Don't You Remember (19 page)

“Hi,” I said, looking at Daniel’s boyfriend.

“Hi, I’m Steve.”

“Yes, I’ve heard all about you, Steve. All good, of course.”

“I should hope so,” Steve said, smirking.

I turned to face my unofficial date. Oh my word! He was gorgeous, with light brown, almost blonde, hair, slightly long fringe, a goatee, beautiful blue eyes and a smile to die for. They just don’t make men like this anymore. He was that good looking he was able to grunge himself up to give himself an edginess, to distract from his pretty boy look, giving him an all together unconventional, strong, hard unrefined appeal. Daniel was absolutely right, my unofficial match was certainly right up my alley. I hoped he had an equally good personality.

“Hi, I’m Jen Redman.” I grinned like a cat that caught the mouse.

“Hi, Jen Redman. I’m Sean Gallow.”

“Well, nice to meet you, Sean Gallow.”

“Likewise,” he said, getting up from his stool and gesturing for me to sit there. I sat down and saw Sean look over my head straight at Daniel and wink as if to say he approved.

“What can I get you, Jen?”

I scanned the bar. “Oh, I’ll have a Corona thanks.”

“Daniel told me you write for The Times New York.”

“Yes I do. And what is it that you do, Sean?”

“I’m an architect. I work in the same building as Daniel but we work for different companies and on different floors. In fact I’ve worked on two projects with him so far. We work well together. He’s a real laugh. Architects and Interior Designers work together a lot these days.”

I nodded, listening to his voice. He was lovely and I was really happy. I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about Johnny. He entered my thoughts straight away, comparing the two men. Of course Johnny won, as he always would. He was my first love and that would never change. That was easy for me to say, given I had only known Sean for only a few minutes.

“So why haven’t I seen you with Daniel? He said you are always doing things together. He described you as his best friend and muse.”

“His muse? He has never told me that.”

“Oh yes. After all, he is a designer and a designer is an artist and an artist needs inspiration from somewhere.”

I squinted and made a silly face. “Well, I can’t see how.”

“I can,” Sean complimented.

“Thanks,” I said, breathing through a smile. Why did I always find it so hard to accept compliments?

The evening passed quickly. Sean and I were left at the bar at midnight when Daniel and Steve decided to leave. We realized we hadn’t eaten much and went for a late night meal in a Tex Mex restaurant. The night flowed perfectly. I couldn’t have asked for a better date and in some ways I didn’t want it to end. I listened to Sean’s stories and he listened to mine, although mine were never as interesting as his. I didn’t talk about Johnny. If I hadn’t bothered to tell Daniel about my past with Johnny, then I wasn’t about to tell Sean. Besides, I didn’t want to be thinking about Johnny when for the first time in a long time I had met someone who so far had ticked all my boxes. Perhaps I would get a second chance at love; maybe it was still too early to say.

As the clock ticked, we had talked all night, into the early hours of the following day. Sean had grown up in New York, living in Manhattan. He went to a private school and had two older brothers, David and Nicholas. They also lived in New York, as did his father but his mum had passed away. For holidays the family went on road trips or visited a new state somewhere in the USA. He had traveled plenty within the States but only a little abroad; once to England and once to France. He was much more traveled than me. I immediately thought of Johnny, comparing his travel to mine and then with Sean’s. Johnny and I had started out the same but ended very differently.

I told Sean my life history in brief detail, about growing up in Rushton and leaving after the house fire and the death of my mother. He was shocked, but to me it was a long time ago and it had never affected me the way the death of a parent should, but that’s because I was never close to my mother. I never told Sean about my parents’ drinking, nor much more about my life before New York. Instead I focused on what I’d been up to since I moved and how my career had developed into the job I had always wanted.

As the morning sunlight appeared we decided it was time to go home. I gave Sean my phone number in the cab ride on the way home.

I was very happy. Happy that I had met someone so kind, interesting and who I was physically attracted to. More importantly, Sean would be a good contender to take the place of Johnny and I needed that. Especially as Johnny had replaced me so easily.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“I would love to have dinner with you,” I said, talking to Sean on the phone. I was still in my pajamas, having slept in after my late night.

“Have you been to Olive?”

“No, but I’ve read the reviews.”

“Good reviews?”

“Oh, yes”

“OK. I’ll see you in a bit then.”

“See you soon,” I said putting the receiver down.

I got into the shower to help me wake up and went for a 6km run in Central Park. As I ran, I looked at my surroundings and felt the trees were more beautiful today, as if the sun shone perfectly onto their surface, making nature more picturesque than usual. When I got home I had another shower, this time washing my hair deep into the scalp to get the sweat out. I felt fantastic, refreshed and ready to meet Sean at Olive restaurant for an early dinner.

