Babyville Page 0,42
and down. Thank God for this dress, she thinks, so perfect for a restaurant such as this.
Her heart beats a little faster as she sees a lone man sitting at a table. He is facing away from the restaurant, the chair opposite him empty, and the maître d' leads her over, then leaves her to hover awkwardly.
The man turns to see her and his face breaks into a big smile. Julia smiles in return, partly out of relief, for he certainly doesn't look like the madman Bella suspected, and partly because she is astounded she could have forgotten someone like him.
“Julia.” He stands and takes her hand, leading her to her chair, and she is delighted he isn't so presumptuous as to kiss her on their first date.
“Jack.” She sits down, smiling. “How lovely to see you again.”
“You had absolutely no idea who I was, did you?” He smiles and shakes his head at her while talking, and for a second she is embarrassed. She thinks of protesting and then she laughs.
“You're right. I had absolutely no idea.”
“I knew you were drunk. I kept telling you that you wouldn't remember me when I called and you kept swearing that you were stone-cold sober and would never forget someone like me.”
“I always say I'm stone-cold sober when I'm rip-roaring drunk. But I have to concede I'm rather surprised I did forget someone like you after all. Are you really six-foot-three?”
“Do I look short sitting down?”
“Not short, just not too tall.”
Jack pushes back his chair and stands up slowly as their fellow diners turn to stare. Julia makes a point of looking him up and down with slow approval, and he sits down with a grin.
“I take it I have your approval?”
“Oh yes. I'd say your workouts are definitely doing you good.”
“So you do remember something of our chat that night?”
“Er, no. It was a lucky guess. Something about your washboard stomach tells me you take your gym seriously.”
“If that was a compliment, thank you. And seeing as we're exchanging compliments . . .”
“Are we?” Julia's trying very hard to wipe the grin off her face, but she can't quite manage it. She's not helped by the fact that she's just glimpsed Bella, who's walked all the way round the restaurant to see his face, and who is now, unbeknown to Jack, clutching her heart and mock-swooning to the amusement of the people at the table she's swooning next to.
“We were. I have to say that you look beautiful.”
Julia blushes. “Thank you. Different to how you remember me, then?”
“Fishing for compliments won't necessarily guarantee you more,” he says, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, all right, then. I remembered you as being pretty and fun and sparkly. I didn't remember you as being quite so beautiful or elegant as you look tonight.”
Julia frowns at him, then reaches over and taps him on the forehead.
“If this isn't too personal a question, what the hell are you doing?” he says it with a smile.
“Just checking to see if you're real.”
“The only part of me that's wooden is the pencil in my diary.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls.”
Thirty-four minutes later Julia tears her gaze away from Jack's to see Bella gesticulating furiously.
“Oh shit,” she mutters.
“You don't like my amusing anecdotes?” Jack's tone is wry.
“I'm sorry. Will you excuse me?”
“As long as you come back.”
“I'm just going to the loo.”
“The what?”
“The ladies' room. Restroom. Bathroom. Whatever you call it.”
“Powder room,” he says as she stands up. “Happy powdering.”
“He's gorgeous,” Bella erupts as soon as Julia walks in. “I've been waiting for you for bloody ages. How's it going?”
Julia's still smiling. She glances in the mirror and is pleasantly surprised to see how she's glowing, how she hasn't glowed in years. “He's lovely,” she says, smiling, turning back to Bella. “He's clever, funny, interesting, and interested in me.”
“What more could a girl ask for?”
“I know,” Julia sighs, reality starting to hit. “Can you believe I already have a boyfriend?”
“Julia, now's not the time to think about Mark. Mark's your past, and who knows,” Bella says, affecting a dreamy tone, “Jack could be your future.”
“Oh, don't be ridiculous,” Julia snorts, turning to Bella with hope in her eyes. “You think?”
“I love this weather,” Julia says, clutching her coat tightly around her as she and Jack walk up Third Avenue. “Cold and crisp.”
“Unlike rainy old London.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Tell me about it.”
Julia turns to face him. “About what?”
He shrugs. “Whatever you like. Oh, I don't know. You could