After an hour in the first store and another two hours in a few lingerie shops, shoe shops and accessory shops, I’m exhausted. In the end I just nodded and handed over my credit card when needed. I’ll go through the bags properly when I get home.
“Rach, I’m beat. Can we head to the food court and grab something for lunch?” I ask like a petulant child.
“Yes, shopping with you is hard work,” she teases. “On a positive note, I think we have more than enough. Want to head to a movie after?”
“Sounds perfect.”
Finally finding a table in the busy food court, we throw all our shopping bags under it and on the spare chairs. I fall into my seat and take a second to breathe before deciding what I want to eat. I glance around the food court and wonder how many people are here trying to forget like I am.
“Oh fuck,” Rachel mumbles from next to me.
Turning towards her I watch as she crawls under the table. Like, seriously, under the table, searching through the shopping bags. I pop my head under. “Rach, what’s wrong? What are you looking for?”
“Shhhhh, I’m hiding,” she says with panic in her voice.
“Hiding from what?”
A shadow appears behind me and suddenly there is another head under the table. “She’s hiding from me.”
Rachel and I both jump at the voice, banging our heads on the table.
“Fuck it,” she whispers. “Hey Will, I was just looking for my purse, I think I left it in one of these shopping bags,” she says in a much louder voice.
“Really? Because your purse is on the table. Actually, I think you were holding it when you saw me,” he says in an amused tone.
Will? This is Will? The infamous William Bradley? Rachel made it seem like no big deal, like he was a nice colleague, but her reaction makes me think differently. She’s nervous. I laugh to myself at the squeaky over-chipper tone she’s using and the way her body has stiffened. This is not Rachel’s normal MO. She has never been nervous around men. With her beautiful face and perfect body, she’s never had a reason to be.
I look over to Will and he has a huge grin on his face, as if he is enjoying her reaction. I like him already.
“So, Will, nice to finally meet you,” I say with a sly tone.
Will’s eyes shoot to mine. “You’ve heard of me?” he asks with curiosity in his voice.
“I’ve just mentioned you as the new colleague, that’s all,” Rach jumps in before I can respond. “Will, this is my best friend, Brooke.”
Will doesn’t even acknowledge Rachel as he keeps his eyes on me. “Has she told you I’ve been asking her out every day for more than three months now?”
I’m unsure how to answer him. I want to encourage this, but she is my best friend, and I’m sure there’s some kind of girl code here. “Ummmm … would you like to join us for lunch? I mean, if you’re not busy.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Rachel turn towards me and glare. Will and I keep looking at each other with wide smiles. “I’d love to,” he responds.
“Can we take this back to the table, please?” Rachel says, in a snippy tone.
“Sure,” Will and I both answer at the same time.
As we crawl out from under the table and find our seats, I have a good look at Will. He is gorgeous. Gorgeous is probably not the right word for a man, but he is.
He has sandy blond hair, cut short and styled precisely. Golden-brown eyes look now only at Rachel who is crawling up from under the table. He stands to grab her chair and pulls it out for her as she manoeuvres into it, trying not to get too close to him.
I take note of how tall he is, probably taller than Nate, although not quite as built. His arms are tanned and firm so I assume the rest of him is as well. I wouldn’t mind checking on that.
I laugh silently to myself at my own witty banter. Hilarious. Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve had light-hearted musings like this. Thank you, Will.
I glance at the chair to my left, wanting to share my joke and small breakthrough. A small pang of sadness hits me in the stomach. Somehow, I’m still shocked at not seeing Nate next to me. I bite my lower lip, forcing myself to keep it together.
When Will and Rach settle themselves in their seats, Will scoots his chair closer to Rachel.
This one sweet gesture makes me again think of Nate. It reminds me of when we first met and all the cute things he would do: gentle words, subtle touches, or what he thought was subtle. Again, I laugh to myself, although this time apparently not silently.
“What are you laughing at?” Rachel asks.
I look up to see Will and Rachel both staring at me with waiting faces. “Sorry.” I laugh. “I was just thinking of Nate.”