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Lilah felt sick.
She was powerless to look away. She watched as they walked deeper in the restaurant. Will lifted his hand as if to say, ‘here it is’, and Lilah ducked down in the booth, her heart firing in all directions.
She lifted up just enough to see the woman say something light-hearted and press a possessive finger into his chest.
How serious were they? Had they been dating long? Had they slept together?
Lilah couldn’t bear it.
She’d come to the restaurant for the past three Tuesdays and it had been all in the hope of seeing Will. Well, now she’d seen him.
At least she had the answer to the question that had plagued her. Did he miss her? Did he still think of her? Did he still want her?
She felt like the worst kind of fool in the world.
She pushed her tray across the table, unable to contemplate eating. How was she going to get out of the restaurant without being seen? It was agony. She had to sit and watch while they stood in line, all the while his arm was hooked around the blonde’s shoulders and her arm snaked around his waist. At one point Lilah thought she might have been able to make a break for the door, but just as she stood up, they spun around and she had to sit back down again quickly.
Her pulse was firing.
She slid into the booth and angled her entire body to the window, pretending fascination with the passing traffic.
A noise sounded to her left; that of something being dropped. She didn’t dare look around, and so didn’t see the blonde’s watch slip from her wrist and hit the floor. Nor did she see Will disentangle himself and crouch down right beside her booth.
> It wasn’t until she heard his voice say, “Lilah?” that she finally had to turn around and act surprised, as though she hadn’t been watching him for minutes.
“It is you.” He didn’t smile for her. He was completely shocked. And not the good kind of shocked, either.
“Will.” Lilah wondered absentmindedly if an Oscar winning actress could have affected such a note of casual disregard. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“What are you doing here?” He was far less-accomplished at masking his feelings, having not had the same life-long need as her.
“You raved about the noodles,” she said simply, shifting her eyes to encompass the Other Woman in her smile. Yes, yes, keep smiling, she told herself. This will soon be over.
“Did I?” He frowned, unable in that moment to recall having ever mentioned his favourite restaurant to the Delani princess. “I meant in New York.”
His eyes dropped lower, taking in the clothes that were, for Lilah, a departure from the usual protocols.
But Lilah didn’t want to tell him. Not like this. Not with the Blonde listening with undisguised interest. “I’m … on holiday,” she finished lamely, making up for the weak sentence with a megawatt smile. “And I was just leaving.”
“Leaving?” Will’s attention dropped to the noodles. “But you haven’t eaten.”
“No.” She slid along the booth, moving nearer to the edge, but also nearer to him. “I guess they weren’t for me after all. Excuse me.”
He shook his head and then stepped aside, closer to the other woman, allowing Lilah to move out of the seat. “Please, take my table. It is getting busy.”
She maintained the appearance of calm as she clipped out of the restaurant. But as soon as she was on the busy street, her face crumpled and she began to move quickly. She was too distressed to remember that the restaurant had windows overlooking the street and that she’d seated Will and his girlfriend in her own table with an excellent view.
Will saw her walk past and felt as though he’d been kicked in the gut. “Excuse me,” he said quickly, sending an apologetic look to his date. “I’ll just … I just need a sec.”
He strode quickly out of the restaurant and then began to jog after Lilah. She was easy to pick out of the crowd, but he could have spotted her anywhere.
“Hey.” He grabbed her elbow once he reached her and turned her around to face him.
Her face was lined with tears. He lifted his thumb and wiped them away, oblivious to the crowds swarming past them.
“Please don’t,” she begged quietly, though she couldn’t have said what she was asking or wanting.
“What are you doing here?”
