“So you won’t be falling pregnant with my illegitimate child any time soon?”
“Arg.” I hung my head. “Please don’t remind me about it ever again. And . . .” I looked back up at him and waggled a finger. “And just for the record, so there isnoconfusion, it wasn’t true. It was a joke, just like you wanting a son called Max.”
“No. That was true,” Ben said.
“Huh?” My voice caught in my throat.
“I want at least two sons and three more daughters.”
“You want six kids! Don’t you think that’s a bit much?”
Ben laughed. “Twelve would be pushing it, six though would be good. Besides . . .” His face changed again. Gone were the playful smiles, and back was that meaningful look.Damn that look.“Six seems to be my lucky number.”
“How’s that?” I asked.
“Well, we met at club six and I moved into apartment two zero six.” He met my eyes.
“I see.” I broke eye contact and looked down at my lap again.
“Sera.” Ben’s hand came slinking back and this time I let him slide it onto my lap and intertwine his fingers with mine. “I’d really, really like to—”
He looked like he was just about to launch into a whole speech when Li ran up to us and threw herself onto Ben’s lap. He let go of my hand and wrapped his arms around her. Just then the waiter arrived with the waffles and they both started eating them. I tried to focus on eating too, but Ben kept looking back up at me. Minutes later Li was gone again and Ben and I were once more alone.
“What I was trying to say earlier,” he turned to me the second Li had left, “I would really love to talk to you later, when we don’t have so many distractions, there are still some things I want to tell you and . . .”
“Oh God. I don’t think I can handle any more surprises, Ben. Not for another lifetime. At least.”
“Just come round tonight and let’s talk about everything?”
I glanced up to see Li already running up to the table again. I nodded. “Fine. I’ll see you later.”
50. Once Upon A Time . . .
His door was unlocked—as usual—and the passage outside was full of boxes, furniture, tins of paint, brushes and sheets of plastic—he was obviously playingHome Improvementagain. I just hoped he was wearing slightly more than before.
“Ben?” I called as I walked inside.
No one answered. I walked to his room and peered in. I walked back into the lounge and called out again.Where the hell was he?Not safe to leave your door open at night like this. I glanced in the direction of his kitchen and his computer was there on the counter. The screen was lit up still, so he must have been on it recently, otherwise the screen saver would have kicked in. Maybe he’d gotten an important email and had to rush off to the office? I walked over to the computer and inhaled sharply when I saw what was filling the screen.
Me. A photo of me from the shoot the other day. I’d almost forgotten about that little embarrassing moment, in amongst all the other ones I was currently having.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” I jumped when I heard Ben’s voice.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to snoop on your computer,” I said defensively, moving away from it.
“No problem.” He smiled and put a can of paint down on the floor. “I just went down to my car to get this.” He walked over to the computer and leaned in, looking at the photo. “You really do look beautiful in this.” He stood up straight and looked at me. He had smudges of pink paint on his hands and one across his forehead.
“You have some paint on your . . .” I pointed at his forehead.
He ran a hand over it and smiled. “Come see.” Without asking, he took me by the hand and led me down the passage and into the second bedroom. I glanced around the room; it had been completely transformed. The walls were a shade of baby pink and looked like the pages of a fairy tale book. Someone had painted castles, princesses and rainbows all over them. The mural wrapped around the entire room, boxes were piled up, and all the furniture had been pushed to one side of the room.
“She’ll love it,” I said, looking up at the mezzanine level that had been turned into a little girl’s dress-up corner.
“I hope so,” he said. “Truthfully it’s more important that Mei and the social worker like it.” He rolled his eyes and gave his head a slight shake, as if exhausted.
“Is she going to like the fact I came to breakfast with you?”
“Li invited you. Besides, we’re not even dating, since you still haven’t agreed to go on a date with me.”
