Chapter 30
Afew days later, as Aurelia sat at her desk working on Vronsky’s story, David called. Her mind was caught up in the section she’d been editing, otherwise she might have been more suspicious about his insistence that she join him and James out for dinner that very night.
“It’s our last chance to see each other before the holidays,” he pleaded.
Looking up from her desk, her eyes scanned the shop. She was sure she could get back before midnight, so she agreed to meet them at eight.
By the time eight o’clock rolled around, Aurelia was running late.
She knew David and James wouldn’t mind even though she had no excuse—she didn’t exactly have a difficult commute home from work each day.
Scanning the room as she walked into the restaurant, she spotted David and waved to him as she wound her way through the crowded space.
Once she was just a few tables away from them, however, Aurelia drew up short when she noticed someone else at their table: Oliver.
He was talking to James and didn’t see her, which was fortunate as her forehead was drawn together in a frown.
Had David honestly done it again—blindsided her into another night out with Oliver?
She felt immediately embarrassed, worried that Oliver might think she’d asked David to do it, as if Oliver’s rejection weeks ago hadn’t gotten through to her.
“Aurelia, you’re late! We’ve all been waiting for you.”
David’s voice had a false cheer to it. She bit down both a tart response and her instinct to flee and turned to James and Oliver, who had stood to greet her.
“Hi, James,” she said, kissing his cheek and staring daggers at him.
James slid his eyes toward David, a clear sign that this was all David’s doing, and she squeezed James’s arm in solidarity.
“You remember Oliver?” David asked innocently.
“Of course I do,” Aurelia said, plastering a smile on her face. “Good to see you again.”
“You too,” Oliver said, adding, “Don’t tell me… You’re surprised to see me?”
Aurelia looked at him and saw that his lips were working to keep from laughing. She let out a laugh of her own then, relieved he’d recognized David’s plotting. When Oliver’s laughter joined hers, she felt that fluttery feeling—the one she hadn’t felt since the last time she’d seen him.
“What?” David asked. “What’s funny? Have you two got inside jokes already?” he added hopefully.
Aurelia pointedly ignored him and moved to the only empty chair which, by David’s design she was sure, was next to Oliver.
As she took her seat, she couldn’t help but notice that Oliver was once again wearing a jacket and an oxford shirt with just one button undone.
He didn’t seem to do casual. She started adjusting her hair but an instant later scolded herself for caring.
This wasn’t a date, regardless of David’s desperate intentions and the fact that Oliver looked as good as she’d remembered.
He smiled at her as he caught her looking and she felt that flutter in her stomach materializing again.
She smiled back, but then tried to play it off by looking around the restaurant, hoping he might think her eyes had just happened to land on him even though she suspected he was smarter than that.
“I thought it’d be nice if we all got together,” David explained, “seeing as how we’ll be off on our separate ways for the holidays.”
She hadn’t seen Oliver in weeks and likely wouldn’t have seen him ever again, holidays or no, if David hadn’t kept forcing them together, but she decided to wait for a private opportunity to correct him.
As it happened, it didn’t take long. Oliver excused himself to go to the restroom once they’d ordered.
Aurelia and David stared each other down as Oliver walked away.
“This was all David,” James said as soon as Oliver was out of earshot.
“I gathered as much,” Aurelia said coolly.
“I’m sorry, I am, but… Okay, I’m not,” David admitted. “You’re writing again and the shop’s doing well. I just want to see you get your love life back in order too.” Aurelia glared at him, and he added, “You’re my best friend and I want you to be happy.”
That took the edge off her irritation at him and she gave a dramatic sigh. She wasn’t any less annoyed by his incessant matchmaking, but it was hard to be too angry with him when she knew his heart was in the right place.
“But I told you I wasn’t interested in Oliver,” Aurelia reminded him.
She was about to add that Oliver had made it perfectly clear he wasn’t interested in her either, but the memory of his visit to the shop still stung.
“Maybe so, but he practically begged me to invite you tonight!”
“Well, if I remember correctly, and I do,” James interjected, “his exact words were, ‘Is Aurelia coming along?’”
“Begged?” Aurelia said, looking back at David with a raised eyebrow.
“Alright,” David conceded, “but when I said I could ask you, he said ‘Sure.’”
He spread his hands out, as though Oliver’s eagerness to see her again was obvious.
Aurelia rolled her eyes at him. She was certain that Oliver had simply asked after her out of politeness.
He clearly didn’t know David well enough yet to realize he was capable of making a mountain out of the tiniest speck of sand.
David leaned toward her, his tone softening as he said, “I just think you two are right for each other. And maybe you both need a little push to realize it.”
“Oh, David. I love you, I do, but…” Aurelia trailed off as she spotted Oliver walking back toward the table.
“Oliver,” David prompted as soon as he’d taken his seat. “Did Aurelia tell you? She’s writing again and working on something new.”
“Are you?” Oliver asked.
“Yes—yeah,” she said, self-conscious to be at the center of David’s change of subject. Apparently, the pushing portion of the evening wasn’t over yet.
