodded and because the warm look in his eyes made her feel so at ease, she reached into her bag and pulled out the small notebook she carried with her everywhere, opened it and passed it to him.
“I started this during my first year at university,” she said, pointing to the first page containing the neatly printed penmanship of her eighteen-year-old self.
“Halfway through the spring semester, I realised that once classes and exams were over, I’d have to move out of my student accommodation and go home.
But I really didn’t want to go home. My parents were living separately by then but still battling each other during their divorce and I didn’t want to be in the middle of it.
And I wanted to earn some money too, and while there were loads of jobs in London, I knew I’d end up spending most of what I earned just to cover a room rent somewhere.
So, I took a took a job working as a waitress at a big hotel on Mallorca for three months.
It came with basic accommodation, which was a huge bonus.
Plenty of long hours and tough work but in my free time I explored the island and enjoyed the local food.
It was an amazing experience. On my final night there, I bought that notebook from one of the tourist shops and wrote a list of all the places I wanted to visit around the world.
Until then, it had all been inside my head.
After that, it was there on the page in black and white.
Whenever my university studies got tough or I was struggling to make ends meet, I’d pull out that list and remind myself of my dreams and what I was doing it all for. ”
Gaby stopped talking, realising she’d continued chattering long after Peter had finished looking at the notebook she’d shown him.
“This is amazing, Gaby,” he said, pushing the small notebook back across the table. “What you’ve done with your life is just… amazing.” He laughed at the repeated word. “To write your dreams down like that and then actually go to all those places and tick them off… it’s amazing. You’re amazing.”
A hot blush was burning her cheeks now, not just because of what he was saying but because of how he was looking at her.
“I’m just lucky I was able to make a career in a business that lets me travel,” she said.
“Don’t do that. Don’t downplay it.” His gaze was steady and serious now, the light in his eyes turning into something more intense. “You wanted to make a great life and you knew that wouldn’t happen by accident. You had to make it happen. And you did. Don’t downplay it. Be proud of it, Gaby.”
She wanted to look away but couldn’t. She was proud of the career she’d built, but in a quietly reserved way she kept to herself. Her travels satisfied her and that was enough. She’d never felt the need to impress anyone.
Peter’s words moved her. His obvious admiration for the life she’d built and his enthusiastic support for it left her a little undone.
“Thank you, Peter.”
Their gazes remained locked and that moment Gaby had feared was suddenly upon her and she had to work very hard to resist the temptation to reach across the table and squeeze his hand.
Not just because she wanted to show how much his kind words meant to her but because she wanted to feel his fingers against hers and conjure again, if only for a moment, how it had felt to be seventeen and holding Peter’s hand as they lay beneath the hot summer sun on Blackberry Hill and sharing their dreams for the future.
The waiter appeared to clear their plates and the moment, and the dangerous temptation, vanished.
Gaby sipped her wine and steered the conversation towards safer terrain—the main courses when they arrived, questions about Peter’s school responsibilities and his family and anything else she could think of.
Agreeing to have dinner with Peter had been a mistake, she realised.
This wasn’t just two old friends catching up on the old days, at least not for her.
The attraction she felt to him only got deeper with every extra minute spent in his company.
She’d tried to tell herself that it was natural to feel at least some flicker of attraction to him because they’d been so in love as teenagers.
That sort of attraction and emotion was bound to flare up again in the wake of their unexpected meeting.
But it wasn’t just fond recollections of teenage lust that she was feeling.
As she looked across the table at Peter, the attraction she felt was to the man he was now. Her memories of the boy he’d once been only deepened the new emotions that were raging inside her.
There’s nothing wrong with what you’re feeling, her mind whispered. You were attracted to Peter back then and so why wouldn’t you be attracted to him now? And if he feels the same way…
She stopped the thought in its tracks. Was she really about to convince herself that a quick fling might be on the cards here?
The idea was ludicrous.
Not because she was against the idea of quick flings. Her life of constant travel meant short-lived affairs were a natural part of her life.
The reason it was ludicrous was because to even imagine such a thing with Peter somehow tainted her memories of the sweet summer affair they’d shared as teenagers.
And it was also ludicrous because, while she was sitting here across the table from him in the restaurant debating all this inside her own head, Peter was probably just happy to repay her favour at the school careers fair before calling it a night.
She had the pair of them locked in some steamy fling for the remainder of her time here in Hamblehurst, while Peter was almost certainly thinking of no such thing.
The wine had gone to her head, she decided.
The sooner they finished their meal and went their separate ways the better. Spending time with Peter Bailey had turned out to involve a lot more than just a cheerful walk down memory lane.
Instead, she’d veered into a dangerous cul de sac and it was time to get out of there before she hit the dead end.