Chapter Eight
‘This looks lush!’ Ellie didn’t even care if she couldn’t eat out again for a month; this feast was worth every penny.
Moroccan lamps hung from the ceiling of the restaurant and glittered against fringed textiles. The walls were red and gold, and a mosaic water feature bubbled gently in the centre of the room, which added to its glamorous-kitsch charm.
An array of small, pretty, jewel-coloured plates arrived, piled with delicious food.
Perfectly grilled chicken shish, and lamb koftas sprinkled with coriander.
Herby falafels sat in a ring of steaming rice with pomegranate seeds scattered like rubies over the top.
A mountain of fresh pitta spiked with nigella seeds sat to the side of their mains, with little bowls of buttery houmos, rich umami moutabal, as well as a cool yoghurt and garlic dip.
They both dug in with happy sighs.
‘So, what made you choose nursing?’ asked Alex.
She tried desperately to chew the chunk of bread she’d stuffed in her mouth and not choke before answering.
‘To be honest, I kind of thought I’d end up in our flower shop, although Mark always seemed more interested in running the business then me.
But one day, there was a bad accident a couple of streets from our house involving a cyclist and a van.
It was awful.’ Her blood ran cold as she remembered the shock of walking in on that scene.
The twisted bike with its wheel still spinning, the man crumpled in a pool of blood, the van driver slumped across his wheel, the front of his van buried in a lamppost. ‘Hannah and I were about fifteen and we tried our best to help. We called an ambulance and got blankets – the van driver was in shock. We tried to keep the cyclist comfortable and to stop the bleeding but he was very hurt, and everything we did was only a drop in the ocean. When the paramedics arrived, they were so calm and efficient. A few months later, the cyclist came back to thank us, he said we’d helped him just by being there.
We’d made a difference, even without realising it – we’d comforted someone in one of the worst moments of their lives.
Hannah felt the same as me and we decided to train as nurses when we left school.
It gave us both a purpose. I’m kind of glad it happened, in a weird way. ’
‘I envy you.’
She hadn’t expected that. Most people thought her career was worthwhile, but no one had ever said they envied her.
Most of the time, they’d said the opposite: ‘Tough job,’ ‘Poor you,’ ‘You must have a strong stomach.’ And if they’d done some of her worst shifts she might have agreed with them. But Alex envied her. ‘Why?’
‘The certainty. You know exactly what you want in life.’
Her stomach twisted. She felt like a hypocrite. ‘Well, not really. I’ve been thinking of changing career, actually. Trying something different. The long hours of A&E are beginning to take their toll, and I want something more sociable, community nursing or teaching possibly…’
Alex dipped his bread in the houmos, scooping out a large dollop.
‘Sure, that makes sense. Realising you need a change is half the battle. All you need to do now is focus on what you want.’ He popped the bread in his mouth and she tried not to notice his groan of pleasure or the way the rumble of sound made her thighs clench.
‘Yeah, I guess…’ She took a sip of her water and avoided his eyes. He made it seem so easy. But sometimes it didn’t matter how much you focused on a goal. Life could still pull the rug from under you at any time… drain your savings in the blink of an eye.
‘Everything okay?’ He adjusted his glasses as if trying to see her better.
A flush heated her cheeks. ‘Saving for my flat deposit is looking a bit more of a long-term goal than I originally planned.’
Alex shifted awkwardly in his seat, and she immediately regretted mentioning it. Don’t talk about your money troubles to a rich man!
She smiled, even though her heart wasn’t in it. ‘I’m just being impatient. I’ll do some overtime, take on some more shifts…’
They ate in silence for a moment before Alex said thoughtfully, ‘Tell me more about your job. It might help you decide on your next career choice, knowing what you do and don’t like about the current one.’
Ellie was glad of the distraction. ‘Okay. I work in the A&E at the Royal – you’d call it an emergency room – so it’s always different and challenging, which I like.
But the mountain of paperwork? I hate that.
The physical and verbal abuse? No, thanks.
I dunno… A&E can be really rewarding and exciting, but it’s also pretty ridiculous at times. ’
‘Ridiculous?’
Mischievously she leaned a little closer and whispered, ‘Oh, there’s no end of things people will shove up them.’
Alex’s hand stilled halfway to his mouth, the heap of dip on his bread sliding off to plop onto the plate below. ‘Like what?’
With a smirk, she sank back into her seat. ‘Oh, anything. Toys – both kinds, before you ask – vegetables, tools, lightbulbs.’
