by Mandy Baggot
He was looking at her now, his body so close on the back seat of the Breekers’ car that if she moved even a centimetre, contact would be made. Her heart was beating hard and the overwhelming feelings – lust, and perhaps more than that – were sweeping right the way through her.
‘So, we have to wait,’ Chase said. ‘See what they come back with and hope they’re gonna listen.’
She swallowed. ‘How long do we have, do you think? Before they reply.’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I’d like to think tomorrow, maybe, to at least have a discussion about it.’
Tomorrow. Notting Hill could be saved as soon as tomorrow. She would never have to tell her sister that all she treasured might have once been turned to dust. She felt the car draw to a halt and out of the window she saw the bright blue glow of the London Eye. The avenue of trees were sparkling with white lights like someone had sprinkled diamonds on all the branches. It was beautiful and immediately there was that buoyant buzz about the season starting to grow inside her.
‘May I introduce the iCircle?’ Chase commented.
‘What?’ Isla asked with a laugh.
‘That’s Maddie’s new name for it. I really think she’s on to something if they can get a sponsorship with Apple.’
Isla smiled. ‘I think Coca-Cola might have something to say about that.’
He took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together and the merry, festive feeling turned into something even more delicious.
‘Come on,’ Chase said. ‘I’ve booked a private capsule.’
Sixty-Seven
This London Eye – or iCircle – was a very different looking landmark tonight. Isla’s previous visit with Hannah had been in the daytime and it had been summer. Then there had been warm sunshine and tourists taking photos of everything as they queued to get on board. Now the Thames reflected the lights from the wheel and the nearby pontoon, the pavement was frosted and everyone around them was wrapped up for winter. There was no queuing though. They were called forward immediately, stepping into the glass egg-shaped pod.
‘Gosh!’ Isla exclaimed. Inside the capsule wasn’t the usual oval-shaped bench for sitting on she had expected but a table set for two, a solitary candle burning at its centre.
‘No bowling,’ Chase remarked, stepping up close behind her. His timbre immediately set in motion a shiver that rolled down her back.
‘So I notice,’ Isla replied.
‘And,’ he continued. ‘No one in the pods next to us either.’
Isla looked to the glass to confirm what he had said. This really was going to be a private experience. And that notion thrilled her to the core. She turned to face him. ‘You seem to have gone to a lot of trouble for a meal we’re going to have to eat in the thirty minutes it takes to rotate.’
‘Well,’ Chase answered. ‘We Americans may have invented fast food but that wasn’t what I had in mind for tonight.’
‘It wasn’t?’
‘No, Miss Winters. We have a whole evening of slowly circling the London skyline to enjoy.’
She couldn’t believe it. They were going to spend the whole evening eating together, the city’s night time beauty as a dramatic backdrop just for them. She couldn’t hide her delight, almost feeling her body and soul come alive at the prospect.
‘Wow,’ Chase said, as if taken aback. ‘The way you look right now …’ He seemed to pause. ‘I take it I’ve done good.’
‘Yes.’ She nodded. ‘You’ve done wonderfully.’
As the wheel slowly, silently, began to shift gracefully from its position at the embarkation point, Chase pulled out a chair. ‘Ma’am,’ he said.
‘Thank you,’ Isla answered, stepping forward and slipping her slim frame on to the seat. She smelled so good. She always smelled so good. It was distinctively Isla, a mix of something fresh like cool mountain air and something effervescent like sweet club soda.
His libido was already waking up and he took his seat opposite, plucking up the bottle of wine from the table.
He poured some of the red liquid into Isla’s glass, releasing the deep berry aromas into the air. Then he looked to her, knowing realisation would shortly set in.
‘Is that—?’ Isla asked. ‘Is that Colin Matthews’ mulled wine?’
He smiled. ‘Yes it is. And this one is vintage. A 2013 he told me.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t believe you managed to prise his prized wine out of him.’
‘Well, we might have had a brief discussion about his affordable housing projects. As you know, Breekers is looking to raise its profile in new ways.’
