The Wedding Date (28 page)

But it isn’t always bad. Look at Clara and Graham. They met at work and although Graham is as dull as a dry Ryvita, he makes Clara happy. So when Adam asks me out, I do an internal dance (I’m Beyoncé inside if not outside) and say yes. If I were starring in a musical (which I often do in my head) I’d be belting out a cheery number and swinging around lampposts right about now.

We’ve arranged to meet up on Friday evening as Adam’s nephews are staying over on Saturday. So here I am with a belly full of butterflies as I step into Sweet Street Café. On a quiet street off Woodgate’s high street, the café is bright with a rainbow pallet of plastic chairs sat at multi-coloured, patterned tables. Illustrated prints of cupcakes, ice creams and milkshakes line the walls and pink, purple and blue chalkboards display the goodies on offer. A mini black chalkboard propped up on top of the counter claims ‘A Cupcake Is Happiness With Icing On Top’. I concur.

Sweet Street Café serves only desserts and I’m ashamed to admit I had never heard of it until Adam suggested it as a meeting point. He’s already seated inside, looking extremely manly amongst the prettiness of the café, but he stands when the tinkling bell above the door signals my arrival. The café is small with just four tables, three of which are occupied. Adam is taking up one while a trio of teenage girls take up the second and a father and daughter take up the third.

Adam leans in towards me, pecking me lightly on the cheek. Although it’s completely chaste, I can’t helping thinking ‘this is our first kiss!’ and imagining the elaborate musical number that could take place in here using the bright tables and chairs as props.

‘You found it then,’ Adam says as he sits back down in his aqua blue chair.

‘Yes. I can’t believe I didn’t know this place existed.’ I sit down opposite Adam on a candyfloss pink chair. The table is pale blue with a yellow rubber duck pattern.

‘Isaac and Luke drag me here all the time.’ Adam gives a sigh. ‘It’s such a hardship being an uncle sometimes.’ He grins at me and I find myself smiling back like a love-sick goon.

‘You spend a lot of time with your nephews, don’t you?’ From what I can gather, Adam has the boys over most weekends.

‘My sister’s on her own with them,’ Adam explains. ‘She’s a nurse and works the Saturday night shift most weekends, so I have the boys for her. I usually have them until late Sunday afternoon so she can catch up on some sleep.’

I liked Adam before but I find myself practically melting into the candyfloss chair. How sweet is that? Justin wouldn’t take care of my hamster for the weekend (if I had one) never mind my kids (ditto the hamster thing).

Adam is dreamy.

‘What are you having?’ I stretch my neck to try to get a view of the refrigerated counter at the front of the café in a bid to prevent myself from leaping into Adam’s lap and snogging the life out of him.

‘I think I’m going to have a brownie sundae. They’re the best.’ Adam’s face lights up like a kid’s on Christmas morning. Dragged here by his nephews indeed!

‘Those Rolo cupcakes look delicious.’ I look up from the refrigerated counter to the purple chalkboard, where further items are listed. ‘But jam roly-poly and custard is a classic. I think I’m going to go for that.’

‘That’s Luke’s favourite,’ Adam says as he signals that we’re ready to order.

‘The boy has good taste.’

A waitress makes her way over, taking our order for the desserts plus a couple of soft drinks.

‘Do you bring all your dates here?’ I ask as she heads into the kitchen at the back. Adam is onto something here – who could resist a man who offers a seemingly unlimited selection of desserts?

‘I haven’t been on a date in ages, actually. This is my first since my divorce.’

My eyebrows shift up my forehead. ‘You were married?’ I had no idea. In all the months we’ve been working together Adam has never mentioned an ex-wife before now. I picture my ill-fated date with William. It was weeks ago but the sound of his bitter tirade against his ex-wife is still clear.

‘I was.’ Adam places his hands on the table, entwining his fingers. I brace myself for the vitriol. ‘I’ve been separated for two years and divorced for just over a year. We’d been together since college so it’s taken a bit of getting used to, being on my own.’ Adam laughs lightly. ‘I even got myself a couple of kittens, but it isn’t the same. Not that Iggle Piggle and Nanny Plum aren’t great. What?’ Adam has noticed that I’m looking at him rather strangely. ‘Don’t you like cats?’

