Chapter 18
18
With the sweet scent from the flower on the band around her wrist, Deedee had to admit that for a moment she felt like a zesty twenty-something again on a first date as she snuggled into Yiannis. He had swept an arm around her shoulders to shield her from the swirl of fresh evening air as they left the restaurant. And the twinkling lights of Central Park, mingled with the cacophony of car horns, felt exciting and exhilarating, as they walked past the famous Plaza hotel with its majestic frontage on Fifth Avenue to the entrance of the park.
‘You OK?’ Yiannis nudged her, grinning.
‘Yes… but doing this does feel a bit touristy,’ Deedee smiled and nudged him back.
‘Well, you are a tourist!’ he laughed, swiftly swerving his body away from hers to avoid being elbowed in the ribs again.
‘Ha ha, very funny. I’ve been coming to New York for decades so I’m hardly a real tourist,’ she told him, once again falling into their familiar pattern of teasing each other.
‘Ah, but have you ever been on a pedicab ride in Central Park?’ he winked.
‘No, absolutely not.’
‘Then, now is your chance. Let’s hop in one and enjoy the ride.’
Twinkling street lamps illuminated the way as the pedicab driver took them along the park’s perimeter and onto the iconic Gapstow Bridge, the air fragranced now with the delicate fresh scent of magnolia from the trees all around. Deedee gazed at the lake glistening in the full moon’s light and dusted with pink cherry blossom petals as she climbed out of the cab. After asking the pedicab driver to wait, Yiannis took her hand in his and they walked across the pathway to the foot of the bridge and stood under the light of a street lamp.
‘OK, so this is a beautiful sight… and far more romantic than our actual first date in the countryside after the photoshoot in London,’ she smiled. ‘Do you remember? You drove me to that lovely little village pub but then your car broke down on the way back and we ended up trudging in the rain to a telephone box that was at least two miles away, I’m sure.’ She shook her head on recalling the memory of taking her stiletto heels off, as they were killing her feet, and then walking barefoot on the slippery wet grass verge.
‘Ah yes, the days before mobile phones were a thing… But it sure was romantic making out in the telephone box while we waited for the recovery guy to turn up.’ Yiannis raised his eyebrows.
‘Mmm, it was, that’s true,’ she nodded in agreement, remembering the thrill of that first kiss. The handsome Greek-American guy, with his shirt, drenched through from the rain, clinging to his muscular, athletic body as it pressed against her thin cotton mini dress. With skin on fire from the intensity of the sexual chemistry, their wet bodies melted into one another, and she remembered feeling like she had stepped into a steamy and erotic scene in one of those illicit books that had been passed around at boarding school. Yiannis had always been a brilliant lover.
‘So as this is far more romantic than our first date… is this the moment where I lean in for that snog ?’ The corners of his mouth curved into a cheeky smile as he took the sides of her cashmere wrap and gently brought them closer together until his hands were underneath her chin.
‘Oh, darling, the word snog hardly sounds appealing!’ she joked. ‘I’ve not “snogged” anyone in that feverish, inexperienced young person way since…’ She paused and pulled an exaggerated pondering face. ‘Hmm, I guess since that time in the telephone box with you.’ She laughed. ‘We were young, and snogging was the thing then, everyone was doing it. These days they call it “being intimate” or “lipsing” is one I heard the other day. You know, personally, I think the classic “kiss” sounds far nicer, don’t you think?’ she teased, but inside mentally kicked herself for still not having looked him properly in the eyes and talked to him about the flaming torch or the silly ‘situationship’ or this potentially being a pity date. But she knew in her heart this was no pity date. And the feeling from earlier deepened… she was having fun, actually enjoying the date that wasn’t supposed to be a date. The evening hadn’t started out that way, it had been much like all the other times she and Yiannis had had dinner together, but the flirting was appealing and so it did feel like an actual date. A date like the ones they used to go on all those years ago.
Deedee opened her mouth to say something more, but before the words came out, Yiannis’s lips were near her ear and he whispered, ‘I sure do. A classic kiss just like this.’ She turned her face to his, and for the briefest moment, his eyes searched hers as if looking for assurance. She felt his fingers move from underneath her chin to the nape of her neck, her cheek caressed, his mouth pressed warm on hers, his tongue flicking against her lips. His familiar scent transporting her back to that time in the telephone box when she had her whole life ahead of her. Intoxicating and very, very seductive. She felt like that twenty-something woman again. And she kissed him right back, deeply and sensually, closing her eyes, her skin on fire as their bodies melted into one again. Dreamlike, she experienced a floating sensation, followed by a hot tingling intensity building deep within her, like being at the dip in a rollercoaster that her body really wanted to ride all the way to the top. The scent from the orchid was intense as her hands moved underneath his arms feeling the tautness of the firm muscles as they flexed in his back. Her wrap slipping free from her shoulders bringing a burst of thrilling fresh air. Droplets now on her cheeks. Trickling onto her lips. Her eyelids flickered open as she realised rain was cascading down and had settled on the sheer silver fabric of her jumpsuit, making it cling to her skin just as that cotton mini dress had in the telephone box. A surge of panic swirled from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. The intensity of the moment transporting her back to that time suddenly felt too much. Overwhelming. She pulled herself free from Yiannis’s embrace. Took a step or two away from him before pulling the wrap back up, turning and running, calling out over her shoulder, ‘I can’t. I’m sorry,’ as she climbed into the pedicab and told the driver to take her back to the Plaza hotel, the corsage falling from her wrist and floating away into the night.
