Page 3 of Part of Me
‘Well… then I have been an idiot.’
‘Huh, that’s more like it,’ I teased. His mouth curved into a glorious smile before his face turned serious.
‘Seriously, Charlie, I love you. I have loved you since the day that I met you. I don’t want us to be apart any longer.’ He moved so that he was knelt in front of me, and he took my hands in his. As I stared into his eyes, my heart started to pound ferociously. ‘Move in with me.’ His eyes penetrated mine, and I knew that I wouldn’t say no. I knew that I had been waiting for this question for a long time.
‘Okay,’ I whispered before his lips met mine in a heated kiss.
I smile as the feeling of being asked to live with him comes rushing back to me. There is no one else in the world that I would want to be doing this with. I haven’t even looked at another guy since Luke came into my life.
No one thought that we would last. They all thought that we were just having a teenage love affair. I always knew it was more than that. As our love grew, people accepted that our relationship was the real deal. My parents weren’t too happy about Luke being two years older than me, but when they met him and saw how he treated me, they soon changed their opinion on the slight age gap between us.
Even when I went to college and Luke started working, we always made time for one another. Of course we had people try to break us, but it never worked. Luke has always been a good-looking guy, so girls would try to make me jealous, but I knew that he would never betray me, no matter how much they tried to flirt with him. Luke has always said that he has only ever had eyes for me. Having instant chemistry with someone at such a young age is rare, but it happens. And when it happens it is magical.
I am interrupted in my thoughts by the sound of my mobile phone ringing. I sit up on the bed and grab my phone off of the bedside table. I smile as I see that Tori is calling me.
“Hey, girl,” I say as I answer the phone.
“Morning, Char. How’s the moving in going?” she asks me. Tori has been my best friend since we were fourteen. She has been through ups and downs with me, and she has been a witness to mine and Luke’s relationship.
“It’s okay, although Luke has been called into work.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. To be honest, I don’t feel like unpacking on my own,” I reply, sounding a little glum.
“Well in that case, want to meet for lunch at Stefano’s?” Tori asks me, and I instantly feel my mood lighten. Stefano’s serves Italian cuisine and is one of our favourite places to go and eat.
“Absolutely. See you there in an hour?”
“Wicked,” Tori replies before the phone clicks off. Tori never says ‘bye,’ she always ends the conversation with wicked, cool or fab. I put my phone on the bedside table and run to the bathroom to have a quick shower. The unpacking definitely doesn’t take precedence over going to Stefano’s.
Chapter Three
I arrive at Stefano’s and see that Tori is waiting outside for me. I park my car in a space at the front of the restaurant and get out, locking the car as I go. Tori looks good in her skinny black jeans, blue ‘rock-chick’ shirt and biker jacket. She has finished the look off with her chunky black boots. Tori has never been one to dress girlie, and she totally rocks her look with her long blond hair scooped up in a high ponytail.
“Where have you been?” Tori asks me. I check my watch and see that I am only ten minutes late. That is a record for me seeing as I am always late, for everything.
“You just want to count yourself lucky that I’m only ten minutes late,” I say with a wink.
“That’s true. At least you haven’t left me waiting for an hour like you did the other day,” Tori retorts, her grey coloured eyes sparkling with humour.
“Are you still on that?” I reply, knowing that it will take a while for me to live that one down.
“Yes,” Tori says as she links her arm through mine and we walk into the restaurant.
“Ah, beautiful ladies,” says Marco, the owner.
“Hi, Marco,” I say with a smile.
“Table for two?” he says as he picks up two menus. I nod and he guides us through the restaurant to a table near the back. He pulls out our seats one by one and we both thank him as we sit down. “Will it be the usual drinks today?” he asks. He knows how much we come in here and it’s quite nice to have the familiarity with him.
“Yes please,” Tori and I say in unison.
“Fabulous,” he says as he places the menus in front of us, although we don’t need to see it. We have been here so much that we both know the menu off by heart. “I will be back in a jiff,” Marco says as he goes to get our drinks. Lemonade for me, and iced tea for Tori.
“So,” Tori starts. “Before we get to talking about you moving in and being all loved up, blah blah blah, can we please talk about your birthday in two weeks’ time?” I don’t take her comment about being in love and ‘blah blah blah’ personally, I know that she is just messing with me.
“I haven’t really thought about it to be honest.” Things have been so crazy lately that I haven’t made any plans.