My lips are pressed together to supress a giggle, but a tiny one escapes as I open my mouth to speak. ‘Iggle Piggle and Nanny Plum?’

‘Ah yes. I foolishly let Isaac and Luke name the kittens.’ He shakes his head. ‘Who lets a couple of pre-schoolers name their pets? What a banana!’

‘I think it’s cute.’ Which I do. I’m also mightily relieved that Adam hasn’t launched into a tirade against his ex. Yet. ‘So what happened between you and your ex-wife?’ I know, I know. I should probably keep my trap shut but if the tirade is going to happen, I’d rather it happened now and not several weeks or months down the line when my heart is truly invested.

‘Nothing major. There was no big drama or anything. No cheating or secret gambling addictions. We just sort of drifted apart. It’d been going on for a while but neither of us wanted to face up to it. Then Jess was offered a promotion that meant moving to London. It would have been mad for her to turn it down but I couldn’t leave my sister, not when she needs me.’

‘So you split up?’

‘It was going to happen anyway. The job offer just made us face up to what had happened to us.’

‘You don’t sound bitter or anything.’ I’m not sure whether to trust the calmness that is before me. At least with William I knew where I stood.

‘There’s nothing to be bitter about. I still care about Jess but not in the way I should. And Jess feels the same.’

I wish I could feel that way about Ben, that I could sever the invisible tie that connects me to him. Adam’s way of breaking up sounds much healthier than mine. But then he wasn’t dumped. It was a mutual decision while I’d had no say at all.

‘Can I take it that you’re single too?’ Adam looks down at the rubber duck pattern. He looks almost boyish when he chances a glance at me.

‘I am.’ I feel warm inside. Adam is so interested in me! ‘Have been for a while. Almost a year.’

‘Bad breakup?’

Is it that obvious? ‘For me it was. For him, not so much.’

‘Ah.’ Adam nods knowingly. ‘The worst kind of breakup.’

I can’t help laughing at this statement. It feels good after thinking about Ben and the way it ended between us. ‘How do you know? You were with the same girl since college.’ I narrow my eyes playfully. ‘Bit of a lothario in your youth, were you?’

Adam puffs out a short blast of air from pursed lips. ‘I wish. I was having my heart broken left, right and centre.’

I reach across the table and give Adam’s hand a pat. ‘Poor Adam.’

‘It’s ok. I’m fine.’ Adam swipes under his eye, wiping away an imaginary tear. ‘I’m totally over it.’ Our drinks arrive and Adam raises his. ‘To healed hearts.’

I lift my own glass and tap it gently against Adam’s. ‘To healed hearts.’

Our date at Sweet Street Café was perfect. There was no pressure as we sat chatting over delicious desserts, no awkward silences or subtle glances at watches. It was fun and carefree and not like a first date at all. I didn’t want our evening to end but the waitress seemed keen to go home so we had little choice.

‘I wish we could go out for a drink but a late night and a hangover don’t mix well with two rowdy boys,’ Adam says as he pulls up outside Ryan’s house. ‘But next time?’ Adam looks at me, silently asking if there will be a next time, which is obviously the daftest question known to man.

I lean across and kiss Adam on the cheek. ‘Goodnight, Cinderella.’

‘One day I’ll introduce you to my darling nephews and then there’ll be none of this sass.’ Adam reaches out and takes my hand as I unbuckle my seatbelt. ‘I’ve had a really great time tonight.’

And then he kisses me. Properly, not a pally on-the-cheek job. It’s a good first date kiss; sweet like our date has been but with the promise of more to come. Hopefully soon. And the best – and most surprising – part is, I don’t think of Ben at all as Adam kisses me. Not even a teeny, tiny, fleeting thought.

‘See you on Monday,’ Adam calls through the open window when I finally wrench myself away from Adam’s lips and make my way towards Ryan’s door.

Ah, Monday. At work. We haven’t told anybody in the office that we’ve met up outside work before and we’ve kept schtum about our date so I’m not sure how we’re going to deal with that. There’s a reason they say never dip your pen in the company ink, after all.