Another smile crossed her perfect features. He had come over here so fixed and set, so tight, his true self and feelings all knotted up. Now things seemed different, looser. Perhaps even lucid. He hadn’t felt that way in such a long time.
He watched her take her first sip of mulled wine. Isla savoured things, that was something else he had noticed about her. Everything was enjoyed so thoroughly. She contemplated, took her sweet time, nothing ever rushed. A life that hadn’t existed for him since he was a kid … and that was wrong. He used to tell his clients how wrong that was. Now he realised she was looking at him so he took a sip of his wine. God, this stuff was good.
The wine was tickling parts of Isla that seemed to need very little other encouragement as it was. Although Chase had had such little time to put something together, he had gone to an incredible effort with the private capsule and the special drink … what was coming next? And where was the food coming from? They were just about to be metres up in the air. Chefs and waiters didn’t just drop from the sky like herald angels.
‘I know what you’re thinking,’ Chase said.
He seemed to do that a lot. How did he know what she was thinking?‘You do?’ she asked.
‘You’re wondering how our food is going to get here.’
‘Well …’ Perhaps he was a mind-reader. Maybe there was something in his mentalist and mentoring skills after all …
‘Like the best boy scout I’m fully prepared,’ Chase said.
Now she was completely intrigued. She couldn’t help her eyes moving around the glass pod, looking for culinary evidence. And there it was, in the corner – well, capsules didn’t really have corners – a large bag she was presuming was meant to be there and not a cause for a security alert.
‘Hungry?’ Chase asked, getting to his feet again. ‘Wait, don’t answer that, because if you’re not it only means I’m gonna have two more-than-happy daughters willing to scoop up the leftovers.’
‘I’m quite hungry,’ she admitted as her stomach spun with anticipation for everything this night seemed to be offering.
‘Close your eyes,’ he whispered.
She swallowed, a shiver running through her. ‘Not more trying to charm with talk of luxury and quality?’
‘I don’t need to talk about charming you,’ Chase said confidently. ‘This food is gonna work its magic, I have no doubt.’
With her eyes closed, Isla’s smell senses moved to another level and within seconds she knew what was coming. It was a food she adored but hadn’t tasted in so long. The buttery garlic-tinged aroma filled the air and her tongue moved involuntarily almost already tasting the soft cheesy dough.
‘How did you know?’ she whispered, eyes still closed, ears picking up signals that told her that her plate was being filled.
‘How did I know what?’ Chase asked. ‘You already know what this is?’ She could tell from the tone of his voice that he was smiling.
‘You’ve been to Alberto’s,’ Isla answered. ‘It’s my absolute favourite Italian restaurant in Notting Hill and … I haven’t shown you it.’
‘Open your eyes,’ Chase ordered.
She did. And there it was. Beautiful little parcels of gnocchi in Alberto’s signature sauce sprinkled simply with a little rocket. It smelled divine and it was still hot, steam rising up and bringing all that wonderful scent to her senses again.
‘I’m guessing Aaron,’ Isla responded. ‘We went there together, a while ago now, and he ordered risotto but ended up pinching my gnocchi and being a bit vocal about its quality.’ ‘A bit vocal’ was an understatement. Aaron had sighed and squealed like he had been on the receiving end of a very dirty Thai massage.
‘It wasn’t Aaron,’ Chase admitted, sitting down again.
‘It wasn’t?’
‘I love Italian food and I found Alberto’s all by myself,’ he said. ‘I was gonna order some bruschetta and then I saw something on the wall behind the counter at the back.’
She knew what was coming and put a hand over her eyes as if that would somehow stop the embarrassment.
‘There’s a photograph of you and … is it Lord Sugar?’
Isla shook her head. ‘I can’t believe Alberto still has that photo up.’ The photo on her own mantelpiece at home had also made the paper. Hannah had fanned it out proudly every chance she got. Alberto had heralded her as a local celebrity and pinned a copy next to his selfie with John Bishop.
‘Well,’ Chase said. ‘It was my golden opportunity. He knows the girl I’m planning on wowing with food, he’s gonna know exactly what you like, right?’
