CORAL (A Romance Trilogy, Book 1) (7 page)

“Who?” I ask.

“Sam, one of the painters I use.
His woman is all curves, she’s got to be at least a size eighteen, and she’s
got boobs the size of melons.” He says, his hands held out explaining how big
they really must be, I chuckle loudly. “Real men don’t want match stick women.”
He adds.

I raise my eyebrows at him and
grin widely. I love Rob when he’s being like this, he raises my self-esteem,
makes me feel normal.

“So…?” He drawls, waiting for my
answer.

I feel myself lock up, inside and
out. How do I tell him some fucking pervert changed all that for me? That I
can't physically put a dress or skirt on without feeling utterly vulnerable,
and shaking from head to toe.

“Um...well I...just...” I shake
my head unable to answer him.

“It’s ok.” Rob takes my hands and
squeezes it tight. “You don’t have to answer. I can see it makes you
uncomfortable.” I squeeze his hand back and stare out the window, trying my
best not to remember the past, what they did to me…

As we reach the roundabout and
take a right onto the A23. I turn to my right peeking at Steine Gardens, there
are so many people out and about tonight, having evening picnics, walking with
their dogs, it’s just lovely. We continue along the A23 then turn left onto
Church street, the bars, pubs and cafés are alive with people sitting outside
having a good time, getting as much of the English summer as they can. Then we
turn right onto Jubilee Street, my excitement for the coming evening escalates,
I’m practically jigging up and down with excitement.

Finally, we pull up outside Las
Iguanas, as Rob pays the driver I look up at the cream coloured building, it’s
all lit up and looking pretty inside, drawing in passers-by with its warmth.
Initially it’s a South American contemporary restaurant, with a mouth-watering
menu consisting of a mix of Latin American, Indian, Spanish, Portuguese and
African influences. I always have such a hard time choosing what I want, it all
looks so yummy.

As I step out the taxi, Rob takes
hold of my hand, and we walk through the doors.
Whoa!
The smell of the
food as you walk through sets your taste buds on fire, smells so good! And it
really does feel as though you are being transported to Rio.

We are instantly greeted by the
seating hostess. “Hi.” She beams.

“Evening.” We both reply and
smile.

“I’m Shelly. Just a table for
two?”

“Yes.” Yet again, we answer at
the same time, and turn to chuckle at each other.

As we follow Shelly to our table,
Latin music fills the air; it makes me want to do some salsa dancing. I’ve
actually been thinking about doing that for a while now - something else to
fill up my lonely evenings -
I wonder whether I should ask Rob to go with
me?
Then I think it’s just taking up more of his time away from Carlos, and
I really shouldn’t be doing that at the moment, so I put it on the back-burner
for now.

“There you go.” Shelly shows us
to our seats and hands our menus to us. “Your waitress tonight will be Chloe,
she’ll be with you shortly.” She adds and leaves us to it.

I open my menu, but I can't help
looking around the restaurant, I love this place, its atmosphere. The interior
is all soft glowing red and orange lighting, with dark wooden flooring
contrasted by cream and red walls, crisp white tablecloths, and plush seats
with small palm trees dotted here and there.

Moments later a young girl
appears. “Hi, I'm Chloe your waitress tonight. Can I get you guys a drink while
you browse?” She asks.

“Definitely.” I answer dryly.

Chloe checks her watch. “You can
still order happy hour, if you do it in the next five minutes.” She says with a
wicked glint in her eyes.

Rob and I turn to each other, the
last time we did that we were both as pissed as farts by the time we left. “Oh
to hell with it, let’s get hammered!” He says.

I shake my head and laugh at him.

“Great, what would you guys
like?” Chloe asks.

“Pitcher or glass?” Rob asks me.

“Pitcher,” I answer, knowing what
I’m about to do is a bad idea - I don't do hangovers and work the next day -
But tonight, I need to let off steam.

“What do you fancy?” He asks,
he’s such a gent.

“You choose.” I say, unable to
wrap my head around the choice. Rob peruses the cocktail menu for a moment then
makes his choice.

“We’ll have a pitcher of the
Iguana Cosmo.” I quickly read through what it is; Absolut Berry Acai flavoured
Vodka, triple sec & pomegranate juice with a squeeze of lime and a dash of
grenadine.

“Coming right up,” Chloe smiles
and walks away.

