Felipe nodded.
She took a sip of the fresh and very, very slightly fizzy wine. The barely there bubbles evaporated on her tongue. It was so light, it was the perfect appetiser to the evening.
‘I like that, thank you,’ she said as the waiter filled up her elegant glass without worrying about measures as was the case at home. In fact, once he’d filled Felipe’s glass, the bottle was almost empty so he poured the last of it into her glass with a friendly nod.
‘I like their attitude,’ she said as he walked off.
‘Saúde,’ said Felipe, raising his glass and tapping hers when she reciprocated.
‘Saúde,’ repeated Rebecca, struggling with unfamiliar word. ‘I take it that’s what you say instead ofcheers?’
‘Actually, there are three different phrases.Saúde, which means health and the most widely used. You can also sayà nossa, which is more informal and meansto oursas in health, and then’—he lifted his glass—‘some people saychin, chin.’
‘Cute,’ she said. ‘Cheers! It’s handy being here with a native. You’re quite useful.’
She patted his hand jokingly, but he grabbed it and brought it to his mouth, kissing the inside of her wrist.
‘Glad to be of service.’
Inside her, something melted into ridiculous not-like-her-at-all goo, and in retaliation for the sudden mushy feelings, she said, in a deliberately throaty voice, ‘Oh, you were.’
‘Rebecca!’ he reprimanded, laughter in his voice as he pretended to be shocked. The delighted glint in his eye told her he was anything but.
‘Will you be all right if I abandon you tomorrow? I’ve got a few meetings, very dull– although in the afternoon one of them is a wine tasting. You’d be more than welcome to join.’
‘A wine tasting? That’s your idea of a meeting, is it?’
‘Of course. It doesn’t do to work too hard, you know.’
‘We have people come to the brewery for a “tasting”’—she held up her fingers mimicking speech marks—‘and then disappear for a three-hour piss-up in the nearest pub.’ She rolled her eyes. Her dad and brothers wouldn’t know hard work if it bit them. It was always her that ended up picking up the slack and sorting out the problems that often arose because they didn’t care enough to put time into getting it right.
‘Work is no fun if you don’t have some fun,’ he quipped.
Once again, she couldn’t help but contrast his attitude towards work to Will’s, who was dedicated and conscientious as much in his work as in his marriage. Felipe was the polaropposite, which was why he was so easy to be with. Not to be taken seriously. There was no danger of her falling in love with him– his ‘doesn’t do to work too hard’ attitude was far too similar to the men in her family, whom she’d done her best to distance herself from.
‘I’ll leave you to it. I’d really like to see the city. What do you recommend I do?’
Over their wine, Felipe made several suggestions, punctuating his comments with touches and smiles– she could get very used to that kind of attention. By the end of the meal, she had several pins on her Google map with ideas of places to visit, recommended cafés to try and the perfect lunch place, a food court where she could try a number of Portuguese delicacies.
‘Thanks, I’m going to have a lovely day.’
‘Yes, but we’re going to have a lovely night, first,’ said Felipe. He pulled her to him as they left the wine bar and placed a quick kiss on the crown of her head. As she melted into him, she reminded herself that she mustn’t get used to this– even if it did feel perfect right now.
Chapter Twelve
Later that evening, as dusk fell, they arrived at the tiny restaurant to find that almost every table and chair in the place was full. They took the last table, which was outside in the narrow cobbled street.
Since being here, she’d got used to eating later and now, reflecting upon it, decided she actually preferred it. It made the evening longer and more productive because she tended to fill the hours until dinner instead of eating and collapsing in front of the television for the rest of the night.
While Felipe ordered some wine, chatting in cheerful Portuguese to the young man who served them, she was relieved to see that there were some familiar items on the menu, although there was a little too much octopus on there for her liking.
‘I can see you frowning already,’ teased Felipe and once again touched her forehead between her eyebrows. ‘Don’t worry about the food, it’s all delicious.’
‘I trust you but I’m not used to eating a lot of fishy stuff.’
‘In Portugal we eat a lot of fishy stuff but it’s cooked well.’
‘Hmm, not sure about octopus. Isn’t it very chewy and tentacly?’ When she wrinkled her nose in disgust, he laughed.
