Chapter 13 #2
‘Who are you here with?’
‘You’ll never guess,’ she declared happily. ‘Noah! He’s just gone to the bathroom.’
‘When did this happen?’ Rosie was so pleased he’d finally plucked up the courage to ask her out.
‘Last night.’ She turned to Max. ‘Noah works in the flower market with us. He’s a cheesemonger and I’ve had the biggest crush on him for ages, but I’ve never got anywhere. Not until Rosie came along, that is.’ Max chuckled at her honesty as Emma grabbed Rosie’s wrists. ‘It’s all down to you.’
‘It’s not really. He was already mad about you; you just hadn’t seen it. That’s brilliant, though. Wait, here he comes.’
Noah greeted them both warmly, his shy eyes darting downwards. Rosie introduced Max who, to her surprise, instead of being quiet and insular, instantly struck up a conversation.
‘Nice to meet you, Noah,’ he said. ‘We were just on our way to the Ferris wheel; would you like to join us?’
Emma slipped her hand into Noah’s and bounced on her toes. ‘Definitely! We’d love to, wouldn’t we?’
‘Umm... sure.’
As they walked, Noah and Max moved slightly ahead, Max asking questions about the cheese stall and how he found working at the flower market. Rosie walked behind with Emma, suddenly noticing the difference in her and Noah’s outfits.
‘I take it Noah isn’t the dressing-up type?’
‘Too early to say,’ Emma replied mischievously and then burst out laughing. ‘Actually, I was mortified when he turned up. I’d said about dressing up– everyone does it– but turns out when I thought he’d agreed, he actually hadn’t.’
‘What did you do?’ asked Rosie, who remembered the embarrassment of once turning up to a party in fancy dress not realising it wasn’t. She’d never been so embarrassed in her life.
‘What could I do? I laughed. I did offer to change, but he said I looked great as I was.’
‘You do,’ Rosie agreed. ‘Definitely.’
‘So I thought I’d just go with it. They seem to be getting on well.’ She nodded at Max and Noah. ‘You’ve never mentioned Max before, though. Why’s that? Keeping him all to yourself?’
‘It’s more that he’s normally so grumpy I didn’t want to risk it. And to be honest, we’re still getting to know each other.’
‘Well, he clearly likes you.’
‘I don’t know.’
‘What?’ Emma paused. ‘I thought you were the expert! Surely you can see the way he looks at you.’
‘If he looks at me like anything it’s with annoyance. He gets annoyed by everything.’
By now they were near the Ferris wheel and one of the smaller tents. Dance music blasted from the speakers. The strong beat pulsed through the ground, the bass thumping through Rosie’s muscles. The fast, upbeat tempo made her want to smile and move.
Emma, still nervous, was chattering at Noah, who as usual was fairly silent.
‘Are you ready to go up?’ Emma asked Noah. ‘Or would you prefer to go down?’ She lowered her voice, attempting to be sultry.
Noah coloured to the tips of his ears. ‘I think we better, umm...’ He stepped forwards in the queue, leaving Emma’s face turning crimson. He began speaking with Max and Emma edged back towards Rosie.
‘Oh my God,’ Rosie whispered as Emma turned des-pairingly to her. ‘What the hell was that?’
‘I don’t know,’ Emma murmured, pressing her hand to her forehead. ‘I was trying to be sexy and coy.’
‘Why? We’re in the middle of a field.’
‘Because that’s what men like, isn’t it? And I’m not. I’m brash and loud. I was just trying to flirt a bit. Bring him out of his shell.’
‘You’re brilliant just as you are. Just be you and he’ll relax and chat more.’
‘This was such a mistake. I’ve blown it, haven’t I? Now he thinks I’m some sex-craved madwoman.’
‘Absolutely not,’ Rosie replied, encouragingly. ‘He’s still here, isn’t he?’
‘Only because he’s in a queue and can’t escape. He looks a bit... shell-shocked.’
‘Only because that came a bit out of nowhere.’
‘I’m so out of practice it’s embarrassing.’
Rosie took her hand. ‘Just forget about it, okay, and pretend it never happened. But no more innuendos out of nowhere, all right? Just be yourself and let the conversation flow naturally.’
‘All right.’
‘You’ve got this.’
Emma moved back to Noah’s side and when his conversation with Max naturally ended, he returned to Rosie.
‘So,’ Max began, grinning. ‘What was all that about?’
‘Never you mind. Some of us are just better at flirting than others.’
‘Is that so? You’re sharing your wisdom with Emma, are you?’
‘Just being a friend.’
‘You’ve never flirted with me.’
Her whole body grew instantly hot. ‘Maybe I have, and you haven’t noticed.’
He stared at her, his eyes pinning her to the spot with an intensity that set her chest on fire.
‘I’d have noticed.’ With a grin that melted her into a puddle, they moved along the queue for the Ferris wheel, and the tension of that moment eased.
But Rosie was left bemused at this glimpse of another side of Max: a side that was flirty and fun.
Not to mention downright hot. ‘Ready to go up?’ he asked.
