We stopped at Al Masar, a Lebanese restaurant that did hot and cold mezze to take away and ate it in silence as we headed down to the river. It was still fairly light and neither of us wanted to sit down and eat inside; there had been enough of being encased in four walls during the day. The food was good and once we’d got to the river and found a bench to sit on, most of it was gone.
“I feel sorry for Dave,” Payton said, pinching the last stuffed vine leaf from my box. “I’m not sorry for taking that though. They’re divine.”
I stared into her box to see what she had left: a couple of falafels and hummus. Fair game. “I’m sorry for him too,” I said. “But if he’s that upset about my mum splitting up with him, why doesn’t he try to get her back? As far as I know, the only thing he’s done is go legal to get me to buy him out.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know what to do?” she said, looking at a piece of falafel in the same way I’d seen her twin eye bacon on my plate a few days before.
I dived in and took the last falafel, ignoring her telling off. “How can he not know what to do?”
“Well, what would you do? If your relationship had ended and you wanted her back, what would you do?” she said between mouthfuls. “And how would you make it work?”
“It would depend on what she’d like. No point doing the whole flowers and romance and shit if she’s not into romance. How would a guy get you back?” I said, dipping the falafel into what was left of her hummus.
“I don’t know. No one’s ever tried.” Her tone was sad and I felt like a bastard for bringing it up. “When any relationship’s ended that’s been it. I haven’t chased them down and vice versa. I like flowers. And books. But I don’t know what a successful apology would be like because there’s never been one.”
“What’s your favourite flower?” I said, taking her now empty carton and putting it with mine. The sun had set, leaving us with a crescent moon that was pinned above the Thames. Lights from the boats and the bridges glinted in the water and the sound of seagulls muddied the air.
She smiled. “Are you going to turn up with a huge bunch of them tomorrow?”
“No. Because that would be something I’d do before taking you out on a date. I’m just interested, that’s all.” And I wanted that piece of information for future reference.
“Roses. I know it’s a cliché, but I love roses. Not red ones; I prefer the pastel colours that look slightly faded.” Her face lit up as she described them and I wondered if anyone had ever bought her a dozen roses.
“Is that why Eliza has the middle name rose?” I said.
“You don’t miss much, do you? Yes. The middle name couldn’t ever have been Payton or Ava as that wouldn’t be fair on the other, but all of us love roses, so Claire chose Elizabeth Rose. We’ve talked about having a rose tattooed on us in a few weeks. Killian already has one, I think.” She sat forward, her elbows on her knees and cupped her face, looking over the river.
“It’s on his chest,” I said. “He showed us last night.” Two training sessions a week had seemed a bit much when Max had told me, but you weren’t expected to make both and they were an excuse for food and beers in a female-free zone.
She turned her head to eye me judgementally. “That all sounds very cosy. Has he shown you the rest of his tattoos? Do I need to warn Claire that she has competition?”
I put my arm round her shoulder and pulled her into me roughly. “It’s not some ancient Greek re-enactment, so she doesn’t have to be concerned.”
She leaned into me, her body heat merging with mine and for a few minutes neither of us said anything, just watched the boats on the Thames as they bobbed up and down, a late clipper passing through the water.
I felt different when I was with her, different in a really good way. She made me see things from a new perspective without having to work to get me to do so and she brought energy to any room she walked into which made me feel awake and alive. I liked being with her in a way I hadn’t with Amber. Whereas Amber was demanding in her quest for life, Payton simply bloomed and gave everything around her more colour. The few days away from work had strengthened her; Seph had told me that Monday and Tuesday this week she’d left work on time to go and see her niece and go to the gym, rather than trying to find more work to do. I knew that when she was in the middle of a big case, early finishes weren’t possible, but it was good to hear that she was making the most of it now.
“What would you change?” I said. “If you could change anything right now, what would it be?”
“My shoes,” she said. “They’ve been killing my feet all day and I know I have blisters. You were expecting something deep and philosophical, weren’t you?”
I laughed. “I wasn’t expecting that. I can carry you back though if you want.”
“Haven’t you already worked out today?” she said, stretching her legs out in front of her. “What would you change?”
“Honestly?” I looked down at her head that was resting on my shoulder. “I’d change your mind about dating.”
I felt her laugh but didn’t hear it. “Give me time, Owen. Let’s just have this for the moment.”
I walked her back to her apartment, despite her insistence that she could manage to get home safely on her own. Before she went in her shared entrance I enveloped her in a huge hug, breathing her in. “Have a good evening with your books,” I said.
Her arms were around me, hands sliding underneath my suit jacket. She looked up at me and I just about managed to not drown in her eyes. “I’ll have a very good time with my books,” she said. “Does that make you jealous?”
Chapter Eleven
Payton
From what Ihad seen so far of Dot, she’d have no issue with causing a scene if something irritated her enough. Like Owen, she could manipulate a conversation and knew exactly how to avoid talking about something she wanted to avoid, but unlike Owen, she had a temper. I’d seen it once already this week when he’d told her we were going to Padella also, to which she’d had a small, but contained, verbal explosion. Luckily, we were in Owen’s office, so no one else had the pleasure of her informing Owen of what exactly he could do with his Saturday night, which involved him sticking it where potentially only a very long butt plug could reach.
