Chasing Daisy

you want to have dinner with me?’
    ‘Won’t that be a bit dodgy if we get spotted?’
    ‘I know a little pub about forty minutes from here. It’s very small and full of locals. I doubt anyone will pay attention to us.’
    ‘In that case, I’d love to.’ I can’t keep the smile from my face.
    ‘You’re staying at the hotel, right?’ he asks, hopping down from the table.
    ‘Yes, aren’t you?’
    ‘I have a room there, yeah. Shall I come and get you at around eight?’
    ‘Sure. I should be finished by then. Room twenty-three.’
    ‘Cool.’
    I don’t know what the pub is like, but I’m guessing it’s a no-frills affair so I opt for my black Rock & Republic jeans and an emerald green top from Reiss. I remember what Will said about green and the colour of my eyes and as it’s a warm night in early July, I don’t need long sleeves.
    I’m staying on the ground floor of the hotel and the car park is just behind my room. Will leads me towards a black Porsche, pointing his key at it and unlocking the doors with a bleep.
    ‘Nice car,’ I say, climbing inside.
    He starts it up, glancing across at me with a cheeky grin. ‘Do you like the colour?’
    ‘Oh, bugger off.’
    He chuckles and pulls out of the car park. It’s still light and I watch as the countryside whizzes past outside my window. We drive through villages and past farms and fields until we finally pull up outside a little stone pub. There’s smoke coming out of the chimney, despite the fact that it’s the middle of summer. I follow Will inside and he leads me to a table, tucked away in a corner with a view of the rolling hills spread out before us.
    A waitress comes over to take our order.
    ‘Sorry, we haven’t had a chance to look at the menu yet,’ Will says.
    ‘I’ll come back in a minute,’ she replies. She walks away and glances back over her shoulder at us. Will gives me an uneasy look.
    ‘Do you think she recognised you?’ I ask.
    ‘I don’t know. Maybe I should put my cap on.’
    ‘No, too obvious.’
    We study the menu, but I can tell he’s on edge. There won’t be any hand-holding across the table tonight, that’s for sure.
    We place our order and then I stare out of the window. The sun is just starting to dip below the far-off horizon.
    ‘What have you been up to since China?’ Will asks.
    ‘Flat-hunting.’ I tell him my whole sorry saga.
    ‘Why wouldn’t Holly want you to stay with her?’ He looks confused.
    Oh, cazzo . He doesn’t know about Holly and Simon’s affair.
    ‘I think she just likes her space.’ I don’t like lying to him, but I can’t betray my friend.
    ‘Why don’t you stay in a hotel for a bit?’
    ‘I can’t really afford that,’ I tell him.
    He gives me an odd look. ‘Well, I’ll help out if that makes things any easier.’
    ‘No!’ My reply is instinctive, although I’m touched.
    ‘Why not? It’s not like I don’t have enough to go round. Come and stay nearby so we can see each other.’
    Well now, that would be lovely . . .
    ‘I would say you could stay at my place, but it’s probably a little soon.’
    ‘Oh, yeah,’ I brush him off, ‘definitely too soon for that.’
    He laughs and glances over to the bar area. I follow his gaze to see our waitress and the bartender talking and looking our way.
    ‘Bollocks,’ he mutters. ‘I thought we’d be okay here.’
    ‘It doesn’t look good, does it? I know.’ I pull a notepad out of my handbag.
    ‘What are you doing?’ he asks.
    ‘Let’s make it look like we’re having a business meeting.’
    ‘Good plan.’
    But we can’t relax after that, and we leave soon after we’ve eaten.
    ‘I could do with an early night, anyway,’ he tells me as we pull into the hotel car park.
    ‘It’s going to be very early at this rate.’
    ‘I think I might drive back to London,’ he says.
    ‘Really?’ I’m surprised.
    ‘Yeah, I don’t have to be at the track until ten o’clock tomorrow, and it’d be nice to be home for a change.’
    ‘Are you going right now?’ He hasn’t turned the ignition off.
    ‘May as well. I don’t need anything from my room.’
    ‘Okay, then.’ I open the door and hesitate for a second, wondering if he might kiss me. But he doesn’t, so I climb out. ‘See you
    tomorrow.’
    ‘Night.’
    I close the door and I hear the low growl of the Porsche pulling away behind me as I walk back into the hotel. That wasn’t exactly a night to remember after all that waiting . . .
    The next