“Here are your menus. If you don’t see anything you’d like, please let either myself or your server know?—”
Eric abruptly cuts him off. “We’ve been here before. We know the drill.”
I frown. There’s no need to be rude about it. The maître’d clenches his jaw, but remains professional. Just before he departs, I touch his arm. “Sorry, but can you please see to it that my detail receives lunch too? Charge it to my brother’s account, please.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you so much.”
I reach for my water and take a long sip. It’s refreshingly cold and infused with fresh cucumber.
“How have you been?” Eric unrolls his napkin and places his utensils on the table.
“Busier than normal. We’ve had Trooping the Colour, the Order of the Garter Ceremony, the Royal Windsor Horse Show, all packed into the last two weeks. At least after this, we’ll have some breathing room as things slow down. How about you?”
“Nothing that exciting. Just work. I reviewed accounts and spent this past weekend helping my dad on his narrowboat.”
“Oh, is he a keen sailor?”
“Not exactly.” Eric reaches for his water. “Dad retired a year ago. Mum was so fed up with him lazing about the house that she told him to find a hobby, or she’d divorce him.”
My mouth drops open. “What?”
“Oh, don’t worry, it was an empty threat. Mum would never divorce Dad.” He chuckles. “But he did read Mum’s threat as permission to buy an old narrowboat. He’s always talked about wanting to learn how to sail. That type of vessel is supposed to be one of the most user-friendly for novices like him.”
“Uh-huh.”
Eric shares a little more about his parents with me. Like him, his dad was an accountant, while his mum is an IT consultant. He tries to be polite and ask about my parents too, but there isn’t much I can share with him that isn’t already public knowledge. Not to mention he knows my brother better than most people from their time in the army.
From the vibes Eric is giving off, and based on his friendship with Eddie, I think I can trust him, but I’m still nervous about it. I’ve been burned before. After graduation from sixth form, some of the girls who were in my class sold stories and information about me to the tabloids. I thought I knew them well enough that they’d respect my privacy. But apparently not. Money has a way of getting people to reveal where their true loyalties lie.
“Hiya, I’m Elise. I’ll be assisting you this afternoon.” The arrival of our server gives us both a moment to collect our thoughts. We order drinks—a gin and tonic for me, and a whiskey sour for him—and the potato wedges and artichoke dip appetizer to split.
“Hold on a moment,” Eric says. The server stops and returns to the table. “You know what, we’d like to order our entrees now too, so you won’t have to interrupt us again. When the dishes are ready, just leave the cart here, and we’ll help ourselves.”
The server’s eyebrows twitch, but like the maître’d, she doesn’t say anything. “Yes, sir.”
“I’ll have my usual order. The culinary staff will know what that is. Just tell them it’s for Eric Walsh.”
“Andyou, ma’am?”
“I’d like the club sandwich and an order of chips, please.” I shoot her a silent apology. “Sorry if this is any trouble for you.”
She nods to me and swiftly leaves the room.
“Eric, you didn’t have to be so rude to her.”
“The waitstaff is paid well for what they do. All I did was make a request.” He brushes me off, picking up his water glass.
I bite down on my tongue and remain silent. I don’t want this date to get off to a bad start, but Eric is not doing himself any favors with me.
“So how did you end up wanting to become an engineer? It seems like it’s an ambitious degree.”
“It is,” I admit. “When I was a child, I always loved reading about the ancient Romans. I was fascinated by how they had to literally invent solutions to solve problems, like carrying water over large distances. First, they had to come up with the arch, a shape that was strong enough to support the weight of the water. Then, they needed to invent concrete, a material that was light, yet strong. But the best bit was the maths they came up with to calculate the angles of the rises and falls of the...”
It’s easy for me to get carried away about all this. Heat floods my body, and I abruptly change subjects. “Er, sorry. The short answer to your original question is that I love the idea of how I’ll be able to use my skills to solve a complicated problem.” Reaching for my water glass, I take a long drink. The cold water soothes my throat and helps lower my burning body’s temperature a degree or two.
“Don’t apologize,” Eric says. “It’s refreshing to see that you’re going for a degree doing something you love.” Hearing him say that helps quell some of my earlier concerns about him. “There were a number of blokes in my accounting program that were only studying finance because it’s a lucrative career. I’m sure most of them are miserable in their day jobs.”
