Chapter Three
Ellie gave her unexpected companion a quick and furtive smile before looking around aimlessly in an attempt to not seem awkward.
She immediately wished she hadn’t. People were beginning to stare at them.
No one had looked their way until Alex had stood up, but he was like a magnet drawing them in.
Some were just curious, others a little envious, but the worst ones were the sneers.
She knew what they were thinking – what’s he doing with her?
Her stomach clenched at the silent judgement, but she forced herself to turn away from them and gaze out at London’s skyline instead. It had taken her years to ignore people like that, and, even though she refused to show it, their judgement still hurt.
She was convinced Alex would make an excuse and leave, so she was surprised when his body shifted closer.
This evening was getting more surreal by the minute. Not only was Alex ridiculously handsome, but he was also a film star, and he seemed more than content to ignore his fabulous friends to hang out with her.
‘Sorry, this is so weird. You don’t have to stay with me.’ She gulped back some more prosecco, aware that the buzz from her previous drink needed topping up, for her sanity more than anything else.
Alex was very tall, at least three or four inches over six foot, and even in her heels she reached just below his broad shoulders.
His jet-black hair was cut in a rock and roll style, loose and choppy, curling around his forehead and neck in an effortlessly cool look.
Occasionally, he ran his fingers through the silky strands, sweeping them out of his heavenly blue eyes, and her fingers itched to do the same, to stroke through his dark hair and entwine her arms around his neck.
She liked the cute, nerdy glasses he wore. He was every inch the Hollywood star turned theatre director, so much so it was almost like a costume. She was surprised his glasses weren’t held together with a piece of tape.
A Hollywood Clark Kent. No wonder it had taken her a while to recognise him.
The last film she’d seen him in, his hair had been much shorter, and he’d played a sophisticated jewellery thief.
She knew from the film that there was an impressive physique beneath that cotton polo shirt.
He had a warm Californian accent that she found really appealing – the type of voice that made her melt like butter on hot toast. But there was also a depth and thoughtfulness to his manner.
He seemed the type to read a Penguin Classic in the morning and ride a Harley in the afternoon, or surf some waves – something cool, anyway.
Which raised the question, why the hell was he still talking with her?
‘I think I’ll have more fun if I stay with you.
’ At her raised eyebrow, he added, ‘I’m not very good at mingling.
Honestly, you’re doing me a favour.’ He gave her a lopsided smile that cut off the oxygen to her brain for a full five seconds.
‘Some people find me a little… intense. I’m not exactly the life of the party lately. ’
He looked so sad, she almost reached out to squeeze his thick bicep. But she was able to stop herself because that would be weird. ‘What happened?’
He looked away to the city sky. ‘You really don’t know? I thought it was on the front page of every gossip rag and website, I think there’s even a dance trend in my honour.’
‘Ah, I don’t really follow social media or gossip mags.
They’re not good for anyone’s mental health.
All those red circles of shame, all that rumour and click-bait?
I spend most of my working day dealing with the fallout from poor mental health, I don’t want to add to it.
’ She paused and then added gently, ‘You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. ’
His gaze shifted towards her, and he hesitated, biting his bottom lip for a moment, before speaking. ‘You’d probably think me pathetic. So, let’s just call it a bad break-up.’
The way he said it made her heart ache. He sounded broken and exhausted, and she wanted to take whoever had ripped up this beautiful man’s heart and snap them in two. But she doubted she would ever meet them, so she decided to cheer him up instead.
‘Pathetic? Oh, well, if I’d known this was going to be a pity party…
The gloves are off, because I can beat your story,’ she teased, before taking a deep breath.
‘So, my best friend has left me to go live in Australia for a year – who knows, she may never come back…’ She tried to ignore the icy shiver that ran down her spine.
‘And I’m gutted. Not only because I’m going to miss Hannah like mad, but because it also means I’ve lost my flatmate, and I can’t afford to rent a place on my own.
Or buy, as I’d hoped. We’d been saving towards a mortgage deposit for years.
We’re best friends, single and earn the same crappy salary, so it makes sense to buy a place together.
I’d even picked out the best block of flats for us, and we’d just been waiting for something to come up for sale.