In the first yellow taxi she could find, Deedee sat back in the seat hyperventilating, feeling foolish and silly now. What on earth had she been thinking? They’d had too much to drink, wine and cocktails, she had got caught up in nostalgia, reminiscing, and wanting to feel young again. Yes, she had enjoyed being with Yiannis. But by kissing him, surely she had betrayed Joe? Because there were feelings. Romantic feelings. And now dare she admit it, the kiss had reignited a deep passion, it had relit the torch for her. With Luca, it had only ever been physical with pleasantries in between, which had never felt like a betrayal as her heart had stayed purely Joe’s. But this was different. She had crossed a line, let Yiannis back in. Her face flushed with shame, mingled with sorrow. She felt guilty. As if she had been unfaithful to her husband. Her gaze dipped to the gold band and diamond solitaire she still wore on the ring finger of her left hand, having never been able to face the finality of taking them off. In her mind, she was still married… it didn’t end just because one of the people in the binding agreement had died.
She thought back to the filmed codicil and Joe’s words about finding new love and having his blessing. But Yiannis wasn’t new love. Yiannis was her old flame. But more importantly, he was Joe’s friend, a man he had trusted for twenty years; who Joe himself had chosen to be there with him in the lawyer’s office, on what was most likely one of the most intense and emotional days of his whole life, before it was cruelly cut short. And Joe had trusted Yiannis with the beach house birthday surprise too.
But then, Yiannis had known this when he asked her on the date before Joe’s lawyer had ever contacted her. He had known it was all to come. And he must have known he was betraying Joe when he leaned in for the snog, kiss or whatever. Not that she wasn’t complicit. Absolutely not. She had kissed him right back. And had wanted to…
‘Oh, Joe,’ she whispered as she turned to look out of the window, the rain making the New York streets look like Hassam’s famous impressionist painting of The Avenue in the Rain, with colours from flags hanging above buildings reflecting red, white and blue on the wet sidewalk. As the taxi drove through the rain-smudged inky night, block to block back to the West Village, Deedee let her mind clear, drift away in denial, as she sat motionless and numb. Marvin Gaye was on the radio singing ‘What’s Going On’ and the irony wasn’t lost on her as she let his smooth voice soothe her while she gently rested her head against the side of the window and focused on looking up at the sky, as if searching the galaxy to give her the answers.
Sometime later, she wasn’t sure exactly how long she had drifted away in her reverie for, she became conscious of different words cutting through the chorus of the song.
‘Ma’am! Your cell,’ the driver called out, turning the volume of the music down. ‘Ma’am… it’s ringing, your phone,’ he repeated with more urgency. Rallying, Deedee came to and riffled through the Chanel bag to retrieve her mobile. It was Yiannis. She cleared the call and messaged him instead.
Deedee
Sorry xx
She went to put her phone away, but then it rang again. It was Anthony this time. She hesitated, her finger hovering over the screen wondering if Yiannis had called him and if she could face talking about what happened. She had abandoned her best friend in the park. Ran away and left him in the rain. And she felt bad about that too. Yiannis could take care of himself but still, it was unkind of her to reject him like that. The phone rang off, only to start up again and she heard the taxi driver let out an impatiently loud tut, so she flicked the switch to silent mode but soon realised she had inadvertently answered the call instead when Anthony’s animated voice came through crystal clear on the phone’s speaker and there was no avoiding him. Especially as the driver tutted some more even louder before turning the volume back up.
‘Dee, darling… I think I’ve found her!’
‘Found who?’ Deedee said, still in a daze as she pressed the phone to her ear, desperately trying to shift gear from feeling awful for abandoning Yiannis in the park and cheating on Joe, to what on earth was Anthony talking about?
‘The mystery woman. From the beach house. Larry, my pal from the hot dog stand knows a Lara, who used to be a waitress in his brother’s restaurant down in Brooklyn, so I called in on Mikey – that’s the brother – and he told me this Lara now works in his cousin’s (on his wife’s side) steakhouse called Smokey Mountain Grill and Rib Shack and guess what… the cartoon cow head logo on the card is just the same as the one above the front door of the Rib Shack.’ He paused and she heard him take a breath before carrying on. ‘So I called them, and they said Lara works part time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so seeing as today is Wednesday I’ve already made a reservation for us all to go for mac and cheese and a full rack of the bourbon barbecue ribs tomorrow in the Smokey Mountain Grill and Rib Shack to see if this Lara is the same runaway woman from the beach.’