The World According to Vince - Jane Harvey-Berrick Page 0,43
I keep forgetting that.”
Rick shook his head. “Shall we call it a night?”
“No way! It’s been brilliant so far, but we’ve only just started. Ah, come on, buddy! At least let’s have dinner,” I pleaded, a bit deflated that Rick was ready to throw in the towel despite all my super cool efforts to force him to have a little fun.
“Fine,” he grimaced, giving me a friendly punch in the shoulder that nearly knocked me over. “Let’s eat.”
Relieved that he wasn’t bailing on me just yet, I even offered to do the pedaling and we rode to Central Park in style, heading for the Tavern on the Green. I usually just went there for coffee as their menu consisted of meat and fish, but I knew that it was one of Rick’s favorite places to eat. We’d been friends a long time but when I finally persuaded him to try a plant-based diet, he only lasted six months. I think it was all the gas.
When I’d made our reservation at the Tavern, I asked them if they could make something vegan for me. It got boring have grilled vegetables with salad everywhere if I didn’t plan ahead.
Rick looked genuinely pleased when we arrived. “No strippers? No dancing telegrams? No ritual humiliation? Just food?”
“Just food,” I promised.
Of course, at the time, I didn’t know that I wasn’t going to be able to keep that promise.
We sat down at our table for six, ignoring the irritated look the hostess threw at the empty seats, but Rick scanned the menu happily. I already knew what I was having, so now was the time for me to do the most important part of my best man’s duties.
I leaned forward. “Mate, it’s not too late for you. I can get you to the airport in 40 minutes.”
Rick looked up and frowned. “Too late for what? What are you talking about?”
“To get a flight back to Britain. I’ll tell Cady you’ve had second thoughts and the wedding’s off. It’s okay, it happens to lots of blokes. There’s no shame in it—well, not much.”
Rick slapped the menu onto the table and started strangling his napkin. “When have I ever said that I don’t want to marry Cady?”
“Um, not sure, let me think about that, um…”
“How about never,” Rick offered crossly. “I’ve never said that because I do want to marry Cady. I love her. And I’m not sitting here talking to you about my feelings!”
I pretended to wipe sweat off my forehead. “Just checking, mate. Part of the best man duties.”
Rick smirked. “You reckon you could have pedaled me to JFK in 40 minutes?”
“Don’t be a muppet—I’d have called an Uber.”
The server came out with two loaded plates and we’d just started our meal when a woman behind me screamed. I wondered if she’d found an earwig in her soup, but it turned out to be a bit more serious than that.
Several other people joined in with the screaming, and suddenly there were people yelling and a mass exodus of diners trying to lock themselves in the kitchen or the restrooms.
We both stood up, uncertain what was going on.
“Run!” yelled the man next to me. “There’s an escaped lion out there!”
“What?”
“A lion!” he shouted and pointed behind him.
The lights outside the restaurant glowed brightly and suddenly I saw him. “That’s not a lion,” I said.
“It bloody well looks like one to me,” Rick muttered. “What with the mane and teeth and everything.”
“No, I mean obviously it’s a lion, but it’s Simba from the show—you know, Jabari!”
Someone started yelling about calling the police and shooting it. I couldn’t let that happen: I knew what I had to do.
I headed for the door but Rick grabbed my arm.
“Don’t be an idiot, Vin! You can’t go out there. You don’t know if it’s the same lion!”
“Course it is! Look, he’s got that little scar by the side of his nose—it’s definitely him. I don’t know how he escaped from the theater, but he’s probably heading home to the zoo. It’s not far from here. But if the police get here first, they might try and shoot him. We can’t let that happen!”
I shook off Rick’s arm and went outside.
“Jabari,” I said quietly.
The lion followed me with those hypnotic sloping eyes, then opened his mouth in a roar that had me crapping my pants. It occurred to me several seconds too late that coming out here might not have been the smartest thing I’d ever done. Perhaps this was the sort