Page 41 of A Touch of Magic at the Comfort Food Café
‘Can I come in?’ he asks. I consider saying no, but that really would be churlish. He’s done nothing wrong, and I’m not angry or annoyed. Not with him anyway. I gesture him through and follow him into the living room. I make a show of yawning, as though I’m not in fact planning on sitting up working for the next few hours to distract myself.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asks bluntly, sitting down on the sofa as though to make it clear he’s not going to be fobbed off.
‘Nothing at all!’ I reply, slightly surprised that he even noticed. I’m normally much better at hiding it when I’m upset. Maybe the ignoring him when he shouted gave it away. Damn. Must always carry earbuds in future. ‘Why would you think that? And shouldn’t you be looking after your guest?’
‘Melody’s fine. She’s with Cal and Zoe, and anyway, she’s a big girl. She backpacked around India on her own, I’m sure she’ll cope with the pub.’
Of course she did, I think bitchily. I’m sure she’s deeply spiritual on top of everything else, and probably much better at yoga than me too… God, I hate myself right now.
‘Something’s not right,’ he says. ‘Has something happened? With him?’
I realise that he’s worried about the situation with my stalker, and I feel like an idiot for not understanding that straight away. Of course he is. I sit down on the chair opposite him, and decide that this is one of those occasions that calls for a touch of truth.
‘No, honestly, that’s all fine. I just… Is Melody an ex?’
He looks genuinely stunned, and then looks genuinely a bit smug. ‘Are you jealous, Sarah?’
‘Yes. No. Maybe.’
‘I see. Well, that cleared that up. Look, Mel and I… I suppose it’s a friends with benefits thing. When we’re both single and both in the mood, we hook up. We enjoy each other’s company and we both like sex. It’s nothing serious, and we’re both cool with each other saying no when it doesn’t feel right. But these days, it’s definitely just friends, not benefits. I promise.’
He looks so earnest as he speaks, leaning forward so he is closer to me. ‘I have no interest in Melody. I’m only interested in you.’
‘I still don’t get it, Aidan. I’m too old. I’m too difficult. I’m… just not right for you.’
A flicker of irritation crosses his face. I’ve still got the magic.
‘Sarah, it’s not up to you to decide what is or isn’t right for me. I might be younger than you, but I’m a grown ass man who knows his own mind. Stop being condescending.’
‘I’m not! I’m… Okay, maybe I am, a bit. I’m sorry. And maybe the problem lies with me and not you, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real. I’m not friends with any of my former partners. Admittedly that’s not a long list, but I’m not. I value our friendship, Aidan, and I don’t want to lose it. I don’t have enough trust to expect this thing between us to work. I’m sorry.’
He puffs out air and runs his hands over his face. ‘I get it,’ he says. ‘Trust is a tricky beast. I have my own issues on that front. You know I have a difficult relationship with my dad?’
I nod. I’ve always been curious about that, but he’s very gently parried any questions I’ve asked.
‘We always clashed a little,’ he continues, staring into the distance. ‘Once I was past adolescence, it was like we were somehow competing, I guess. Stags in the forest, macho bullshit. Little things, like who could run faster, who could drink the most whisky, who could bench press the heaviest weights. Who made the biggest deals. It was the way he raised me, and it was one of the many toxic traits I was keen to get away from.’
‘What happened?’ I ask, because I can tell there is more to this story.
‘He won, I guess. Him and my mom split up when I was eighteen, but they genuinely kept it pretty amicable. Some of that was for the sake of me and my younger sister, Charlotte, but some was because they simply treated it as a kind of deal– they had rules, and respected them. It was, in a weird way, pretty civilised. Right up until he stole my girlfriend.’
‘He didwhat?’ I ask in shock.
‘Stole my girlfriend. Francesca. We’d been together for three years, and everyone expected us to get married. Hell, I suppose I expected that too. Except she ended up marrying Calloway senior instead. They’d been sneaking around behind my back for months by the time I found out. To this day, I’m not sure which betrayal hurt most– hers or his.’
Wow. It takes a lot to make my dad look good, but I think he’s just managed it. I reach out and place my hand on his knee. ‘Aidan, I’m so sorry. That’s the big schism you mentioned?’
‘Yeah. It was too much for my mom. It completely fractured the balance of their relationship. She decided to move back here, and Charlotte came with her– she’d had her own problems, asyou know. I stayed there for a while, trying to figure it all out. Maybe thinking I could win Francesca back.’
‘Is that what you wanted?’
‘No,’ he replies, the hint of a bitter smile on his face. ‘I actually didn’t. I suppose I just wanted towin. Once I realised that, I decided to leave too. For a while he was furious, because I was lined up to take over the business. But since then he’s had another son with her, so I’m off the hook. My dad will probably live forever anyway.’
‘That’s dreadful. I’m not surprised you left.’
He nods and continues: ‘I suddenly understood that I didn’t even want the business, or the pressure, or that lifestyle of always having to prove myself to someone who basically wanted me to fail. I was lucky. I had enough independent wealth to be able to walk away. I think I’m actually grateful, to be honest. It was a wake-up call. Made me realise I needed to change pretty much everything about my life. If it hadn’t happened, maybe I’d have ended up like him. Once I was away from him, from that whole world, I started to repair the damage, build myself back up.’
I remember something he said to me the first night we really talked. ‘Damaged, not broken,’ I say. He quirks his lips in a more genuine smile, and his green eyes are intense as they look up at me.