I look up at Rob with wide,
affectionate eyes for my best friend because he’s chosen one without any kind
of soda; he knows I don’t drink that stuff.

I bump my shoulder against him.
“Thanks.” I grin.

“What for?” he chuckles.

“Picking one without soda?” I
exclaim.

Rob rolls his eyes at me. “Hurry
up and chose your food,” he orders. “Or we’ll be here till midnight,” he adds
dryly.

I chuckle and start perusing the
menu, it all looks delicious. Chloe quickly returns with our first pitcher and
two glasses. Rob pours a glass for us both and hands one to me.

“Cheers,” he says raising his
glass.

“Cheers,” I reply and we clink
glasses.

I tentatively sip the cocktail;
it’s not one I’ve tried before. My taste-buds suddenly come alive with the
sweet flavoured vodka and the tanginess of the lime.

“Mmm....delicious,” Rob beams. I
nod in approval and take two more gulps. I want the alcohol to start swishing
round my system, I want it to relax me and make me forget today.

TEN MINUTES INTO LOOKING AT THE MENU
, I still can't decide what to order, and Chloe has come back twice
to ask if we’re ready. I know Rob is getting frustrated with me, but every time
I think I’ve made a decision, I keep thinking of Mr Mogul and the way I felt
when our eyes locked, and each time I do, my stomach does a backward flip
making my appetite completely vanish.

Chloe appears again. I sigh
inwardly and look up at Rob, Chloe starts chuckling to herself, evidently
finding us amusing.

“Shall I come back?” She asks
smiling at Rob.

“Do you know what you want?” Rob
asks sharply. I shake my head feeling guilty for not making a decision. “Oh for
god’s sake woman!” Rob looks up at Chloe. “Right, we’ll both have the Chicken
Breast Fajitas,” he orders.

“Sure.” She smiles and walks
away.

“Hey, I wanted a salad.” I argue.

He shakes his head at me. “You
need more than salad if you’re drinking,” he admonishes.

I shrug, I guess he’s right.

“So?” Rob beams and turns around
to face me.

“What?” I ask slightly bemused
and take a long draft of my cocktail.

Rob cocks one eyebrow up and
gives me a look that says you wanted to come here tonight? I look into his wise
eyes, being five years older than me I have always felt as though he’s my older
brother, protecting me in whatever way he can.

“Oh....that!” I answer, suddenly
feeling deflated.

“I can't believe Joyce is selling
up, so suddenly as well?” He says drinking more of his cocktail.

“Yeah...it totally sucks.” I
answer gloomily. Then I give him a brief summary of my talk with Joyce, he’s
listening intently. “Joyce knows I’ve never wanted a male boss....” I add
drifting off, thinking about Mr Mogul’s eyes again.

“Hello?” Rob moves his hand back
and forth in front of my face trying to bring me back into the here and now.

“Sorry...” I mumble.

“Well, her leaving isn’t going to
change by the sounds of it,” he tells me. “You’ve just got to suck it up and do
your best. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll soon find another position somewhere
else.”

“Really?” I squeak, taking
another long drink. “With the economy the way it is, companies aren’t really
hiring, and I love where I work, I like not having to commute and I like that
it’s so close to home. I like...well everything about it, working on my
own...and Joyce has been wonderful to me. Now that’s all going to change, and I
don’t do well with change.” I grumble, feeling my stomach start to tighten, Rob
takes hold of my hand.

“Coral, you’re a smart young
woman, you’ll figure it out. I know you will.” He softly says.

I shake my head in disagreement. “I
don’t even know who I’ll be working for? I mean, I know Joyce said I keep my
job, but what if I’m stuffed into the main secretarial area? Or worse, I get a
slimy male boss. I’d hate that, I know I will, and we both know what a bunch of
women are like when they are put into a room together,” I spit. “Constantly
bitching about one another,” I add my hand flying in the air, my voice getting
more high pitched as I rant on - I’m really not a people person.

Rob sighs heavily and tops up our
cocktails. “Look, you don’t even know if that’s going to happen do you?”

“No but’ - “So, right now you are
unnecessarily worrying about things that haven’t even happened yet.” I drink
more of my cocktail as I digest this information. “You might stay where you are
and get another female boss for all you know, problem solved. You’ve got to
stop panicking about stuff that hasn’t even happened yet Coral, you’ll give
yourself a hernia.”

