Chapter 45
The weather was not, as it turned out, as warm as it had seemed from inside her cozy flat.
There was a brisk wind that sent Aurelia into a café on her way home, just to try and get the feeling back into her fingers while holding a cup of hot coffee in her hands.
She was so focused on getting warm again that as she stepped out of the café, she nearly bumped into someone who was trying to get inside.
They both began to make their apologies when they recognized each other.
“Oliver!” Aurelia almost felt nervous, as though he might have known she’d spent the morning talking about him.
“Aurelia, hi.” His tone was a little cool, bringing back the memory of how she’d rushed out of the restaurant on Friday.
“Actually, do you have a minute?” she asked.
He hesitated. “Sure. Do you want to grab a seat while I get a coffee?”
She found a table and tried not to stare at him as he waited in line to order. He was wearing dark jeans and an old, slightly ragged, woolen jumper that looked like it could become one of her favorites if she ever got the chance to take it from him… or off him.
Aurelia! she scolded herself. Clearly her thoughts from that morning—what it might be like to kiss him or take him home—were hard to swat away. It didn’t help seeing him looking more relaxed and less like he’d just stepped out of a board room.
He picked up his coffee and then joined her, and she tried harder with the swatting.
“This is off the beaten path for you, isn’t it?” he asked.
“A little. I was just walking around Richmond Park.”
“What, the whole thing?”
“Most of it, yeah.”
“That’s a good long walk,” Oliver laughed, impressed.
“It is—it was. I’m sort of a walker. I like going out and hearing bits of conversation, doing some people watching—anything I can use for my writing.”
It wasn’t a secret that she liked going for walks, but the words had tumbled out of her mouth like a confession, and she looked down at her coffee to recover.
“Lately, I’ve become a bit of a walker myself. It’s a good way to explore the city. Somehow there are still corners I’ve missed after living here for years.”
“Exactly,” Aurelia said eagerly, grateful he hadn’t made fun of her ‘I’m a walker’ declaration. “Were you out walking too?”
“No, I live a few streets over,” he said, gesturing behind him. “This is my usual coffee spot.”
They experienced one of their old, stilted pauses before he asked, “You wanted to chat?”
“Yes, I’m glad I ran into you. Literally, as it happens.” She gave a quick laugh, still unsure of herself. “I wanted to say I’m sorry for being… off the other night. I wasn’t really feeling like myself.”
“That’s alright.”
His tone was neutral, giving nothing away.
“I didn’t write much this weekend, but I’m hoping to dive back in tonight. I should have some new chapters for you by the end of the week.”
“Have you thought any more about a love interest?”
Aurelia’s eyes widened, misunderstanding for a moment and thinking he was asking about their own nonexistent relationship before she realized he was, of course, talking about her book.
“Oh, no. Well, I have thought about it, quite a lot, but… I can’t do it. I actually agree with you—that it might be an interesting story with that added in—but I just don’t think that’s what he would want.”
“Not what he would want… Do you mean Vronsky?”
“I know, it sounds strange,” she said, wrinkling her nose in acknowledgment of her apparent madness. “But I don’t know how else to explain it.”
“I do think it would be better with a love interest, but I’ve said that already.”
“You have. Is that it, then?” she asked. “Am I out of luck having you publish my book?”
He sat back, considering.
“No, let’s keep at it. I’d like to see what happens and how it will hang together without this love interest that Vronsky doesn’t want.”
His tone was teasing, but not unkind, and Aurelia’s face broke into a smile. That smile quickly faded as Oliver stood up from the table. She wasn’t ready to end their conversation just yet and she fumbled for something else to say.
“Um… When should I get you the next draft?”
“Whenever it’s ready. You can drop it at my office.”
She felt dismissed and was annoyed until she remembered that her odd behavior on Friday might still require some smoothing over. Oliver gave a smile and nod as he turned for the door.
“What about lunch?” she blurted. He stopped and turned around slowly, looking puzzled.
“Now? It’s nearly four.”
“No, sorry, I meant once you’ve read over the next draft. Should we meet for lunch to go over your edits?”
Aurelia waited, her eyebrows traveling up her forehead the longer he took to respond.
“We don’t have to meet if you don’t want to,” he said at last. “I can just call with my edits.”
“Okay,” she said slowly. “If you’d rather.”
“It’s not that I’d rather. I just don’t want you to feel like we have to go over edits in person if that’s not your thing.”
They were both flummoxed now, each trying to give the other an out.
“Look, I’m always going to be tetchy about someone else’s edits. Whether we meet in person or talk on the phone, I can’t promise I won’t be. But I’ll try my best either way.”
She gave an apologetic smile and he smiled back. It was one of those smiles that reached every one of his features.
“Why don’t you get me the next pages when you’re ready. Once I’ve read them, I’ll call and you can decide whether to meet or go over them right then on the phone.”
“Perfect! I’d best go home and get back to writing, then.”
They walked out of the café together and said goodbye, each heading in a different direction.
An irrepressible smile spread across Aurelia’s face as she walked toward the Tube stop that would take her home, feeling relieved.
She might not be ready to set her heart on him yet, but—Antonia would be pleased—she now knew that she wasn’t ready to close the door on him either.