Chapter 34

Teeny, Tiny Little Lies

Text Message:

Ryan:
I got her number! I told you I would!

Delilah:
Is it real this time?

Ryan:
The girl or the number?

Delilah:
Both

Ryan:
She is! I hope the number is too

Ryan:
Oh

Delilah:
Sorry. Better luck next time, eh? Fancy a pint? My treat x

It turns out I’ve been worrying for nothing. Adam and I act as we normally would at work; we’re friendly but not too friendly (I don’t stick my tongue down his throat, for example. Even though I desperately want to). We do, however, sneak off for lunch together – then we’re free to snog like a pair of hormonal teenagers and it turns out conducting such a clandestine relationship is actually a huge turn on.

The only part of the relationship I’m not too keen on is the lack of contact at the weekend. Weekends are made for nurturing relationships, especially fledgling ones like ours. We see each other every day at work but the weekend is when we should be able to really get to know each other, away from the office and the stresses that work (and Katey-Louise) brings. But it’s difficult for us. Adam has his nephews for a large chunk of the weekend and I can’t ditch my Sunday evening pub quiz ritual to spend time with him either. Nothing would raise my friends’ suspicion more than me swerving the quiz and I can’t tell them about Adam, not when I’ve asked Lauren to shelve her feelings for Ryan until after Francesca’s wedding.

‘Do you realise how hard it is being around him and not being noticed?’ she’d asked this morning as we stood freezing on the side lines of the football pitch. I hadn’t wanted to go for fear of running into Jack (the pig) but I feel so guilty about seeing Adam behind Lauren’s back that I agreed to go for her sake.

‘He notices you.’ I pointed out Ryan, who was waving at us from across the pitch.

‘Yes, as a mate.’ Lauren gave a sad little wave back, which heaped on yet more guilt. As much as I miss Adam at the weekends, at least I know how he feels about me and I don’t have to keep my own feelings locked up inside.

Grabbing my phone now, I send Adam a quick message, asking what he and the boys are up to. It isn’t the same as actually seeing him, but it’s the best I can hope for under the circumstances.

Just hanging out at home. Oliver! is on TV in half an hour. If you put it on too, we can pretend we’re watching it together

I can’t help smiling as I reply. It’s such a sweet gesture and the idea of a secret date, right under Ryan’s nose, is oddly thrilling.

‘Do you want anything from the shop?’ I pop my head around the dining room door, where Ryan is camped at the table, busily planning lessons for the coming weeks. I’d assumed Ryan showed up to work in his scruffs and just knobbed about on the football field all day while yelling at the kids for kicks but it turns out there is a lot more to being a PE teacher than I’d thought.

‘I’d lick a dead dog for a Double Decker right now,’ Ryan says without taking his eyes off the mound of papers before him.

‘Coming right up.’ I move away from the doorway but pop my head back again. ‘I meant the Double Decker and not a dead dog, by the way.’

There’s a shop around the corner from Ryan’s place that’s small and cave-like, with boxes of crisps piled up in front of the only window, blocking out all natural light. But it’s close and has a large selection of confectionery to choose from. You’d think being surrounding by so many goodies would make you happy but the shopkeeper is a mean, miserly little man who observes everybody with deep suspicion from the moment their toes cross the threshold until the door closes behind them again. He doesn’t chat to his customers, simply grunts the amount owed while holding out a clammy hand. He makes Norris Cole look like a jolly Santa Claus.

I’m in and out of the shop as quick as I can, picking up a bag of toffee popcorn, a bottle of Pepsi Max and Ryan’s Double Decker. The shopkeeper has his beady eye on me at all times so that by the time I leave the shop, I feel strangely ashamed and I’m convinced I’ve stuffed my pockets with stolen sweets.

Ryan is still at his makeshift desk when I arrive home and he pounces on the Double Decker. I leave him to it, settling myself in front of the telly with my drink and popcorn. I text Adam to let him know I’m ready with my Oliver! snacks. The best thing about this secret date is that even if Ryan does escape from his work, he won’t think anything is amiss as I love Oliver! and would never miss an opportunity to watch it.