She giggled and took a sip of her champagne as her friends peppered her with questions that they didn’t give her time to answer. The bubbles tickled her throat as she stared into the crowd.I’ll be braver if I meet him again. Next time, if he offers his arm, I’m going to say yes.
But not tonight. Tonight, she was going to enjoy her glass of bubbles and keep thinking what it had felt like as he brushed his skin against hers, even if it had just been his hand. And she knew that no matter how tired she was, there was no chance she’d be able to go to sleep, and it had nothing to do with the champagne.
7
The next time Amalie saw Oskar, he was having a cigarette with some of the other kitchen staff as she was returning from her lunch break. He offered her a warm smile and held her gaze until she disappeared into the hotel, but when she’d glanced back out of the window, she could see that he was still looking at her. Her cheeks had flooded with heat, and her stomach had flipped the same way it had at the party, even though she’d tried her very best not to think about him. But every night when she crawled into bed, she’d close her eyes and see his face; remember the way his fingers had touched hers and the way he’d looked at her.
Her friends kept asking her if she’d seen him, teasing that they’d have him for themselves if she wasn’t interested, but Amalie had just shrugged each time, pretending that her heart didn’t leap every time she passed the kitchen, hoping to catch sight of him. And then one day, almost a week after their first meeting, she was asked to take a plate of food up to the room of an important guest. Amalie ran her hands over her skirt, cursing her uniform and wishing she was wearing anything else, before taking a deep breath and walking into the kitchen.
The kitchen was a lively place, with pans clattering and raised voices, but it was one of the younger men who cleared his throat when he saw her.
‘I’m, ahh, here to collect a steak for room…’
‘Amalie!’
She forgot entirely what room she was supposed to be collecting for when Oskar appeared, a kitchen towel thrown over his shoulder as he strode towards her.
‘Oskar, get back to your station!’ an older chef barked.
He rolled his eyes and she laughed, his smile making her heart thud all the way to her toes.
‘Are you coming tonight? To the party?’
She resisted the urge to wring her hands, folding them in front of her instead. ‘Ahh, maybe.’
‘Please come,’ he said, glancing over his shoulder as his name was called again. ‘I’d love to see you.’
She hesitated.
‘Maybe tonight we can have a drink together,’ he said. ‘You’d make my day if you said yes.’
‘All right,’ she said, forcing herself to accept, to be brave enough. She’d promised herself, after all. ‘I’ll come.’
‘You will?’ His eyes widened as his name was yelled this time, and he started walking backwards, as someone else passed her the tray she’d been waiting for.
‘I will,’ she said, receiving a final grin from Oskar before he disappeared again.
The chef who passed her the tray gave her a wink, but she ignored him. There was only one man in this kitchen she had eyes for.
I’m meeting him tonight. I’m actually going to see him again. And this time if he offers me his arm, I’m going to take it.
It felt like déjà vu to Amalie, as she stood on the fringes of the party. Only this time, she was the one looking for Oskar. She sipped her lemonade and glanced around, smoothing one hand down her dress as she wondered whether she’d made a big mistake or not in coming. Her friends had left to dance some time ago, and she had a sinking feeling inside that Oskar had decided not to come after all.
She set down her drink and wrapped her arms around herself, scanning the crowd one last time.
‘Amalie!’ Oskar called at the same moment she turned to walk away.
She looked over her shoulder, relief thundering through her body as she saw him standing there, his cheeks flushed and his hair messy, as if he’d just hurried straight from work.
‘I thought you weren’t coming,’ she said, as he stepped closer.
He bent over, making her laugh as he caught his breath. ‘I’ve run all the way from the kitchen. I’m so sorry, I couldn’t get away earlier.’
‘It’s fine. I?—’
Oskar’s grin warmed her as he shook his head and stood up straight. ‘It’s not fine. I wouldn’t have kept you waiting if I could have helped it.’
She stood, staring back at him, not sure what to say, but knowing that she very much liked the way he was smiling at her.
