Page 16 of The Moon Also Rises
Rami flashes me a quick smile of acknowledgement before rushing out his next words. “Can we have fun? I mean, at the wedding. It’s been a while since I was a guest at a wedding – I’ve worked a fair few, of course – but it would be fun to be a guest with you and just enjoy a day out. Together.”
I’m not sure what I was expecting him to ask but it certainly wasn’t that. After flicking out my serviette and laying it on my lap, I pick up my knife and fork while looking at Rami. I observe how his smile tilts up a little more on one side than the other, and how his thick eyebrows really do hold the most perfect arch. And those eyes, looking at them feels like witnessing the moonlight lighting up the darkest night. I bite back my own smile before I speak. He is going to look very handsome in a tux on my arm, or rather, somewhere close to the vicinity of my arm.
“I suppose we can try,” I say and then start to eat the world’s most expensive tortellini.
*****
With most of the wedding day’s logistics discussed and agreed upon, we’re drinking coffee after our meal when Rami asks me the last question I expect from him.
“Did you meet up with your friends to talk about your fortieth birthday party? I heard you talking about it on the phone the other day.”
My top lip curls involuntarily. “Sadly, yes.”
“And?”
“I’ve agreed to have a party. They left me no choice. Said I would be banished from our bi-monthly spin and bitch meet-ups if I didn’t do something.”
“When is your birthday?”
“The third of September, so just over three months to come up with an excuse to get out of it or if that fails, plenty of time to try to get hit by a double-decker bus.”
“I know big social events can be daunting…” Rami sips from his cup and I don’t know why my eyes stay focused on his lips as he licks them afterwards.
“Oh, no, I love big social events. You’ll see the way I work a room at this wedding. I just don’t want it to be a room full of people who want to celebrate me.”
“Why not?”
Because I’m not worth celebrating.The thought punches into my brain without warning.Ouch.
“Because I don’t feel great turning forty, to be honest,” I say, and I am being exactly that. Honest. “I feel like I haven’t done as much with my life as I wanted to by this stage.”
Rami squints at me and leans back in his chair. I wish I didn’t notice how attractive he looks in that relaxed, confident way some men have just simply sitting in a chair. I wish I hadn’t noticed how attractive he looks, full stop.
“Really? In what way?” he asks.
“How old are you?” I say, deliberately avoiding his question. I brace myself for the answer.
“Forty-three,” he says, and I nearly choke on the bite of macaroon I just took.
“Really?” I ask. “But you look… younger.”
Rami shrugs. “Light brown don’t frown, I guess?”
A surprised laugh darts out of me.
“You know, none of my friends were around to celebrate my fortieth and I really missed them,” Rami says.
“Why, where were they?”
“Oh, I was living in California and most of my best friends were over here.” Rami talks in an unusually rushed way. “Flights are expensive, you know. Some of them have kids. It wasn’t easy for them to come over.”
“Yeah, but you could have come home.”
“I could have, but… I didn’t.” He clears his throat before continuing, “My point is, have the party. Let your friends celebrate you. Do you have family too?”
“My sister, Jenna. She’s also my best friend. She used to live in London but is in Dublin now with her partner, Marty. Irony of ironies, I moved to live here a year after she left.”
“You must miss her,” he says