Olive restaurant had become the new ‘in’ place to dine in New York. It was very hard to get a booking and it thrilled me that Sean had managed to get one for us and at such short notice. The restaurant was all the rage offering a fusion cuisine. It was situated in a big old house on a street with both businesses and residential homes and had a substantial outdoor seating area too. I know this because I recently read a review giving the place five stars. I dressed in some smart beige linen trousers with a fitted camisole tank and took a light weight casual denim jacket just in case I needed an extra layer. The sun was still out and the forecast predicted it would continue to be sunny all day. I took my Jackie Onassis sunglasses and propped them on my head using them as a hair band to keep my hair back while inside.

*****

Johnny and Eliza sat at the exclusive private party room at Olive, but there was no party going on; it was just the two of them. They had decided to go out on this beautiful Saturday afternoon and enjoy an experience at the new exclusive restaurant. Johnny preferred to be away from the public, away from prying eyes of onlookers ready to take a photo of him. Eliza, through association, had become a target too. That’s why he had his assistant check if Olive had a private dining room for hire. Money did not matter, anonymity did.

The bar overlooked the courtyard with all its tables and chairs, with hanging fairy lights in a modern, almost maintenance free, garden with trimmed rounded topiary bay laurel trees and flowers in pots and planters dotted around. Each table had a single rose in a long stem vase and a candle to light when the sun went down. Johnny stood by the large private room window holding his cool beer in one hand and leaned on the window frame with the other and sighed. It would have been nice to sit out there, but with fame comes certain problems and to really enjoy his afternoon he had to stay away from people who might want to take his photograph. It’s just the way it was, it came with the territory.

Eliza came to join him, putting her lean arms around his body. “A penny for your thoughts?”

“Oh, I’m just looking at the seating and thinking it would be nice to sit outside.”

“Well, let’s sit outside, then.”

“No, I’m happy to sit in here,” he said, opening the window to allow some summer fresh air into the room. “It’s a beautiful day. We can sit here by the window.”

They perched on the leather sofa next to the window and cuddled up, with Johnny’s arm around Eliza’s shoulder and Eliza leaning into Johnny’s chest. She didn’t fit perfectly into his side, but she fit well enough. In fact there was only one person that fit perfectly into his side…. He had to stop himself thinking about her. Time to move on, he reminded himself.

*****

Sean opened the front door to the restaurant for me and walked in behind me. Our waiter walked us to a table outside where we could sit down and enjoy the afternoon sun. I chose to sit with my back facing the building and put my sunglasses over my eyes to stop myself from squinting. We talked casually and laughed a little before ordering a bottle of crisp white pinot grigio, and some tapas as a starter.

“You know, Jen, I have to say I’m really surprised how well we get on. I don’t feel lost for words with you. I feel I can be myself without being judged.”

“I feel the same way too,” I said flicking one side of my hair over my ears. “Sean, I’ve been on my own for a few years. I’ve had my heart broken before and I have found it hard to allow anyone in. But with you it’s easy, I’m not thinking about holding back or putting barriers up. I feel very comfortable with you.”

He gave me a beaming smile, “Well I’ve also been in love, but the relationship ended amicably. We were too young to know what we wanted from each other and eventually we grew apart. I’ve been concentrating on my career for the last three years. Sure, I’ve gone out with women and I’ve had a few girlfriends here and there, but nothing to write home about.”

I listened intently and wondered if perhaps I had been looking at my relationship with Johnny completely wrong. I mean, we were young too when we fell in love. Maybe Johnny grew apart from me and maybe he thought I would grow apart from him too. Well it’s taken me a long time but I’m sure as hell going to try and give love another go.

Sean moved his chair next to mine so he was sitting directly next to me instead of across the table. He took my right hand into his left and held it there while he poured us both a glass of wine. I looked up at him and giggled like a schoolgirl. It had been a long time since anyone had made me feel that way.

We sat holding hands for a moment, sipping on wine and grinning like silly teenagers. It was as though we had decided to give our relationship a go, without having to say the words, ‘let’s go out’.

“Jen, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty-five. How old are you?”

“Twenty-eight. Tell me more about yourself. I want to know everything.”

“Well I’ve told you a little bit already. You know I’m from Rushton. You know my mum passed away and I moved to Pittsburgh.”

“Now you have to fill in the gaps.”

I took another sip, “There’s not much to say. Besides you tell me some more about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything… Tell me why you split up with your first girlfriend.”

“There’s nothing in it. We just grew apart. She’s a photographer in LA I think. Well, that’s what I last heard. We don’t keep in contact anymore. What about this guy that broke your heart?”

“Oh you know, the typical girl meets guy falls in love, then they break up because one feels differently towards the other. He changed and I didn’t.”

“So he broke it off with you?”

“Yes, but he didn’t exactly break it off. He just left and decided not to call me any more. The worst thing about it all was when my mum died and I had to move, he didn’t even bother to call me to see how I was. He really let me down, big time. I expected more from him. I thought we had something very special and I was sure we both felt it; I never thought for one second it was all one-sided.”