Lauren. I realise you’re all middle aged and boring now, but you’ve totally got the wrong end of the stick.” She’s smiling and looks like a naughty child. I sigh, I really don’t know what to say or do.
“I’m not trying to interfere! I just want you to be happy.”
“No Lauren, you just want to tell me what to do. You always think you know what’s best, but newsflash, you don’t!”
“That’s not fair!” I cry, “You’re planning a wedding! You’re getting married in three months. You need to be careful. If you’re unhappy about your relationship then you need to talk to Ewan, or me, not Andrew!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replies. “For the hundredth time, there is nothing going on between us. Andrew understands what I’m going through, he’s getting married too.”
“Yes, he is. Neither of you are single. I’m sorry if I’m wrong, but this just looks totally dodgy.”
Her eyes harden and she looks at me with badly disguised irritation.
“Leave it Lauren. We’re friends and nothing more.”
We sit in silence for a couple of minutes and I try and think of something to say to her. Before I can, she looks at her watch and gathers her phone and purse from the table.
“Are you off?” I ask, surprised. “We still have most of the wine!”
“Yeah, I have some stuff to do.”
I have to bite my lip to stop myself from asking whether it involves Rivers. “Ok then, well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Sure,” she replies, getting to her feet and smoothing the front of her suit. Confused, I watch her as she makes her way out of the bar.
I sit alone for a few minutes and try to compose my thoughts. Perhaps I should have mentioned what he tried with me last night? Maybe the pressure has got to me and I’ve finally gone mad and imagined this. Am I seeing things that simply aren’t there? Try as I might, I can’t help worrying about her. I pray I am wrong, but if I’m not, I hope she knows what she’s doing with Rivers and that she hasn’t done anything that can’t be reversed. I make a mental note to ask Sebastian to have a word with Ewan to gently see if he suspects anything’s amiss.
I bend down to my right ankle to retrieve my lipgloss from by bag and grope under the table. My hand hits air as I wave about trying to locate the familiar leather handles. I poke my head underneath to try and find the errant article and feel a rush of relief when I spot it about a foot away from my left heel.
Thank God, the last thing I need is for someone to have pinched my bag when I wasn’t looking. I fish out the tube from the top of my bag and dab at my lips absent-mindedly. I look out of the window at the rapidly darkening sky, see the lights of passing cars and decide to make a break for home.
As I walk the short distance from the bar to the car park, my head is full with thoughts of Serena and what, if anything I’m going to do about it. Why would Rivers kiss me then invite Serena there to fill my place after I’d bolted? Does Serena actually know what happened? Would he have told her? Why would a man who is due to get married soon - Ouch!
The air is knocked out of my lungs and I double over in pain. The floor around me is surrounded by papers and I realise with a jolt I’ve walked smack bang into someone. I look up and see a dark figure wearing a long coat and flat cap.
“Sorry, excuse me, gosh I’m sorry!” I exclaim, straightening up
The figure doesn’t speak or move. I squint and try to get a better look at them. The person appears to be male and about my height. He makes no attempt to retrieve his papers so I crouch down and assemble them into a pile in my arms.
“Here you go” I say, handing them over. “I’m such a klutz.”
I turn to walk past him and out of the corner of my eye, spot an A4 brown envelope a few feet away. I retrieve it and pass it to him.
“Nearly missed that one!” I say, placing it in his hands.
Again, the man remains silent. This is getting a bit weird.