heading out. When we were walking to the car I could see his mom and dad watching us out the window. I didn’t look at them though; I just got into the car.
Chapter 10
Over the Top
We parked facing the café bar. It was small but very modern and when we walked in I felt a bit out of place. It looked very upmarket – the walls were black and white with an art deco theme to them. The bar was black and chrome and all the bottles of wine and spirits were displayed neatly behind. It was only when we went to the bar to order our drinks that I started to feel comfortable. The staff were really nice and down to earth; I was expecting them to be snobby. Once we got our drinks Lucian led us to one of the private booths next to the window. We had a perfect view of the harbor and I could see fishermen loading their boats up and going to see what they could catch.
“I bet you thought this place was going to be full of stuck-up people, didn’t you?” he said, handing me a menu.
“I did actually.”
“I love this place. It never gets too crowded and you can relax in here.”
“It’s very nice,” I told him. My phone started ringing. “Sorry,’ I said, looking at it. ‘It’s Lily.”
“Answer it.”
“Hello…Yeah I’m fine…Very nice…Hmm…no of course I don’t; you have a good time…Lucian’s brought me out for lunch…I will…Oh shut up! I’m going now…Yeah, yeah, OK...Bye.” I said, laughing and hanging up.
“Is she OK?”
“Yeah, she was just telling me that Jake was taking her out for the afternoon and she wanted to make sure I didn’t mind. I don’t know why she thought she had to check.”
“She probably wanted to make sure you wouldn’t be on your own.”
“I do like my own company sometimes though.”
“You’re very close, aren’t you?” he said, waving for the waitress to come over.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t swap her for the world.”
The waitress came and took our orders.
“How did you meet?” he asked.
“Long story.”
“I’ve got all the time in the world.”
“Well, we went to the same school. We saw each other quite a bit but never spoke. I didn’t fit in very well because I was very dark and the other girls were all stupid dizzy bitches.”
He started to chuckle.
“They were!” I laughed. “All they talked about was who they liked that week and how drunk they had got at the weekend. When I first started at the school a few of them tried to jump me on my way home. More fool them! They got their backsides kicked.”
“Ah, the joy of having power.”
“No, the joy of not being soft. I can hold my own when I need to and I showed them that.”
“How many were there?”
“There were five of them but only three tried to attack me.”
“Hmm, remind me not to piss you off,” he smirked.
“Anyway, after that nobody bothered me and I kept to myself. Some of the guys would hit on me and I would tell them where to go; I just wasn’t interested. They were all stupid too,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Did you ever get along with anyone?”
“Yes, Lily.” I told him. “One day I was on my way out of school when I saw three girls pushing and shoving her. When I got closer I noticed they were the same three that had picked the fight with me. The only difference was Lily wasn’t a fighter and was scared to death. She’s very clever when she actually uses her brain, so people got jealous. I could see her looking at me, like she was begging me to help her.”
“Did you?” he asked.
“I walked over, grabbed one of the girls and threw her against the wall,” I told him, nodding. “When they saw it was me they ran off. She thanked me and I walked away.”
“Was that the start of it?”
“It was when I first noticed her properly but not the start of the friendship.”
We stopped talking for a moment while the waitress served our lunch.
“Carry on,” he said.
“The next night she was walking home just in front of me and I found out that
Chapter 10
Over the Top
We parked facing the café bar. It was small but very modern and when we walked in I felt a bit out of place. It looked very upmarket – the walls were black and white with an art deco theme to them. The bar was black and chrome and all the bottles of wine and spirits were displayed neatly behind. It was only when we went to the bar to order our drinks that I started to feel comfortable. The staff were really nice and down to earth; I was expecting them to be snobby. Once we got our drinks Lucian led us to one of the private booths next to the window. We had a perfect view of the harbor and I could see fishermen loading their boats up and going to see what they could catch.
“I bet you thought this place was going to be full of stuck-up people, didn’t you?” he said, handing me a menu.
“I did actually.”
“I love this place. It never gets too crowded and you can relax in here.”
“It’s very nice,” I told him. My phone started ringing. “Sorry,’ I said, looking at it. ‘It’s Lily.”
“Answer it.”
“Hello…Yeah I’m fine…Very nice…Hmm…no of course I don’t; you have a good time…Lucian’s brought me out for lunch…I will…Oh shut up! I’m going now…Yeah, yeah, OK...Bye.” I said, laughing and hanging up.
“Is she OK?”
“Yeah, she was just telling me that Jake was taking her out for the afternoon and she wanted to make sure I didn’t mind. I don’t know why she thought she had to check.”
“She probably wanted to make sure you wouldn’t be on your own.”
“I do like my own company sometimes though.”
“You’re very close, aren’t you?” he said, waving for the waitress to come over.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t swap her for the world.”
The waitress came and took our orders.
“How did you meet?” he asked.
“Long story.”
“I’ve got all the time in the world.”
“Well, we went to the same school. We saw each other quite a bit but never spoke. I didn’t fit in very well because I was very dark and the other girls were all stupid dizzy bitches.”
He started to chuckle.
“They were!” I laughed. “All they talked about was who they liked that week and how drunk they had got at the weekend. When I first started at the school a few of them tried to jump me on my way home. More fool them! They got their backsides kicked.”
“Ah, the joy of having power.”
“No, the joy of not being soft. I can hold my own when I need to and I showed them that.”
“How many were there?”
“There were five of them but only three tried to attack me.”
“Hmm, remind me not to piss you off,” he smirked.
“Anyway, after that nobody bothered me and I kept to myself. Some of the guys would hit on me and I would tell them where to go; I just wasn’t interested. They were all stupid too,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Did you ever get along with anyone?”
“Yes, Lily.” I told him. “One day I was on my way out of school when I saw three girls pushing and shoving her. When I got closer I noticed they were the same three that had picked the fight with me. The only difference was Lily wasn’t a fighter and was scared to death. She’s very clever when she actually uses her brain, so people got jealous. I could see her looking at me, like she was begging me to help her.”
“Did you?” he asked.
“I walked over, grabbed one of the girls and threw her against the wall,” I told him, nodding. “When they saw it was me they ran off. She thanked me and I walked away.”
“Was that the start of it?”
“It was when I first noticed her properly but not the start of the friendship.”
We stopped talking for a moment while the waitress served our lunch.
“Carry on,” he said.
“The next night she was walking home just in front of me and I found out that
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