Page 13 of Meet Me In Central Park

‘He doesn’t.’ Paula turned her wheelchair around. ‘I don’t think it’s about that. It’s a way of expressing something that money can’t buy and sharing that with an audience, in a way they can connect with.’

‘See, that’s why you’re a doctor and I sell cheesecake.’ Dannie laughed. ‘Talking of which, I better get back and give Rob a hand, or our love story might be over. Are you coming, Lib?’

I hesitated, casting a quick glance at Harry. He looked back at me, his eyes twinkling, and I felt that familiar jolt somewhere inside me. ‘Actually, I think I’ll go for that coffee with Paula and Harry.’ Maybe I was a secret masochist. Spending time with Harry and his girlfriend might prove torturous, but I was weirdly fascinated by the dynamics of their relationship and I’d never met a less possessive couple. That must be what complete confidence did for you. I’d never had that, only a boyfriend who’d headed for the hills when the going got tough and I couldn’t be the always-up-for-fun girlfriend any more. If I ever did have another relationship, I wanted it to be with someone who was there for all of it, no matter how hard, and it looked like Harry and Paula might already have found that.

‘Okay, you can have coffee elsewhere, but no bagels or cheesecake in another shop. As far as Rob’s concerned, that would count as adultery.’ Dannie turned and set off along the path as I followed Harry and Paula from under the arch in a different direction, and at a much slower pace. A jogger was heading towards us at pace, and I couldn’t help but take him in. He was a tall man, with the sort of muscle tone that I thought only existed on the air-brushed covers of fitness magazines. It was a good job Dannie had already left, or he’d have had serious ab envy – I was sure I could make them out, even through his T-shirt. He wasn’t my type: too high maintenance. But I wasn’t sure I even had a type any more. Then, as Harry suddenly stopped, and I accidentally brushed against him, I discovered I did have a type after all. The unfortunate part was that my type was in a relationship.

‘DeShawn!’ Harry called out to the super-toned runner, and the guy slowed down as he approached us.

‘Hey, great to see you.’ DeShawn addressed them both, but he didn’t take his eyes off Paula.

‘This is Libby, she was admiring your kaleidoscope picture at the Community Center.’ Harry introduced me, and DeShawn smiled and held out his hand.

‘Nice to meet you, Libby. DeShawn Parshall.’

‘Nice to meet you too, DeShawn.’

‘So’ – he was looking at Paula again – ‘have you thought any more about my invitation? To the exhibition, I mean? After all, I owe it all to you, my fantastic art tutor.’

‘DeShawn’s got his first exhibition.’ Paula turned to look at me, her cheeks flushed. ‘Although, I don’t know why he’s giving me any credit. He was already a fantastic artist when he first walked into my classes. I’ve never been able to work out why he kept coming.’

‘I can think of one good reason.’ DeShawn gave her an intense look and I snuck a glance at Harry. He was smiling. This was getting seriously weird. There was one thing being confident enough not to mind your partner indulging in a bit of flirting with someone else, but there was an electricity between DeShawn and Paula to make even me want to blush. Suddenly a horrible thought struck me. Maybe they were swingers. To each their own and all that, but it would definitely shatter my illusion of them as the perfect couple.

‘Look I’ve got to go, but let me know about the exhibition, okay? It won’t be the same without you.’ DeShawn was already barely visible in the distance, by the time anyone spoke again.

‘So, come on, Paula. Are you finally going to admit I was right about DeShawn wanting to share more than his artwork with you?’ Harry was making a joke about his girlfriend and another man, and I was starting to wish I’d jogged all the way back to Seventh Avenue with Dannie.

‘Okay, okay, you’re right as usual!’ Paula was always so polished and professional, but she’d turned into a giggly schoolgirl in front of my eyes. ‘The question is, what shall I do about it?’

‘It’s pretty obvious you like him, too. So, go to the exhibition and see where it leads.’

This was definitely too much for me now. I couldn’t keep standing there, listening, while Harry all but set his girlfriend up with DeShawn. It was making me feel a bit sick, and the only upside was that Harry had finally dropped down in my estimation. In fact, I’d gone right off him.

‘I’m sorry, I should probably leave you two to it… I’m not sure how open relationships work, but it seems like you’ve got a lot to talk about, and the last thing you need is me hanging around.’ I’d worried that my imagination had been running away with me, when it had felt like Harry was flirting. Now I was more worried I might be right. I really enjoyed spending time with my new friends, but I didn’t want things to get awkward between us.

‘Open relationships?’ Harry put a hand on my arm to stop me bolting. I might not have been able to run as fast as DeShawn or even Dannie, but I’d never wanted to disappear into the distance more in my life. ‘Wait a minute, you don’t think Paula and I are together, do you?’

‘Oh my God, you did, didn’t you?’ Paula pulled a face. ‘Sorry, but gross. He’s like my little brother.’

‘But you kissed, at the Community Center, and I…’ I wasn’t even sure how to finish that sentence, because now I couldn’t pinpoint exactly when, or even why I’d decided they were a couple.

‘Yes, I kissed her, on the cheek. I know you Brits have got a reputation for being a bit repressed, but even you guys do that, don’t you?’ Harry was openly laughing now and I felt my face flush with embarrassment.

‘We went to art college together, and we’ve been close friends ever since. We even shared an apartment once.’ Paula pulled another face. ‘But let’s just say you weren’t the only one to mistake him for my boyfriend, and at one stage back then it started to seriously affect my love life.’

‘Now you’re doing that for yourself.’ Harry gave her a level look, and she bit her lip. I felt like I was intruding again, but for completely different reasons this time.

‘It’s just since I’ve been in this thing.’ Paula thumped the armrest of her wheelchair. ‘I seem to have lost my confidence about dating.’

‘And DeShawn’s the perfect person to help you get that back.’ Harry put a hand on her shoulder. ‘He knows how lucky he’d be to have you in his life, and it’s about time you realised that too.’

‘Stop being nice to me, or I’m going to have to run over your foot.’ Paula kept her eyes on the path in front of her. I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that she had a crisis of confidence about anything. It just proved how good people were at hiding things and I’d had a lot of practice of doing just that.

‘I’ll stop being nice to you, if you promise to go out with DeShawn.’ Harry sped up so that he passed her wheelchair and could stand in front of it, blocking her path.

‘Okay, okay, if it’ll make you happy, I’ll do it.’ The smile that had spread over Paula’s face made it clear Harry wasn’t the only one who was happy about the prospect of her going on a date with DeShawn.

‘Now we’ve sorted that, shall we go and get some coffee?’ Harry turned to me and I nodded, still a little sheepish from my awkward blunder before. It was obvious that he really cared about Paula and that he was willing to risk her being annoyed with him for pushing her into a date with DeShawn, even if the gamble had paid off. There was just one problem with all of that: instead of going off him, I liked him more than ever. And quite frankly, it terrified me.

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