Page 115 of All Mine
She exhaled. He was right. It had probably been a part of the process of moving on.
‘It was,’ she agreed.
‘And it was good of you to put me up.’
She nodded again. ‘It was,’ she agreed.
Daniel laughed and she felt her face relax until she laughed too.
He put his arms out with a hopeful expression on his face and she stepped in for a hug. Let’s face it, after this, she would probably never see him again. He was starting a whole new life. And she was doing the same. They hugged for a moment, a strange recognition passing between them that they used to love each other and now they didn’t.
Over his shoulder, Isabella saw Etienne standing in the doorway of The Bistro, his face crumpling in disbelief as he watched them. She pulled back from Daniel and put a hand up to Etienne, as if to hold him, as if to tell him to wait, she’d be right there. But his face hardened and he stamped back into the restaurant, slamming the door behind him. Isabella flinched. What had happened? He looked hurt, horrified. It was just a hug, why would he react like that?
‘I have to go,’ she said to Daniel and began to run, not caring she was barefoot and in pink shortie PJs.
‘Take care, Issy,’ Daniel called after her but she didn’t reply. Her focus was on her future, and he was her past.
Etienne wasn’t in the restaurant dining room, or in the manager’s office. She called through and heard banging in the kitchen and pushed through the swing door. There he was, cracking eggs into a bowl with more force than was strictly necessary.
‘Etienne,’ she said. He flashed his eyes towards her and they were dark, hurt.
‘Etienne,’ she said again, moving close enough to put a hand on his arm, but something held her back. They had to talk. She had to reach him. ‘What’s wrong?’
He spun towards her, an incredulous look on his face. ‘I’ve just watched you hugging a man goodbye after heobviouslyspent the night and you’re asking me what’s wrong?’ He was searching her face, looking for answers. Isabella frowned in confusion.
‘But it wasn’t—’ she started, trying to keep calm.
‘You didn’t even try to hide it,’ he said and she heard the surprise in his voice.
‘Because there’s nothing to hide,’ she cut in.
‘So, you’re not denying it?’ he asked.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I told you what was happening. . .’
His mystified face stared back at her.
‘I sent you a message?’
He continued to look at her blankly.
She pulled her phone from the pocket of her short shorts and opened her messages, frantic fingers now wanting to prove to him it was all above board. She found what she was looking for. A message to Etienne, last night at 12.14 a.m.
So sorry but have to raincheck tonight. Dan has shown up drunk and will be sleeping on the sofa. But I promise to make it up to you tomorrow. Xxxx
She was just about to turn the phone to him to show him when she saw the tiny word next to it on screen. Unsent. She started.Unsent. It hadn’t gone through. Her mouth fell open. She must have pressed send and then pretty much passed out; she’d been so worn out. Especially after getting a drunk Daniel up the stairs, manhandling him onto the sofa and throwing a blanket over him.
Turning the screen slowly to him, she showed him the message.
‘I’m so sorry. It didn’t send.’ Isabella hardly dared breathe as she imagined him waiting for her to text last night. What would he have been thinking? And then seeing her this morning in these stupid shorts, hugging a man goodbye on the doorstep? Poor Etienne. She couldn’t imagine what had been going through his mind.
Etienne took the phone from her and seemed to be having trouble taking the message in. He stared at it for several seconds before raising his face to her.
‘He was drunk?’ he asked.
‘He couldn’t drive, so I said he could sleep on the sofa.’
Etienne half smiled and shook his head, as though at himself. His shoulders dropped an inch or two.
