ago, but I miss it.’
‘Why did you give it up then?’ asked Nina, intrigued. Sebastian wasn’t the sort of person to back off from a challenge or not do something he wanted. It was a shame, he’d been good. She had to wait a second as he swallowed down a mouthful of chips which, despite his protests earlier, he seemed to be enjoying with relish.
‘Unfortunately, doing the Sunday lunch shift when you feel like you’ve been put through a blender got old quite quickly. And working seven days a week didn’t help.’
‘All work and no play makes Bas a dull boy,’ said Alex, his hand snaking in for one of Nina’s chips this time. ‘‘Although that blonde ba… Katrin from the interiors company looks like she’s enjoying mixing a bit of business and pleasure. What’s going on with her?’
‘Early days,’ said Sebastian, suddenly very interested in a patch on his cast which he rubbed at with his palm, making his tray wobble precariously. ‘She travels a lot. We’ll see.’ Lifting his head, he looked over at her. ‘What about you, Nina? Boyfriend on the scene? What happened to that Joe guy you were seeing?’ His clipped questions made it sound like an interrogation, a fact-finding mission without any real interest.
Nina dredged up a non-committal smile. ‘You’re well out of date. Joe and I stopped seeing each other about four years ago and he’s just got married. I was bridesmaid.’
‘Ouch,’ said Alex, pulling a face and shifting on the sofa towards her as if in reflexive support. ‘I bet that was uncomfortable.’ Despite his blunt words, sympathy shimmered in his eyes and she was able to look at him rather than Sebastian as she responded.
‘No, I introduced him and Ali, she’s a good friend.’ The words came out blasé and unconcerned. She’d been genuinely delighted for them but she wasn’t about to admit that their relationship assuaged her guilt that she could never love Joe the way he wanted her to. Someone else had first dibs on her heart. ‘I couldn’t have been happier, especially as Joe and I were always more friends than anything else.’ Nina prayed that her face gave nothing away.
‘So, no one on the scene at the moment?’ pressed Sebastian.
Nina shook her head. ‘Too busy,’ she said crisply, irritated that he had to highlight that she was steadfastly single. He was clearly being bloody minded.
‘Well, you must have some downtime while you’re in Paris,’ said Alex, with a sudden cheery stridency to his tone. ‘Sebastian can be a slave driver. Don’t let him take advantage. You need to make sure you see some of the city. In fact, I know some great places.’ He delved in his top pocket. ‘Here, take my card, I can never remember my mobile.’
Sebastian glared at him. ‘Nina is here to work! I’ll need her to be flexible as things come up.’
Alex gave her a cheerful shrug and a discreet wink. ‘Let me know if he’s being a difficult boss. I can withdraw his food rations.’
Nina grinned back at Alex who promptly helped himself to another one of her chips. ‘That sounds like a plan.’
Sebastian’s mouth tightened. Nina only felt a tiny bit guilty ganging up on him but he’d been such a grumpy git all afternoon and it was nice to have the light relief of Alex’s cheerful good humour.
When they’d finished eating, Sebastian yawned rather noisily. ‘Right Nina, I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t be late. You’ll have to do the meet and greet in the shop.’
‘Me?’
‘I’m not risking those stairs and you’re more than capable. You’ve got all their names and … you’ve clearly met one of them already,’ he added with a cross expression. ‘All you need to do is wait for everyone to arrive and then bring them to the kitchen.’
‘OK.’ She nodded and gathered up her things. ‘See you then. Night Alex.’
To her surprise Alex jumped up, and quickly rounded up the plates, relieving Sebastian of his tray with a speedy turn. ‘I’ll see you out and put these in the corridor.’
‘Alex,’ Sebastian said quickly. ‘I need a word.’
‘Be right back,’ he replied, ignoring the implicit request that he stayed put. Sebastian’s frown darkened. Nina wondered anew at how it was humanly possible for his expression to be any blacker.
Once at the door, having deposited the tray on the floor outside the room, Alex paused. ‘Sorry about his nibs in there. Never known him quite so contrary. Don’t let him get to you. Ignore him and if you want some light relief I was serious about the offer of a guide around Paris. You’ve got my card. Text me your number … well.’ He blushed. ‘If you want to, that is.’
‘Thanks, Alex. That would be really nice.’ She gave him a cheerful smile, as her heart sank a little. He was lovely… friendly, kind, absolutely the perfect antidote to Sebastian and – she felt ashamed to even think it – too reminiscent of Joe. Getting tangled up in a friendship where one party wanted more was something she wanted to avoid at all costs. And wasn’t that a huge irony? No wonder Sebastian kept her arm’s length.
‘Alex,’ came a bellow from the other room. ‘I haven’t got all day. And Nina has important things to do.’
‘Something is really bugging him,’ whispered Alex. ‘Better go. See you soon.’
‘Hey, Nina.’ Maddie bounced through the door first, shaking her head and dappling the floor with drops of second-hand rain, bringing in with her a tail wind of chilly spring air.
‘Morning. You’re the first one here.’ At the sight of her, Nina immediately felt brighter especially as for the last half hour she’d been subjected to Marcel’s rather apathetic help as she set up a coffee station at one of the tables in readiness for everyone’s arrival. He was definitely on a go slow – in fact, any slower and he’d go backwards. As if that wasn’t enough, there was no sign of Sebastian yet and he hadn’t responded to her last text.
‘I’m always early. Comes of having a big family. Trying to get everyone out of the house is always like herding cats.’
‘I know that feeling. My dad used to threaten to get one of the sheepdogs to round us all up. Help yourself to coffee and take a seat. We’ll wait for everyone to get here and then we’ll go through to the kitchen. I’ll be back in a minute.’ She left Maddie helping herself to coffee and nipped downstairs, ignoring Marcel’s impenetrable stare as she passed him.
The kitchen was all set, but where was Sebastian? She gave her watch an anxious look before returning to join Maddie as Marguerite arrived at that very moment with a middle-aged couple in tow. ‘Bonjour Nina, look who I found on my way here. Monsieur and Madame Ashman.’
They both gave shy smiles. ‘They’re here on a prolonged honeymoon and got married three weeks ago.’ Marguerite glided in ushering them in front of her like a serene swan.
‘Hi, I’m Peter and this is Jane.’ They were still holding hands as if they couldn’t bear to be parted, which Nina thought was rather sweet. Peter took the umbrella from Jane and helped her remove her coat before taking off his own and