He put his bread back on his plate. ‘Lightbulbs? Damn!’
‘But people always forget…’ She sighed dramatically. ‘Hungry bums.’
Alex choked. ‘What?’
She gave a sage nod. ‘Hungry bums. One of the first things you learn in A&E. Bums can behave like a vacuum and suck anything straight up. If that happens, it’s tongs, laxatives or, worst case, surgery.’
‘Fuck.’ He took a sip of his mint tea with a horrified expression.
‘Quite.’
Their eyes met and a moment later they were both roaring with laughter.
When she’d caught her breath, she said, ‘You know what? That’s reminded me, life is precious, ridiculous and strange, and I need to start enjoying myself more.’
He grinned, raising his tea. ‘Good for you. Shall we say cheers to that?’
‘Bottoms up!’ She clinked her ornate silver tea glass.
There was a buzzing sound and Alex awkwardly shifted his hips to get his phone out. ‘Sorry, I’ll turn it off.’
‘No, go ahead and take it. I’m popping to the loo anyway.’ She slid out of the booth, accidentally noticing by the caller ID that it was Richie calling.
By the time she’d returned from the bathroom, Alex had ended his call, and the corners of his lips were pulled down in a frown.
‘Everything all right?’ asked Ellie quietly as she slid back into the booth.
Alex lifted his head. He looked like a man about to face a firing squad. ‘I need your help.’
‘My help? What’s happened?’
‘Perhaps I should order something stronger, you might need it.’ The drawl of his accent coupled with the intensity of his gaze caused her mouth to dry.
‘Go on,’ she said slowly.
‘So, erm, I’ve the Olivier Awards coming up—’
Called it. Ellie quickly raised her hand to interrupt before it got any more bloody awkward. ‘No worries! If you don’t need me any more that’s perfectly fine by me.’
Alex’s brow furrowed and he pushed his glasses up with his index finger in a nervous gesture.
‘No! I still need you.’ He cleared his throat.
‘I mean, if you’re still willing to come to the awards ceremony that’d be great – Savannah was meant to be my plus one, but she’s too busy arranging her wedding to my brother.
’ Ellie’s heart squeezed at the sourness of his tone.
‘I need to ask you something, well, beg you for a favour… Oh man, it’s going to sound so weird. ’
This was the weird part? Every moment with Alex had been strange, but, she had to admit, it was also exciting and frightening.
Didn’t she want to live her life to the full?
She tried to lighten the mood with a joke.
‘You’re not going to ask me to dress up in my uniform and nurse you back to life, are you? ’
He jerked backwards. ‘What? Oh man, did someone ask you to do that?’
‘Yep. So, it can’t be as weird as that. Can it?’
He took his glasses off briefly and scrubbed a hand down his face, looking both awkward and utterly gorgeous at the same time. ‘I guess not, but it’s still pretty weird.’
‘Spit it out.’
‘I want you to be my girlfriend.’
Ellie’s universe shrank to nothing, and then expanded with a force as great as the Big Bang.
She could hear every drop of water as it splashed in the nearby fountain, could feel her pulse thrumming and the blood rush with dizzying speed around her ears.
A blast of heat washed over her from head to toe.
Okay, it’s not real – it’s a misunderstanding, surely? He means just as friends. Nothing more. Americans call their friends girl-friends, right? Although, wasn’t that usually women who said that, about their platonic female friendships? ‘Alex, what do you mean by “girlfriend”?’
Alex sighed, looking torn. ‘According to Richie, I need to be dating someone. He says my profile has been nosediving since the scandal. People are saying I’m toxic, controlling and emotionally abusive.
Normally, I wouldn’t give a damn what the press says about me, but Richie says it’s affecting the success of the play, and it might also be why I’ve not been offered any more projects.
Richie agents my whole family – including Savannah now, apparently.
’ His lips thinned with disapproval. ‘He needs to look after all of our interests, and he needs to change the current narrative of a love triangle with warring brothers and broken hearts. He’s worried their wedding might seem a little insensitive and they could be perceived as the villains here. ’
Ellie scoffed at the injustice and Alex threw her a tired but grateful smile, taking a moment to remove off his glasses again and rub his eyes before putting them back on.
‘While I might agree with that sentiment, I don’t want them to lose everything they’ve worked so hard to build, and I don’t want anyone’s pity. You probably think me nuts saying that. But for some reason I’m still… loyal to them.’
‘I understand. Families are complicated.’