‘So, he told you all about my gnocchi obsession,’ Isla said with a smile.
‘He said he hasn’t seen you in a while,’ Chase teased. ‘I told him I’d tell you. He showed me a rather extensive festive menu.’
She laughed. ‘I can just imagine. I’m surprised he didn’t soak up your whole afternoon.’
‘He did make me sample his grandmother’s semifreddo. Which was great, by the way.’
‘Thank you,’ Isla said. ‘For all of this.’
Chase smiled. ‘Hey, let’s eat it before it gets cold. I’m not sure how much faith I have in those thermo bags.’
Sixty-Eight
After the gnocchi was a chicken dish she hadn’t tasted before but it had come straight from Diwali. Chase had visited Geeta and Iqbal too, asking for suggestions on Isla’s favourite dishes. And she had definitely liked it. The spice was more chilli than curry and the meat was cooked to perfection, the dish infused with everything she loved about Asian food – cumin, a tang of lemon and a deep, warming piquancy.
And now they were on to dessert … from Sugar High. A spin on their Christmas muffin. It was a glorious, deliberate mess of a cake filled with all kinds of crimes against dieting – a drizzle of white icing on top, syrup-coated sponge and inside a chocolate and sultana ganache. It was heavenly. As had been the conversation between them. It had flowed so effortlessly, so naturally, nothing stilted or awkward. It was the first-ever first date that had felt that way to Isla. And then there was the perfect setting. Gracefully slipping up into the dark above London, the beautiful city spread out like an eiderdown of twinkling lights. Once or twice she had looked out into the inky landscape, eyes seeking familiar landmarks, then her gaze had come back to Chase and the cosy, sparkling dining experience. She wanted to pinch herself. This was already a night she would remember forever.
‘Wow,’ Chase exclaimed, putting his fork to the plate. ‘I am done. Finished.’ He stretched his arms. ‘Completely beaten.’
Isla wiped her lips with her napkin and nodded. ‘Me too. My lips might want to continue the tasting because it’s so good but my stomach is definitely telling me it’s time to stop.’
‘It was great though, right?’ Chase asked, grinning.
‘It was great,’ she agreed.
He filled her glass with more of the wine then did the same to his.
‘I have to tell you,’ Chase began. ‘It feels so good to do this.’
‘Do what?’ Isla asked. ‘Eat dinner in the London Eye?’
‘Wow, yes, that obviously.’ He cleared his throat. ‘But really I meant, being here. Just spending time with someone again.’ He met her eyes. ‘Spending time with you.’
‘For me too,’ Isla responded. Her eyes went from his to where his hand was resting on the table. Those strong, tanned hands were toying with the edge of his dessert plate and she willed them closer. Was she brave enough to make the first move?
‘Isla,’ he said softly. ‘There’s something I have to tell you.’ He paused as if gathering his thoughts. ‘Something I haven’t been able to tell anyone before.’ He took another moment. ‘And I just feel, if I don’t tell you, that I’m holding out and … I don’t want to hold out with you.’
Suddenly she was terrified. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it. She swallowed, trying to still her immediate reaction, which was to panic. She didn’t want the shine to be taken from the night.
‘And I really, really need to be honest in my life if I’m gonna be able to own my future.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. That sounded like the business speak you hate and I didn’t want it to.’
She knew what this was. He was going to go back to his wife. They were going to reconcile. She shook her head. No, that was ridiculous. They had shared so much, were sharing this absolutely perfect night together. She tried to swallow her doubts away but she couldn’t help having the feeling that whatever he was about to say was going to devastate her thoroughly.
‘Okay,’ Chase began. ‘Here goes.’
He could do this. He could do this. He had to do this. He owed it to Isla and he owed it to himself. And he needed to stop being so ashamed. Hiding it away and trying to bury what was going on had only ever made things worse. Facing up. Facing off. Looking fear in the eye. O-Y-F. Come on, Chase, man up.
