Page 53 of The Paris Chapter

‘You could tell him to leave,’ Juliette said hopefully.

‘Or you could hear him out,’ Ethan said.

I glanced back at Joe. I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit flattered he was here. In Paris. He had come to see me. In another country. It was effort he hadn’t made when we were together. It was a grand gesture. And I wished I could pretend that didn’tmake me feel a little bit better after how rejected I had felt when he had watched me leave our flat and not tried to persuade me to stay. He had chosen Rachel that night but if they were still happy together, why was he here? Curiosity made me think about sitting down with him because if they weren’t happy, I kind of wanted to know. ‘I suppose he has come a long way,’ I said. ‘Maybe I could just hear him out. But will you come too?’ I asked Ethan. I didn’t want to be alone with Joe. And Ethan’s presence was calming. It had been since he had made me that first cup of tea in our Airbnb.

‘If that’s what you want,’ Ethan said, picking up the drinks tray. ‘Let’s go then.’

‘I’ll go to the kitchen and order meals for you three. I hope you know what you’re doing, Tessa,’ Juliette said, leaving us with a look that told us she plainly thought we were crazy.

Ethan paused. ‘Are you really okay with Joe knowing we’re dating?’

‘I know we haven’t labelled it… but it’s fine with me. If it is with you.’ I thought then about what Carly had asked me on the phone – was I with Ethan to make Joe jealous? I knew I wasn’t, but Joe was here now and had found out about us. I couldn’t help but feel pleased that seeing someone else with me might make him realise that I could be good enough for someone. Even if I hadn’t been enough for him.

‘You want him to see what he’s missing?’ Ethan asked me.

I honestly wasn’t sure what to say, but Joe had lied to me for so long, I didn’t want to be anything like him – I never wanted to lie to Ethan. ‘Maybe just a little bit.’

Ethan let out a puff of air. ‘I guess I can’t blame you after what he did to you. And maybe I kind of want him to know that I can get a beautiful, smart woman too,’ Ethan confessed. Hestarted to walk again with the drinks and I followed him, wondering if this was a terrible idea or not.

Both Ethan and I had admitted to one another that we did care about what Joe thought about us. I wasn’t sure if this meant Carly had been right that we were moving too quickly. Were we trying to prove something to Joe? And was that more important than how we felt about each other?

We reached the booth then and sat opposite Joe. Ethan handed around a glass of wine each. Joe took a sip of his then raised an eyebrow. ‘I didn’t think I’d see you two still together after you were so annoyed to find Tessa in your apartment, mate,’ he said casually to Ethan.

‘Juliette said she told you we are dating,’ Ethan replied. It was strange to hear those words. We hadn’t once discussed labelling what had been happening between us the past few days but now Joe was here, it had been labelled. It made me uneasy. Like Ethan only wanted to date me to show Joe that he could. Or that I was only going along with it to show Joe I was desirable even if he didn’t want me.

God, this is complicated. How the hell do I handle this?

‘Yeah, she said something like that,’ Joe said, turning to me. ‘Paris seems to suit you, Tessa. You look really well. That’s okay for me to say, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose so,’ I replied tightly.

‘I was even more surprised when you said you were staying on here, but now things make more sense.’ He eyed us as he sipped his wine again. ‘I couldn’t wait to talk to you back in London so I thought why not take a few days’ break in Paris and see why you are loving it here so much.’

‘You’re staying here?’ I repeated.

Joe smiled that dazzling Disney-prince smile of his. ‘We have a lot to talk about, baby.’

24

Joe’s sentence settled in silence for a moment.

I was flabbergasted.

Joe was still smiling.

Ethan leaned forward. ‘She’s not your baby,’ Ethan snapped at him.

Joe’s smile didn’t falter an inch. ‘Isn’t she?’

Juliette arrived with the first course then, stopping by the table suddenly when she heard the conversation. She looked over at me. ‘Are you okay?’ she mouthed while Joe and Ethan stared at one another as if locked in a silent battle.

Juliette shook me out of my silence. ‘Can you both stop?’ I pleaded. ‘This is crazy. You’re best friends. Look, Joe, I’m confused why you’re here. I needed to get away after everything and I’ve been having a good time.’

‘I don’t want to ruin that,’ Joe promised. ‘I am so proud of you, coming to Paris alone and setting your new book here. I bet it’s amazing.’

I tried to not let on that anything was wrong. ‘So, why are you here?’

‘We didn’t get a chance to talk that night… You left our flat in such a hurry, and we were both angry and upset. Now we’ve had a chance to have some space and think, I thought we needed to get… closure, I suppose.’

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