‘This gives the best view of Amsterdam. If this doesn’t inspire you, nothing will. ’
‘Maybe it’ll inspire you? Not that you need any inspiring, I’m sure.’ She was babbling now, her stomach a net full of butterflies all flying around each other.
The carefree Max began to fade. ‘Oh no, I do.’ She looked at him quizzically, tilting her head to one side.
Suddenly, they were forced forwards by the crowd, and into the seats.
It was far more snug than she’d thought it would be.
Their thighs were touching and though he had jeans on, seeing and feeling his body so close to hers made her heart rate climb.
The safety bar came down, and he sighed.
‘The fact is, I could use all the inspiration I can get right now. The reason my paintings haven’t been displayed anywhere for a while is because I haven’t been able to paint. ’
‘Why?’
‘It doesn’t matter. But the life of a penniless painter isn’t as romantic as it sounds. Things are pretty dire really.’
‘Dire how?’
‘Creatively and professionally. Not to mention personally and financially.’
‘I’m so sorry– I had no idea.’
They were at the peak of the wheel, the Amsterdam skyline before them.
The wheel paused, giving those at the top a chance to enjoy the view.
Rosie noted the canals snaking through the city, the muted colours of the houses and the bright white gabling so typical of Dutch architecture.
Trees punctuated the view with bright clusters of green, as though a painter had dabbed his brush here, there and everywhere.
She could already picture a display she might make.
Something in a small, flat basket with rivers of tiny blue flowers to represent the canals and larger white ones for the houses.
She’d add leatherleaf fern for the bushy trees lining nearly every street.
Max leaned a little forward, studying the view.
‘Does it make you want to paint?’ she asked hopefully.
‘I’m afraid not.’
‘Perhaps your creativity works differently to mine. Maybe something will come to you later.’
‘Yes, maybe.’
The wheel began to move, and they enjoyed the rest of the ride in a comfortable silence, each content to ponder their own thoughts. As they got off, Emma and Noah, who had been in the seat behind them, suggested a drink.
They made their way to a stall selling Dutch beer and though not usually a fan, Rosie gamely tried some. It was quite enjoyable, the slightly bitter, hoppy taste different to her normal choice of wine.
‘Excuse me,’ Max said, during a break in conversation. ‘I just need to use the restroom.’
He excused himself and Rosie and Emma wandered to a nearby tent. A DJ danced behind his decks, enormous headphones over his ears. People were jumping and moving as if the music gave them life and Rosie found herself wriggling along.
‘Max has been gone a while,’ Emma said. ‘Noah and I were going to head out before the crazy evening crowd gets here. They’re the real party animals. Do you want us to wait with you till he comes back?’
‘No, it’s fine,’ Rosie replied. ‘I’ll take a wander back towards the beer tent in case he went there.’
‘Okay, see you tomorrow?’ Rosie nodded. Emma kissed her on each cheek and as Noah approached, gave her a tight squeeze as well, whispering, ‘Thank you.’
Rosie took another sip of beer and made her way back to the tent.
As she rounded the corner, she heard her name spoken loudly over the dull thud of the music.
She edged forwards, not wanting to disturb the speaker, who she was sure was Max.
She tipped her head around just enough to see who was speaking.
Max was standing with someone she’d never seen before.
He was about the same age as Max, holding a beer and wearing a baseball cap.
His American acc ent seemed out of place as he spoke to Max, and she wondered if her British one did too.
‘She’s just a neighbour,’ Max said. ‘And an annoying one at that.’ Rosie immediately pulled back out of sight as her heart twisted. ‘She lives on the boat next to me.’
Unable to stop herself, she peeked around the side of the tent again.
‘Hey,’ said the man, holding up his hands in surrender.
‘I was just saying you look happy, that’s all.
And I—’ Rosie waited for him to speak again.
He seemed to take years, but it could only have been a second or two.
‘I know I haven’t been in touch since you and Johanna split up.
I should have. I was trying not to take sides, but I ended up losing one of my closest friends here. I’m sorry.’
As if her ears were tuned in to Max and only him, she could hear his heavy intake of breath.
‘Thanks, Dan. I appreciate that. I know it was hard for you too. It’s good to see you again as well, but there’s nothing going on with Rosie, and even if there was, it wouldn’t be any of Johanna’s business. ’
‘Max, cool it. It’s fine. I’m not judging. I think it’s about time you moved on.’
‘I’m not moving on,’ he said again, the tension in his jaw clear from where she was. ‘There’s nothing going on between the English girl and me.’
Wow. She’d been rejected before but this was harsh. Brutal. The English girl. Was that all she was? And yet, today, she’d thought there was something growing between them. She tried to ignore the ripping feeling in her chest. The way her heart felt like a deflating balloon.
Who was Johanna? Max had never mentioned her.
She was clearly an ex, but for how long and why had they broken up?
Rosie bit her lip. Whoever she was, she was causing quite a reaction from Max, and for some reason, that thought hit her heart like a hammer, hurting it even more than the words he’d just said.
Words that were still echoing in her brain, taunting her.