‘Isla, a few years ago … I had a breakdown,’ he said. ‘It was when I discovered that Colt and Leanna were still a thing.’ He blew out a breath. ‘Things weren’t going so well after the hockey, financially too, and I lost it.’ He ran a finger around the lip of his wineglass. ‘I was a mess. I went to hospital for eight weeks and it took months before I felt anywhere near human again.’
His words seemed to fill the capsule, almost as if he could see them, life-size. Already, he had never been so honest and he didn’t know quite how it felt. Scary. Freeing. Both of those and more, all at once.
‘Chase, I—’
He interrupted, not sure that if he stopped he would be able to continue. ‘But, when I started to feel better I met with a private doctor called David Stretton and he changed my life.’ He felt the growing ball of confidence begin to ferment in his gut as he remembered his good friend and confidante. The man who had taught him his Own Your Future mantra. ‘That’s when I discovered self-improvement and knew that I could make a difference to other people who might be feeling the same way as I did.’
And he had been great at it. He had found something he enjoyed, that was personally helping him re-establish his life and he was aiding other people to grow themselves and their businesses.
‘For a long time, when I was focused and successful, when money was no longer an issue and Leanna and I decided to give things another chance, and the girls were thriving, everything seemed brighter, almost untouchable … I was owning my own future …’ He stopped talking, the confident feeling dropping away and being replaced by something darker.
‘What happened?’ Isla asked.
‘Colt and Leanna happened … again.’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t know if they ever stopped. I mean, I must have been blind, or stupid, or both.’ He sighed. ‘And that was it. That was the end of my marriage right there and it threw me again, right back down to rock bottom.’
He hadn’t ended up in hospital that time but those desperate feelings had again overshadowed absolutely everything else.
‘I couldn’t run a business teaching people how to improve themselves when it was the last thing I was capable of,’ he admitted. ‘So, when I was ready again, I had to use those skills in a different way. I had to diversify. That’s why I took the job at Breekers.’ He smiled at Isla. ‘Believe it not they wanted someone recognisable from a sporting background who had gone on to run his own business. They were also keen on being seen as a company that prides itself in looking a
fter its staff, so employing a life coach and game-changer was gonna look excellent in their press releases.’
‘We never got any of those memos,’ Isla admitted. ‘I didn’t even know Big Bill had left.’
‘I’m beginning to think you and he were tight.’
She smiled. ‘Unfortunately we never met and I do feel the poorer for it.’
Chase smiled and picked up his napkin, squeezing it in his hand. ‘So, for all those aforementioned reasons, that’s why I’m constantly focused on work and everything and anything, because if I have too much alone time to think … it scares the crap out of me.’
There. It was all out and he felt a mixture of relief and anticipation. Whatever happened, whatever Isla thought about it, thought of him, he had done the right thing. The only thing.
‘God,’ he exhaled the longest breath. ‘I’m sorry. That was all way too emotional and I really don’t do emotion very well.’
His heart was pounding so hard and Isla had yet to react. But then he felt her fingers slide between his, her hand folding around his. He didn’t know how to react. He wanted to tighten the hold and cling on but …
‘When you said you had something to tell me I thought it was going to be something else … something much worse,’ Isla stated.
‘For real?’ Chase asked. ‘There’s worse?’ He blew out a breath.
‘Chase, you were honest. And open. And I can only imagine how hard that was.’
‘No kidding.’
‘But, all you’ve just told me is that you’re human. That you’re fallible and vulnerable. Just like the rest of us.’
‘I have?.’
‘Were you expecting me to feel a tinge of disappointment? Maybe regret that the man I’ve fallen for in so short a time, so utterly unexpectedly, isn’t quite as perfect as I thought?’
Fallen for. Did he dare to have heard that right? ‘I don’t know. I guess I just wanted you to know and however you felt about it I’d deal with it.’ He took a breath. ‘Everything with Leanna and Colt, it’s been going on so long, even before I knew it was going on, and I didn’t deal with it very well. I lost my focus … I lost me … and that was pretty terrifying. For everyone.’