I sigh again. “I guess...” I
answer and take another long drink.

“Ok, so now that’s out of the
way, you want to tell me what’s really going on?” I take a deep breath and
another drink of my cocktail, at this rate I’ll be too pissed to eat.

“Is it this guy?” He asks softly,
I close my eyes and nod freely. “Ok, so what about him?” I shrug unable to find
the words I want to say. “Oh...he’s really got under your skin!” Rob wisely
surmises.

I stare back at him with wide
eyes -
How the hell does he know that?

“How do you’ - “Your off your
food, your day-dreaming, I’d say you got it pretty bad.” He chuckles.

My stomach rolls just thinking
about it, I suddenly feel really queasy.

“Hey,” Rob checks me. “You ok?”

“I don’t want to like him.” I
spit.

“Tough.” He answers
unsympathetically.

“Well thanks.” I snap
sarcastically.

“Coral!” He admonishes.

“Sorry.” I squeak, feeling guilty
for snapping at him. “I just...he’s...the moment I saw him Rob, I just thought
wow, and then he turns and locks eyes with me and this weird feeling.” I rub my
stomach remembering how it made me feel and drift off again reliving the
moment.

“Sounds like you’ve fallen bad
for him.” Rob suggests.

“No,” I answer petulantly. “I
can't, he’s my soon to be boss,” I hiss.

“So?” Ro scoffs.

“You know he stalked me today?” I
say trying to change the subject.

“What?” Rob almost spit’s his
drink out. I tell him about the car, about Tristan stopping and talking to me,
then the fact that I thought I’d seen him in the gym. I brush my hand over my
ribs remembering, it still hurts.

“What?” Rob asks. I pull up my
camisole, and there’s a slight bruise the size of a small breakfast bowl
against my ribs.

“Ouch!” Rob exclaims.

“Yeah,” I grumble. “Got that when
I thought I saw him walking past’ - “Oh Shit!” Rob gasps interrupting me. I
look up and see that he is staring at the front of the restaurant.

My eyes inadvertently follow his,
and who should be walking into the Restaurant but Mr Mogul himself, with Joyce
on his one arm and leggy blonde on the other.

“Bollocks!” I hiss, a little too
loudly.

The couple on a date sitting near
us turn and look at me, I mouth ‘sorry’ as an apology and smile weakly at them.
They don't look very impressed but both turn away from me.

“What the hell is he doing here?”
I hiss, trying to hide behind the palm tree that’s a couple of tables away.

“Eating a meal by the looks of
it,” Rob answers dryly, looking totally relaxed as he drinks more of his
cocktail.

“Oh ha fucking ha!” I snap. “Why
hasn’t he gone home? I’m sure his business is all done here.” I blurt. Picking
up my cocktail, I down the rest of the glass in one go. Which was not a good
idea - I think I have brain freeze.

“Wow, Coral...I see what you
mean...” I look up and see Rob is mesmerised as he watches Tristan walk across
the restaurant –
Holy crap!

“Rob!” I admonish, staring at the
side of his face but he doesn’t turn and look at me. I sigh inwardly and stare
down at the table trying to gather myself together.

“Uh-Oh!” Rob whispers sniggering
to himself.

“What now?” I snap, feeling
totally harassed and agitated. I look up and see Rob waving, then I look across
the room and see Joyce waving back –
Fuckety fuck-fuck!

“Wave Coral,” Rob says, smiling
broadly.
Ah Crap!
I wave back, plastering a fake smile on my face. Then
Joyce turns and starts talking to Tristan, pointing over to us as she does.

“Please don’t come over here.” I
whisper in desperation, closing my eyes as I do.

“Alright guys.” I open my eyes
and see Chloe stood in front of us with our meals, then she places them down.

“Thank you.” Rob beams in
appreciation. “I could eat a horse,” he adds licking his lips.

I stare down at my plate, my
appetite completely vanished and watch Rob make his first fajita up.

“Are they coming over?” I
whisper, hearing the tremble in my own voice.

Rob turns and looks at me,
concern written all over his face. “You want to go, just say the word,” he says
in-between mouthfuls. “We can get a pizza on the way home,” he adds.

I try to act nonchalant, but my
head is buzzing with alcohol and irritation.

