she’d gone back in time and was a teenager doing silly, childish things she’d normally frown upon. ‘That hasn’t happened for years.’
‘Really?’ Amber appeared confused, narrowing her beautifully made up, almond-shaped, dark grey eyes. ‘Then you don’t remember speaking to…’
‘Morning,’ Grace interrupted as she walked over. ‘How is everyone feeling?’ she asked amusedly.
‘Like death warmed up,’ Rachel told her. ‘Please say you were as drunk as me?’
‘Probably not as bad as you, but I wasn’t drinking shots. I still feel rough though. I honestly don’t know how you do it, Amber. Going out and partying all the time and then going to work the next day isn’t as easy as I thought.’
‘Oh girls, you get used to it.’ She chuckled as she sat down and began filing her nails.
The girls chatted about their evening and Rachel felt her spirits lift as they laughed and joked about the people they’d chatted to, not that Rachel remembered half of them. Tidemans had already started playing their Christmas music, and Rachel decided she was going to cheer up as much as she could this year. She’d always loved Christmas and wasn’t going to let Mark and Bianca ruin it for her.
Amber coughed as Jonathan from menswear approached the counter, then she grabbed Grace softly by the wrist and pulled her aside much to Rachel’s bewilderment.
‘Hey.’ Jonathan shot Rachel a smile that seemed to hint they shared some kind of secret.
‘Hi,’ Rachel replied, her forehead wrinkling as she wondered what he wanted. She vaguely remembered Amber saying he’d been in the same bar the previous night, but nothing after that, and she’d only ever seen him a few times In Tidemans seeing as he was fairly new.
‘Good night last night?’ he said, resting his chin on his palm as he lent over the counter confidently, like he’d known her for years.
Rachel looked at him, puzzled. He must have seen them there too. Was he about to laugh about something she had done? The not knowing was awful. ‘Yes,’ she said the word slowly and carefully waiting for some kind of trap.
‘You don’t remember, do you?’ he grinned, clearly enjoying the baffled expression on her face.
Rachel felt as though the top button on her blouse was choking her and she imagined her neck was becoming red and blotchy, the blush quickly making its way to her face, which was feeling hotter with every second. It reminded her of how she used to feel when she was picked out in university lectures to answer a question or give her view on something when she hadn’t been listening. ‘Erm…’ she stuttered. What had she done?
‘I was chatting to you last night for ages,’ he smirked amusedly, gazing at her intensely. He had lovely dark blue eyes, she’d give him that. ‘I was just double checking you were still on for tonight?’
Rachel’s frown deepened as she felt like a fly trapped in a spider’s web, a sense of panic washing over her. ‘Tonight?’ she said a little shakily. Why was she feeling so nervous?
‘Yes.’ He gave a light laugh. ‘You agreed to go to dinner with me. Of course, if you can’t, I understand…’
‘Of course she can,’ Amber interjected hastily much to Rachel’s surprise. ‘You were just telling me how much you were looking forward to it, weren’t you, Rach?’ Amber eyed her encouragingly.
Rachel stared at Amber with a just you wait expression. ‘Yes,’ she finally replied forcing a grin. Her mouth was dry and her heart was beating dramatically.
‘That’s great then.’ Jonathan returned the smile. ‘I’ll come meet you here after work. I was thinking of booking a table at Mario’s. Italian okay with you?’ he asked.
‘Italian is just fine,’ she responded, unable to believe that she was really going on a date so soon. She didn’t know Jonathan and certainly didn’t recall talking to him the previous evening. The thought of sitting and eating dinner with him terrified her. She’d never been fond of dates. Even her first date with Mark had scared her half to death, but now after what she’d been through, she felt less confident in herself. But what choice did she have when she’d been put on the spot? How could she say no without feeling more humiliated?
Rachel turned to Amber and a giggling Grace as Jonathan walked away. ‘I cannot believe that just happened!’ she said putting her face in her hands. ‘I am so embarrassed. He must think I’m such an idiot! And, you—’ she poked Amber in the arm playfully ‘—thanks a lot for that. Now I’m going on a date with him. I hate dates. I don’t even know Jonathan.’
‘But you soon will,’ Amber chimed in cheerily. ‘It’s only a date. What are you so afraid of? Enjoying yourself?’ she teased.
‘I don’t know,’ Rachel chewed her bottom lip. ‘I just can’t believe I’m here, about to go on a date when it was only days ago I thought I’d be marrying Mark.’
‘I know,’ Grace replied tenderly, ‘but you should go on the date. You need to move on, sweetie. We both do. Even if it’s so soon afterwards, a date can’t hurt.’
Rachel inhaled slowly. Grace was right. Was she ready to move on with someone else so soon? Absolutely not, but she needed a distraction from her thoughts of Mark and Bianca. The quicker she stopped feeling sorry for herself the better. Besides, Jonathan was quite nice looking. She didn’t know him well enough to judge him entirely, but he was fairly attractive, so it was a good start she guessed. He didn’t make her weak at the knees, but then, Rachel was certain that Mark hadn’t either. He’d just been there when she decided it was time to get into a serious relationship. He’d ticked the majority of her boxes.
‘I’m going to go out with Jonathan,’ Rachel gave a little nod of her head, listening to how the words sounded out loud. She felt like laughing hysterically. What on earth was going on in her normally, quite monotonous, drama-free life? The words sounded strange, like someone else had said them. Quickly planning what make-up to put on and promising she would dash upstairs to womenswear on her next break to purchase a new outfit, Rachel smiled. There was nothing to be afraid of at all.
After all, what did she have to lose?
Amber was smiling as she thought of Rachel going on her date with Jonathan. It was a good thing, and she knew Rachel would see that in the end, despite reminding her of a lamb being led to the slaughter as she’d walked off with him. Rachel didn’t need Mark. She just needed to relax and let her hair down. She needed to stop planning and organizing and just go with the flow a bit more. Rachel was the type of girl that planned every single outfit for her two-week holiday. She kept up to date with her washing and ironing, she labelled jars for miscellaneous items in her house (spare buttons, safety pins, elastic bands), everything had a place in her home. There were no junk drawers.
‘You don’t have a junk drawer?’ Amber had asked in shock when she’d visited for the first time.
Rachel had looked slightly dazed, squinting her pale blue eyes and cocking her head to the side as she asked, ‘What’s a junk drawer?’
She didn’t
