Thirteen
He only had himself to blame. Barbra Brimble had said that she had heard Hanna say it, with her own ears, and from Hanna’s own lips, and yet he hadn’t believed it. Now Hanna had said it to his face. Hanna was in love with Griff and there wasn’t a damn thing Russell could do about it.
He splashed cold water on his face. He took several deep breaths. He even let out a silent scream, but nothing made him feel better. He paced to and fro across the black and gold tiled floor of the men’s lavatories for several minutes, but still he didn’t feel in control.
Yet again, the woman he loved, wasn’t in love with him. Only this time it was even worse. This time the woman was in love with his brother.
But Hanna’s love for Griff was as unrequited as his love had been for Hope. Griff would be kind, of course, although Grace might not be, but somehow, Hanna had to get over this.
Russell had told her he would help. He’d told her he was her friend. But that was when he didn’t believe it was true.
He stared at his reflection in the mirror over the row of three white porcelain sinks. ‘Well now you know it is. And it serves you right.’
He took more deep breaths and he clenched his hands beneath the cold water.
HewasHanna’s friend. So now he had to act like it.
He cleared his throat, practised a caring – but not pitying – smile, dried his hands beneath the warm air dryer, and marched back to their table.
His friend Luigi, the owner of the restaurant stood in his path. Luigi shrugged his shoulders and made a sad face. ‘The Lady, she ask me to give you this,’ Luigi told him in broken English as he handed Russell a folded piece of paper.
Russell shot a look at the now empty seat where he had left Hanna sitting, and hastily read the note.
‘I’m so sorry, Russell. Please don’t come after me. I need to be alone. Thank you, for being you.’
‘She has left,’ Luigi added. ‘You love her, no? Ah, Love. It is not always kind. Come. Drink with me. We will drown our sorrows, no?’
Russell stared at the glass door for a moment, torn between racing after Hanna, or staying where he was and getting drunk.
She had asked him not to go after her, so the second option was as good as any right now.
‘Yes,’ Russell said, following Luigi to a different table. The man was nothing if not tactful. ‘But I’m not sure there’s a wine vat big enough to drown my sorrows.’
