‘How does poached salmon with lemon rice followed by Waitrose’s finest frangipane tart sound?’ Nina asked.
‘It sounds delicious,’ replied Venetia and meaning it. ‘But are you sure you have enough for two?’
‘More than enough.’
There was something irresistibly soothing about being in Nina’s company, and her apartment. As Venetia had noted before when she’d been here previously, there was no clutter, and no extravagance of design on show, just an unpretentious palette of soft hues of sand and cream with a hint of silver here and there. On the walls there were, as you’d expect, a collection of beautiful paintings, a mixture of watercolours, acrylic and oil that included bucolic landscapes, seascapes and still lifes. Nothing jarred on the eye, or the senses, and Venetia imagined that nothing in the apartment had been placed there by chance, and yet the artful simplicity of it all combined to create a beautiful oasis of calm. It had an oddly cleansing effect on Venetia, as though allowing her permission to take a moment to hit the reset button and clear her mind of all its turbulent disorder.
Then there was Nina herself who looked so right in this oasis of tranquillity. There was nothing about her that jarred either. Softly spoken and dressed in what modern parlance referred to as lounge knitwear – loose-fitting silvery-grey trousers and a matching hoodie top, probably made of cashmere – there was a pleasing economy to her flowing movements as she steadily went about the business of preparing their meal, rhythmically chopping, mixing, stirring, and seasoning. In what seemed like no time at all, she was soon placing two appetising plates of food on the table and inviting Venetia to sit down.
Their wineglasses filled from a bottle of chilled Sancerre, Venetia said, ‘Thank you for inviting me to join you. Much to my surprise, I feel better already for being here with you.’
Nina smiled. ‘I’m glad you agreed to come. But please don’t feel under any obligation to say yes another time. In no way does this set a precedent.’
‘I appreciate your thoughtfulness,’ responded Venetia. Then: ‘When we were coming up the stairs you mentioned that you wanted my advice. Was that true, or was it a ruse to lure me here?’
‘It was true,’ said Nina. ‘I wouldn’t dream of insulting your intelligence by lying to you. However well meant,’ she added.
‘So how can I help you?’ asked Venetia after she’d eaten a few mouthfuls of the salmon and lemon rice and declared it the best meal she’d eaten in days.
‘I have a situation which requires careful handling, very careful handling and I’m hoping you might be able to offer some advice.’
‘Is this something to do with you and Jakob?’
A faint blush instantly adorned Nina’s beautiful face – she really did have the loveliest of cheekbones – and she shook her head. ‘No, it’s nothing to do with Jakob.’
Regretting the assumption she’d made, Venetia was annoyed with herself. ‘I’m sorry for jumping in like that, only I know how nervous you were about taking things further with him. Forgive me, please.’
‘You have nothing to apologise for. I’m happy to say all is well in that department of my life.’ The blush on her face intensified. ‘Although the age gap is never far from my thoughts, I can’t deny that.’
‘But if the gap was the other way round, you probably wouldn’t give it a second thought, would you?’
‘I know what you’re saying, but what troubles me is when I think of the long term and how the gap might feel then.’
‘Is anyone talking about long term?’
‘No,’ Nina said with a frown, ‘but I don’t want to waste timeinvesting myself emotionally in something that might not go the distance.’
‘Good grief, do you think your twenty-year-old self would have thought like that? That young girl would have just looked forward to the next date and that would have been enough. Wasn’t that how it was when you met Hugh, you simply put one foot in front of the other and took each day as it came? Can’t you do that now? Because take it from me, don’t let an opportunity to be happy pass you by or deny you the chance of an adventure. Life is full of toss-of-the-coin moments. And regrets.’
‘You should know me well enough by now that toss-of-the-coin moments are really not my thing, I always err on the side of caution.’
‘But you took a risk on Hugh, dare I suggest?’
With a small moue of bemusement, Nina said, ‘I often wondered what he saw in me as I was the complete opposite to him; he was such a daredevil and a serial risk-taker.’
‘Maybe you were his greatest risk and challenge, the one that really gave him the biggest thrill. Did you fall in love with him straight away?’
‘No, anything but,’ Nina said, her face brightening with a smile. ‘I thought he was arrogant and had far too big an opinion of himself!’
Venetia smiled too. ‘I knew somebody like that a long, long time ago. Somebody I grew to love very much.’
‘Did he love you in return?’
‘Yes,’ she answered in a faraway voice. ‘He did. Sometimes I wished he hadn’t because then … ’ She swallowed, not sure she should continue, not sure that her emotions were strong enough right now to recall the loss she’d felt all those years ago. First love, as they say, is the love you never forget or get over. She sipped her wine before going on. ‘Because then he wouldn’t have run away and in so doing broken my heart.’
‘Was this Lucien who you mentioned to me before, your special friend when you were here as a child?’
‘Yes,’ said Venetia softly.