“No, no. It’s ok...I just...” I
close my eyes to assess how I’m really feeling – all my fears kick in, and I
know leaving is exactly what I want to do. In-fact, I would quite happily run
full pelt out of this restaurant, leaving Rob behind. But deep down inside, I
know I can't keep running from situations in life that I find threatening, this
is what George and I have been working on for a while now. I sigh inwardly,
trying to block out all negative emotions and begin rolling up my first fajita.

Just as I’m about to take my
first bite, I look up and see a man’s body standing right in front of the table
where I’m eating, and I know instinctively it’s Tristan’s. He has the same suit
trousers on, the ones that make his legs look long and lean.

I swallow hard, and drop my
fajita onto the plate.

As my eyes drift up, I see he has
discarded his suit jacket, red tie, and waistcoat from earlier today. The
crisp, light blue shirt he’s wearing looks clean on, and he’s rolled the
sleeves up to his elbows. As I search higher, I hear my breath catch in my
throat. Tristan has the top three buttons of his shirt undone, revealing a
little of his toned chest, and as far as I can see there’s not a single chest
hair – My biggest trigger!

My eyes wonder up, finally
resting at his deep, hypnotic, chocolate eyes. He smiles warmly at me, his eyes
crinkling at the corners; little dimples appear in his cheeks. I hadn’t noticed
those before, they’re cute. And for the first time I see he’s probably older
than me, forties maybe?

“Good evening Coral.” He holds
out his hand to me. I don’t smile back at him, I don’t want to give him the
wrong impression, but I take his hand and shake it, feeling that same surge of
electricity as I felt earlier today; if anything it feels stronger.

I clear my throat, relocate my
heart to my chest and exhale. I hadn’t realised I’d been holding my breath.

“Tristan,” I say more breathlessly
than I want to.

He lets go of my hand and looks
from me to Rob, but my brain just isn’t firing right. Rob quickly stands,
extending his hand to Tristan.

“Rob Delgado,” he says, Tristan
takes his hand and shakes it.

He must realise Rob is gay, yet
it’s making no difference to him, which pleases me immensely. There are so many
straight guys out there that think they are less of a man if they are
associated with gay guys, or back away because they think it’s a disease they
might catch or something, morons! Yet, Tristan seems really relaxed about it,
he seems really nice –
Stop Coral!

“Tristan Freeman, I know you by
reputation of course.” He says.

“Well that’s good to know.” Rob
replies, simply glowing from head to toe. Sitting back down he glances once at
me, his look says it all -
Yeah I know he’s pretty damn fine!

“Coral, would you and Rob like to
join us?” Tristan asks politely.

What the hell is with this guy,
he’s all alpha male virility, walks like he has total confidence, should be a
control freak, yet he seems like...like...sweet. Is that at all possible?

“Yes’ – “Thank you,” I blurt
stopping Rob. “But’ – “You’re going to say no to me again, aren’t you?” He
smiles widely at me, his dimples deepening.

I feel something deep within me
flutter madly – Damn it, stop smiling like that! I blink twice trying to get my
brain to work again.

“I’m sorry, it’s just Rob is my
best friend,” I explain, my voice a high pitched octave, I clear my throat and
continue. “We haven’t seen each other in a while and’ – “Don’t worry,” he
smiles. “I understand. You want to relax and have a fun evening out together.”

He looks back at his table, my
eyes inadvertently follow. Joyce and leggy blonde seem to be hitting it off
together. Tristan turns and looks back at me, his expression intense; his deep
frown marring his lovely features. “I’m sure the last thing you want to be
talking about is work,” he says frowning deeply.

I squirm uncomfortably in my
seat. He sighs heavily and looks down at our table, his eyebrows knitting
closer together then he looks up at me and something...something strange and
silent passes between us, but I have no idea what it is.
Whoa! What was
that?

He stares down at the table for a
moment, and I don't know why, but I actually feel sorry for him. It’s as though
he’s trying to subliminally tell me something. But what? Maybe work is all he
does? Maybe he doesn’t have any friends? Maybe he never gets to blow off steam
and have a good time?

“Well, enjoy your evening.” He
says forcing a smile across those amazing lips.

“T-thank you,” I stutter and hold
my hand out to him.

We shake again. I feel the
strange current run through me once more, his lips part as his gaze holds mine
for a moment, and I wonder if I’m having the same effect on him as he is with
me? His deep frown returns as we stare at one another.