“What are you writing?” Oliver asked.
“Um, it’s a novel.”
“Right up your alley, then,” James told Oliver. “Oliver edits fiction,” he added for Aurelia’s benefit.
“Ah,” she intoned, hoping against hope that single syllable would end the conversation.
Just then, David spotted a fellow teacher from his school and he and James excused themselves to go and say hello, leaving Aurelia and Oliver alone at the table.
“I’d be happy to read your book sometime, if you’d like. Give you some feedback,” Oliver offered.
Her eyes widened at the idea of sharing her project. It was still early days and nowhere near ready to show people, least of all someone who edited books for a living.
“Don’t worry,” he said with a laugh. “No pressure here. I’m just glad to hear you’re writing again.”
She nodded at his kindness, then felt the compulsion to tell him more.
“I’m working on a sort of reimagining—thinking of what might happen to a character from another novel.”
That hadn’t been scary at all. In fact, it felt sort of nice to let him in on something that had been occupying most of her days and nights.
“Really? It’s a fun concept—reworking an old story or taking a character and popping them into a new one. I could recommend some similar stories if that would be helpful?”
Aurelia felt her breathing go back to normal; she hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath. He hadn’t laughed at her or demanded to know which novel she’d had the nerve to borrow from.
“Actually, that’d be great.”
“Do you have any paper? I have a pen, but—” He broke off as he reached into his inside chest pocket, fiddling with something there.
The restaurant was dimly lit, but she was certain she could see a faint blush rising up his cheeks.
“Um, I have a pen,” he repeated, drawing it out of his jacket carefully, as if worried something might fall out.
“I have a notebook,” Aurelia offered, pulling one out of her bag and searching for a blank page before sliding it over to him.
She watched as he started writing out a few book titles and noticed his blush fade as he seemed to relax again. She wanted to ask if he was alright, but he’d already turned the notebook back to her.
“I’d start with these. I think they do a good job of playing with the old while making it feel new.”
David and James came back to the table, and Oliver slipped his pen back into his pocket. Aurelia eyed the list, noticing Oliver’s steady handwriting and how different it was from her messy scrawl, before closing the notebook and putting it back into her bag.
“Thank you.”
She nodded to him, and they exchanged smiles before David and James pulled them back into a conversation.
When they’d finished eating, David—wisely sensing an obligation—paid the bill. As James, Aurelia, and Oliver got up to leave, David threw his hands out as if to stop them.
“James and I are going to head home, but you two should feel free to stay. Maybe you can get another drink here or somewhere else?” he suggested.
Aurelia had had enough of David’s meddling for one evening. She made a face at him and then, afraid Oliver might have noticed, quickly tried to shift her expression into a look of disappointment.
“Actually, I have to get home as well,” she said.
“Yeah, I’d better get going,” Oliver agreed.
“In that case, you’re both heading in the same direction, so you can walk together,” David said, looking very smug.
Seeing no way out of it, Aurelia exchanged goodbyes with David and James, and then she and Oliver started toward the nearest Tube station.
“I’m debating whether to call David tomorrow to shout at him for not giving up on us, or to ignore him for a few days and see if that cures him,” Aurelia quipped.
Oliver was quiet for a moment, then said, “I didn’t mind seeing you again, but I’m sorry if it upset you.”
She felt instantly guilty, realizing she’d probably made it seem as though spending another evening in his company had been miserable when, she had to admit, it hadn’t.
“Oh, no, I’m not upset! I mean, David is a total meddler and must be stopped, but no, it was fine!
” She paused, then added, “He seemed to misinterpret something you’d said and thought you wanted to see me again, so I’m sorry for that.
But now you’ve learned a valuable lesson: you should never utter my name in David’s presence again. ”
She laughed and gave his side a gentle nudge with her elbow, but he only gave a soft exhale of a laugh in return.
They’d arrived at the entrance to the Tube and Aurelia took a few steps down the stairs that led underground before realizing Oliver was no longer beside her. She turned and saw he was still at street level, looking down at her.
“You said this was your line, right?” she asked.
He looked around and then back at Aurelia before saying, “It is, but… I think I’ll walk a bit further.”
She tried to read hurt or anger on his face, but it gave away nothing. Maybe he’d just had enough of being forced together, she decided.
“Goodnight, then,” she said.
“Goodnight.”
They both turned and went their separate ways.
As her train rattled homeward, Aurelia frowned, wondering if she’d hurt Oliver’s feelings.
But he’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in her, not like that, so what was there to hurt?
Her mind lingered for a moment on the attraction she’d felt again, on how the conversation had flowed once the awkwardness of the situation had passed.
She put it down to having David and James there, reminding herself that they’d been with her the last time she’d seen Oliver, when things had also been pleasant and lovely.
Conveniently, she swept over the conversations between just the two of them—about her writing and what books they were reading—and focused instead on all the reasons they were destined to be friends.
She made a mental note to remind David of those reasons ad nauseum until he’d accepted them.