Except, Hannah suddenly realised she’d much rather spend her money on expanding her horizons – and who can blame her?
But now I don’t have enough of a deposit to buy on my own.
So, while Hannah’s going to explore the other side of the world, I’ll be back at home with my mum, nanna and brother while I save up the shortfall.
It’s a huge step backwards that I’d hoped never to make, and it’s kind of depressing.
But that’s nothing compared to my love life, which is the worst. The last date I went on, he stood me up halfway through the meal. ’
Panic suddenly struck her dumb and her eyes flew wide in horror. Talk about over-sharing – what the hell was wrong with her?
‘What?’ Alex looked as horrified as she felt.
She should shut up, but her mouth couldn’t be stopped, because a moment later she was already jumping back onto the juggernaut of humiliation by declaring, ‘No matter how pathetic you think your story is, I can promise you mine is much worse.’
‘I don’t understand. How can you be stood up halfway through a date?’ To his credit, he seemed genuinely confused that someone would leave a date early. She doubted he’d ever been on a date with anyone who wasn’t a model and/or desperate to marry him.
‘He went to the bathroom and never came back. I think it was because I told him I wanted to get married and have kids…’ Alex raised a sardonic brow and she threw up her hands.
‘I didn’t mean immediately! But he did ask.
He wanted to know where I saw myself in five years and, well, that’s what I’d hoped for.
Not necessarily with him, of course, just generally.
But it still spooked him.’ Jesus, Ellie, it’d spook any man.
‘I wish he hadn’t ordered fillet steak, because I had to pay for it.
I’d like to say that’s my only pathetic example, but I’ve been ghosted more times than I’d like to admit, encountered some scary weirdos, been stood up loads and…
’ She paused, her mind immediately flashing to her most humiliating dating experience.
Damn it, she’d managed to not think of David for months.
She shook her head vigorously to clear it.
‘Anyway, modern dating… it’s tough out there. ’
‘That guy who stood you up was an asshole.’
Ellie blinked, her shoulders immediately relaxing.
‘Thank you, that’s actually really nice to hear another man say that.
’ She let out a cleansing breath, feeling surprisingly at ease with this Hollywood star.
‘Anyway, I made a resolution this New Year. Absolutely no more dating. I’m going to concentrate on sorting myself out first. Buying my own flat, having a cat, settling down.
’ She winced at how miserable her goals sounded, especially now that the most important one was a dead end, with Hannah leaving.
‘I’m sure your break-up – even if it was posted everywhere – isn’t pathetic. ’
Alex took a deep breath and stared straight ahead as if he were in the confession box and knew he was going to get a thousand Hail Marys.
‘My ex-girlfriend cheated on me with my brother for years and now they’re getting married.
The gossip columns are saying that I’m toxic and jealous, and keep trying to split them apart.
That I am an emotionally abusive bastard who never deserved either of them in the first place. ’
Her mouth fell open. ‘Oh.’
‘Exactly.’ Bitterness radiated off him, and she couldn’t blame him. Hadn’t a hidden part of her begrudged Hannah for leaving? Sometimes life kicked you down and then stood on your fingers as you tried to get up again.
‘Screw ’em,’ she declared loudly, with a dismissive flap of her wrist. ‘I mean it. I bet you were too good for her anyway.’
‘Savannah is a supermodel, film actress and UN ambassador. Liam just won an Oscar and donates most of his earnings to charity.’
‘Fuck me.’ It came out before she’d had time to stop herself, and even clamping her hand over her mouth didn’t stop her in time. Alex’s answering chuckle was enough to reassure her that she hadn’t mortally offended him.
He clapped his hands together firmly. ‘Let’s get some more drinks. I think we deserve them.’
They grabbed fresh glasses and walked over to one of the large squishy sofas under the twinkling lights of the tree, the blossom draping down around them in a heavy curtain of foliage. It was almost unbearably romantic and Ellie cast around for something to dispel that thought quick-sharp.
‘You’ve got to love a precocious tree,’ she said. ‘The weather has only just warmed up and it’s already out in full bloom.’
‘Precocious?’ he asked, his head tilting, allowing his hair to flop forward adorably. ‘I’ve never heard a tree called that before.’