‘Stay,’ he exclaimed, talking to her back. ‘Have dinner, relax. It’s on me.’
‘No, thanks.’
He sighed heavily, ‘You won’t owe me anything, it’s an apology. I miscalculated. I’m leaving, don’t worry.’
She hesitated. Was she really going to turn dinner at The Ritz down out of principle?
‘Please.’ He walked past her, ‘I’ll let the waiter or someone know. Stay. Call a friend to join you. Try and have a happy new year, if I haven’t ruined it for you.’
Softening - he wasn’t all bad - she laid a hand on his arm. ‘Fine, I’ll stay. Thank you.’
Nodding briskly, he tucked his phone in his pocket and strode away. He didn’t look back.
She decided to dine alone at a leisurely pace. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially now Christian was gone for good. She also needed time to think things through without distraction, or conversation. No advice from Kate, or Davey – she texted him to say she’d join them later - no instinctive reaction about her single status. She ate a sumptuous three course meal that she was convinced ruined her taste buds for all other food, and reflected on the last year, and everything today had shown her.
Sometimes to go forward, you have to look back, Zack had said.
By the time she finished eating, the restaurant was nearly deserted. She went back into the Rivoli Bar and pulled out her phone.
I need to see you. Can you come & find me? F xx
She attached her location to the message using Googlemaps and sat down to wait.
Two hours later, she stood shivering on the roof terrace of The Ritz, overlooking Green Park and Westminster. Four large copper lion statues guarded the corners of the roof, and the London Eye was lit up with the night’s festivities. Barges and boats floated on the Thames and music sounded on the air. She couldn’t see the crowds of people down by the river, but she knew they were there.
‘You look extraordinary Frankie.’
‘Zack!’ she swung around to look at him. ‘You made it. Thanks for coming. And thank you for the compliment. But was there a but in there?’
‘Yes. You look extraordinary, but not like you. I kind of prefer the tight jeans and off the shoulder tops with your stiletto boots. Like that time at the pub for Fiona’s leaving do. It was sexy.’
‘Really?’ Hope flared, making her nerves jangle.
‘Yes.’ He made his way over to her.
‘Do you think I’m sexy?’ she demanded, stumbling closer to him.
‘Are you drunk?’
‘Nooo,’ she may have ruined it by her eyes crossing at that precise moment, ‘all right,’ she held a thumb and finger up and squeezed them together, ‘maybe a little bit.’
‘Weird girl,’ he sighed, ‘what have you been doing to yourself? And why are you here?’
‘So, I’m here because my ex set up this scavenger hunt thing where I had to follow these clues, and I got my hair and make-up up done at Harvey Nicks and they put this dress on me and then there was a limo ride here.’ She blurted in a rush, and then took a breath. ‘But I did not put on the earrings,’ she said sternly. ‘I had champagne, and cocktails, then a gorgeous red wine over dinner. I think there may have been cocktails after that,’ she shrugged, ‘I can’t quite remember.’
‘Sounds romantic, although I’m not quite sure I follow about the earrings. So where is he?’
‘It would have been romantic, but he paid someone else to do it all.’
‘Ah. Not so romantic after all.’ He drifted nearer, rubbing her arms to keep her warm. ‘So, what happened?’
‘We talked, he told me he’d changed, wanted me to go back and live with him. He’s stinking rich.’
‘Which would have solved some of your problems,’ he concluded, looking concerned.
‘My financial ones, yes. But it wouldn’t have solved the issue of being lonely. You ever been in a relationship where you feel completely alone?’ she spoke carefully, trying hard not to slur her words.
‘No. Sounds sad.’
‘It is. It was.’ She nodded solemnly, then nodded again to underline the point. Followed by a scowl, ‘But he hasn’t changed really and I was the back-up plan. I deserve better than that.’
‘You do.’
‘He can offer me the financial security my parents couldn’t when I was growing up,’ she’d figured that one out over dinner, ‘but when Mum died, he couldn’t deal with it.’
He glanced over her shoulder at Big Ben, wrapping his arms around her to keep her warm. ‘You’re freezing. It’s coming up to midnight.’ As if his words were magic, the clock tower’s bells started tolling. ‘You said no to him.’ Dong.
Pulling back, rocking on her heels, she looked at him, puzzled. ‘How do you know that?’
Dong. He shook his head, mumbling something under his breath. ‘Because weird girl, you’re here and he’s not, and you texted me.’
‘Oh, that makes sense.’ Dong. ’Now I’m only lonely sometimes, because I’m busy and I have friends and family that make me feel loved. One of those friends is you.’ Dong. ‘You get me,’ she hiccupped, ‘I think.’
‘I’d like to think so,’ he said softly, taking his coat off and wrapping it around her shoulders, producing an umbrella from somewhere to shield her from the soft patter of rain that had just started. Dong. ‘And I would also like to think,’ his open, honest face had never looked so appealing, white teeth flashing as he grinned, ‘that one day, when you’re ready, we could be more than friends.’
Big Ben was still ringing out the countdown to midnight in the background but she blocked it out now. ‘You like me like that?’
‘I just drove across London on New Year’s Eve, abandoning my friends and family to see you, and pulled up outside The Ritz in a beaten up Fiat. You should have seen the way the doormen looked at me. So what do you think? Yes, I like you. Have done since day one, when Simon introduced us.’
She shook her head, ‘I don’t even remember that meeting.’
‘I know. You didn’t see me. But maybe you will, one day.’
‘And if that happened, what would I need to do, to show you I was ready?’ she breathed.
‘I don’t know,’ he shivered, ‘kiss me?’
‘Right,’ she answered thoughtfully, as Big Ben finally struck twelve and hundreds, if not thousands, of people lining the Thames yelled out Happy New Year and started singing Auld Lang Syne. Above her head, Zack looked out across the rooftops at the London Eye as enormous white sparkles started rotating on it. ‘Zack?’ she stared up at him.
‘Yes?’ he switched his attention back to her.
Rising up on tiptoes she threw her arms around his neck, plastering her body along his, breasts pushed against his chest. ‘Happy New Year,’ she whispered.
As the sound of fireworks filled the air with whizzes and bangs and fizzes, she kissed him, mouth hot against his, eyes closed. After a brief hesitation he kissed her back, one arm tightening around her, the other still holding the umbrella. And it was