Chapter 4 #5
‘Aww, Pippa! I heard you arrived in the worst weather ever,’ another voice piped up from behind the counter.
An older woman with snowy white hair, cherry-red lipstick, and a turquoise cardigan waved at her with the kind of enthusiastic warmth only found in seaside cafés and musicals from the 1950s.
‘I’m Betty, Clemmie’s gran and co-owner of this fine establishment. ’
Pippa smiled. ‘It’s lovely to meet you. This place is gorgeous, and I see you have a royal visitor.’
Betty laughed. ‘Queenie has been a permanent fixture since Clemmie won the royal baking competition. She now has her very own published cookbook,’ she said proudly.
‘That’s amazing, I’ll need to buy a copy,’ Pippa replied, noticing the pile of books on the counter.
‘Have you eaten?’ asked Betty.
Pippa shook her head. ‘Only the food Clemmie kindly gave me last night, which was a lifesaver after arriving in this weather.’
‘Clemmie, get the girl a full English.’
‘Already on it,’ Clemmie called, disappearing towards the kitchen.
‘Tea or coffee?’ Betty asked.
After ordering a coffee, Pippa made her way to a small table by the window.
She took off her trainers and socks and slipped on the dry socks and then the boots, which were glorious.
Clemmie wandered over with a carrier bag.
‘I’ll take them for you, and you can pick them up later as I’m assuming you’ll be heading straight for the convention. ’
‘Yes, that’s so kind, thank you.’
She watched Clemmie walk back towards the counter and had that feeling someone was watching her. She turned to the side and promptly choked on absolutely nothing as she met the large grin of Sebastian Worthington-Frost.
‘Out of all the cafés…’ he began.
Pippa hadn’t seen him since university but he looked exactly the same.
His hair still had that deliberately unbothered wave that looked effortless, but you just knew had been tousled meticulously and whipped into shape by every possible expensive haircare product.
She blinked. Was this really a horology convention, or was it some sort of secret Cambridge reunion with clocks as an alibi?
Because so far, she’d seen more familiar faces than actual functioning timepieces.
‘Sebastian?’ she gasped. ‘What are you doing here?’ she blurted, still not sure this wasn’t a hallucination brought on by rain-induced delirium.
‘Couldn’t miss history in the making, could I? Someone has to be here to make sure Blake doesn’t turn it into a Shakespearean tragedy.’
‘Of course. You’re here for the interview.’
Sebastian Worthington-Frost, seller of timepieces to museums and private collectors, had once argued with Theo so fiercely during a seminar that the rest of the class stopped taking notes and started placing bets. There was clearly still no love lost between them.
As well as being the one to tell Pippa what Theo had been saying about her back in those early days at university, Sebastian had been quick to make it clear that she did deserve her place at Cambridge.
She’d respected him for telling her what Theo hadn’t had the decency to say to her face, and given they shared the same enemy, they’d struck up a friendship of sorts in that first term.
While Sebastian needled Theo at every opportunity, she had pretended she didn’t care what Theo thought at all.
But now, with years and distance between them, she could finally admit, at least to herself, that she had cared, and much more than a little.
It was only later that she’d recognised the pattern to how Sebastian worked.
Once the charm wore thin, the mean-spiritedness underneath it had been revealed, and she’d been turned off by Sebastian’s tendency to enjoy other people’s discomfort a little too much.
Looking back, she could have kicked herself for the one-night stand she’d had with him at the very start of university.
It had been a moment of poor judgement, and she’d regretted it instantly.
Now here he was on Puffin Island. Pippa wasn’t sure how Theo would react to seeing Sebastian. Having her crash his weekend was probably bad enough, but Sebastian, too? That made it look and feel less like a coincidence that could be laughed off.
Pippa reached for her cutlery as Clemmie appeared with a plate of food. ‘This looks divine. Thank you.’
‘You are very welcome. How was your first night?’
‘Very interesting,’ Pippa replied, thinking of Theo and choosing her words carefully. She stole a glance at Sebastian, and, on the spot, decided to keep the detail about sharing a cottage with Theo to herself.
She’d learned to keep Sebastian close enough to watch, but far enough away not to get pulled in again. She’d forged a kind of truce with Theo for this weekend, and she wasn’t going to be the one to break it.
Time had moved on, and all she wanted was peace and to be able to enjoy the talks and events of the conference.
She certainly wasn’t planning on inviting unnecessary drama into it.
Thinking back, all the university feuding had been absurd, just petty academic spats, and she wished she’d had a conversation with Theo about what he’d said.
But hindsight and maturity wouldn’t do her much good now.
Neutral, safe answers were the order of the day, especially with the Horace Vale interview looming.
‘On the whole, I got a good night’s sleep,’ she added, keeping her tone light.
‘That’s good to hear,’ Clemmie said with a smile, returning to the counter to serve other customers. ‘The rain was torrential, kept me awake most of the night,’ she called over.
Sebastian’s sharp gaze lingered on Pippa for a moment, though he said nothing, and she concentrated on the plate in front of her, taking a slow, deliberate bite. She wasn’t about to let him see anything, or hear anything, that might stir old tensions.
‘Where are you staying?’ asked Sebastian.
Pippa took a bite of the toast, and gestured towards her mouth while she chewed, giving herself a little time to decide how to play things.
Sebastian, oblivious to her inward unravelling, prodded her. ‘So come on, where are you staying?’ he asked again.
‘I arrived late last night. It’s a cottage, but I can’t remember what it’s called.’ Her heart was thudding in her chest at the lie.
‘I managed to get a room at the B not playful teasing, not harmless university nostalgia.
It felt like something more, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
She forced a polite smile, but her thoughts were elsewhere.
Some of your favourite days? Really, Sebastian?
You enjoyed wasting your time plotting petty revenge?
And you still find that fun? She shook her head slightly.
‘Maybe we should do the same again this weekend. It’ll be just like old times.’
As much as she’d been thankful to Sebastian for sticking up for her at university, she was glad they’d drifted apart and that she’d moved on with life, because grown-up Pippa had no interest in getting dragged into his nostalgia-fuelled vendetta.
She opened her mouth, still thinking of a reply, but Clemmie appeared, cheerfully lifting her empty plate and providing the perfect excuse to stay silent. ‘All done here?’
Pippa let out a quiet, relieved sigh, then thanked Clemmie for the delicious meal.
‘Theo definitely needs bringing down a peg or two,’ Sebastian muttered under his breath, more to himself than to anyone else.
Pippa stood up and slipped on the raincoat Clemmie had given her.
She didn’t want to be part -of this conversation.
It was obvious Theo still rattled Sebastian, but he didn’t rattle her in the same way.
Not anymore. She didn’t need to prove herself in the world of clock restoration now; her reputation spoke for itself.
But at university, it had been different.
She hadn’t been confident then. She’d been surrounded by big personalities, people who talked loudly and convincingly, and for a long time she’d assumed that meant they were better than her.
Looking back, she wasn’t so sure. They’d talked the talk, certainly, but whether they’d ever really been any good in the field was another matter entirely.
‘Are you heading for the convention now? I’ll come with you,’ said Sebastian, paying his bill.
Pippa would have preferred to walk by herself, but didn’t want to appear rude. ‘Yes.’
Right at that moment, she realised two things.
One: the day ahead was likely to be very interesting for both very good and very bad reasons.
And two: her weekend might just turn out to be a ticking time bomb, if Sebastian had anything to do with it.