She was so distracted by the sudden flood of tears that swamped her lower lids that she almost missed him. The man. Walking behind Lila’s mum. It was the one in the pictures, the one Lila called dad, the one who looked, from this distance and through a mist of incredulity, a whole lot like the man who had walked out of Caro’s life years before. But she couldn’t be sure.
Turn this way. Turn this way. Let me see your full face, she begged, silently.
The waiter appeared out of nowhere with her starter, cutting off her view, blocking sight of him. She could see the boyfriend hugging the woman, then pulling out a chair for her.
By the time she had a clear view again, the older man was sitting down with his back to her. Nooooooo. Come on. Don’t let this be happening. Her heart was beating like a drum now, so loud it must be drowning out the music, the chat, the tactics the French team were discussing with the aim of securing a win against Scotland. She slipped her phone out of her bag and made the call.
‘WHAT IS HAPPENING?’ Todd wailed again, definitely his catchphrase of the day. ‘This is killing me. KILLING ME!’
‘Not as much as it’s killing me,’ Caro murmured, trying desperately not to let any other diners hear her speaking. Using a phone in here was probably frowned upon. Besides, there was nothing worse than someone who broke the ambience ofany environment by chattering on a phone. ‘I think he might be here.’
‘Who’s there? Stop whispering. Did you mean Lila? Lila is there?’
‘No, she’s not here.He’shere.’
‘Who?’
Jesus, he didn’t catch on quickly, did he?
‘My dad!’ There was an audible gasp on the other end of the line, before she went on. ‘At least, it might be my dad. I honestly don’t know. He’s at the table with Lila’s mum and boyfriend, but he’s got his back to me so I can’t see for sure. Oh, that’s weird…’
‘What’s weird?’
‘Lila’s mum just jumped up and hugged the boyfriend. She looks delighted about something. The two men are now shaking hands. I’ve no idea what’s going on. Oh, God, Todd what will I do?’
‘Can you walk past him and get a closer look?’
‘No, he’s sitting at the front window. There would be no reason to go there unless I was leaving.’
‘Then you have to just go over there and confront him.’
‘I can’t.’
‘You can.’
‘I can’t.’
‘What are we – six?’ Todd teased, and she was grateful for the humour.
A woman at the next table but one didn’t seem to share her feeling, and gave her a filthy look, presumably for using her phone. Caro smiled at her, then turned her attention back to the door.
‘I can’t stand this,’ Todd groaned. ‘Why am I not there?’
‘Because we didn’t know it would turn out this way.’
‘It doesn’t matter! I should have come. This is better than a double bill ofEastEnders, and I’m having to hear about it second-hand through a phone.’
‘Shhhhh,’ Caro chided him. ‘Hang on…’ Her voice trailed off as her gaze fixed on the opening door. Wider. Wider. Then wider again. Then it seemed like everything and everyone else in the room faded away. It was just Caro, watching, as the spectacle that was Lila Anderson strutted into the restaurant. She wasn’t exceptionally tall, perhaps five foot six, with two added inches for hair that was last seen on an eighties supermodel. Tumbling, gorgeous, big mane, swept back from a face that had cheekbones you could ski off. But it was the body… It was enough to make an entire table of French football gods turn, as one, like a cross-channel wave, and stare in her direction. That dress looked a whole lot different on her than it did when she had posted a picture of it on the hanger. It was a pale pink, almost nude colour, with spaghetti-thin straps that left her shoulders bare, high cleavage and a silhouette so tight the outlines of her hip bones were visible. She walked like she was striding down a catwalk, aware that she had suddenly become a focus of attention.
‘Hang up, quick, hang up…’ she hissed into the phone. She had no idea if Todd did as she asked, until she hit another button and immediately called him back on FaceTime. She surreptitiously aimed the camera at Lila, still standing, allowing her boyfriend to hug her, then working the table, kissing her mum on both cheeks, then her father. Caro tried once again to subliminally mind-warp him into turning around, but without success.
‘Buggering bollocks.’ That came from the speaker on her phone, thankfully only loud enough for Caro to hear.Although, Mrs Stern Face, at the next table but one, still wasn’t looking best pleased.
After the gregarious greetings, Lila sat down, her smile wide and flawless as she launched into an animated discussion with the group. Caro decided right there and then that the guy over there couldn’t be her dad, because even taking into account different mothers, there was no way she even had one foot in the same gene pool as that goddess.
Caro took the phone off speaker, hung up, and switched back to a voice call, so that she could hold the phone to her ear again. ‘Listen, I don’t have too much battery left because I didn’t think to bring a charger. I need to hang up for now.’
‘Don’t you dare! Caro, don’t even think…’ Click.
