Page 45 of The Riviera House Swap
‘OK,’ Nina said, uncertainly. Perhaps Sabine had a point. Maybe she ought to do something a little less direct, but more memorable. Pierre might be embarrassed if she introduced herself out of the blue. And what if he didn’t remember her? She wanted him to notice her for all the right reasons, to fall in love with her again. ‘But what do you suggest?’
‘Ah!’ said Sabine, a little too loudly, as if an incredible idea had just presented itself. ‘Perhaps you can faint onto him? You can go to the bar, or as if to the toilet, and when you are close, act as if you feel dizzy. You can sink down towards him. He will catch you! It will be so very romantic!’ She beamed at Nina in triumph.
‘No,’ said Nina shaking her head. ‘I just… I can’t do that.’ Her acting at school had never been anything to write home about, and she didn’t want to end up making a scene in the restaurant. She’d probably knock a glass of wine over him or break his chairor something in any case. Or, knowing her luck, be so very good at playing the part that she’d get carted off in an ambulance.
‘No?’ said Sabine as if she couldn’t quite believe anyone would turn down such a fabulous idea. ‘OK, perhaps something more subtle? You tell him that you are being followed, or that the waiter, he is pestering you for a date. Please can he help you?’
Nina shook her head. ‘He’d think I was mad,’ she said. ‘Why would I pick him, out of all the men in here to rescue me? Most people would probably just leave or call the police or whatever.’
‘True,’ Sabine nodded as if Nina had just imparted some sage advice. She drummed her fingers on the linen tablecloth. Then, once again, inspiration struck. ‘Ah!’ she said, all smiles. ‘Perhaps you can go past and just drop something, and he will pick it up and chase you?’
Nina considered. ‘Actually, that’s not a bad idea,’ she said. She could probably handle dropping something and walking quickly past. He’d have to come to her with it and she could suddenly recognise him.
The waiter arrived with two steaming plates of delicious food. Thankfully, this time, Nina’s meat was cooked to perfection. She took a forkful, considering. ‘But what can I drop?’ she said, thinking of the meagre contents of her bag. Her purse, her phone, a few dirty tissues and a tampon. She couldn’t easily drop either of the former items and pretend not to notice – they were large and would make a noise on the floor. And she wasn’t going to start scattering sanitary products or snot rags in her wake.
‘Maybe a bracelet?’ Sabine said. She removed a brown, beaded bracelet from her wrist and gave it to Nina. ‘This one, it is large. It falls off sometimes. It will be easy to drop.’
Nina eyed the tiny, carved, wooden beads and slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. It was perfect. She looked over at Pierre, who was eating the same meal as she was – a sign? shewondered, until she remembered it was the dish of the day. He was still engrossed in conversation with the men at his table and she wondered whether he’d even notice a dropped bracelet.
‘What if he doesn’t even notice?’ she said to Sabine.
‘Pah, then we try something else,’ she said. ‘We can pick up a bracelet ourselves, right? And Pierre, he is not going anywhere.’
It was true. This could be the perfect meet-cute. The Cinderella-esque returning of an item of clothing, slipping it back on her wrist for her; their eyes would meet and she’d say,Do I know you from somewhere?She could see it all now.
‘OK,’ she said, taking a deep breath. She wiped her mouth with her napkin and smoothed down her hair. ‘Do I look OK?’
‘Beautiful,’ Sabine said, her mouth stretched into an excited smile. Nina hoped she wouldn’t clap or let out a squeal as she walked past Pierre.
Her legs feeling a little wobbly, she stood up, steadied herself and began her walk across the restaurant floor, towards the stand of condiments. She’d pretend she was going to get a salt pot or a napkin from the stand, weaving her way past and just happen to brush against him slightly. She slipped the bracelet down to her hand in readiness, keeping it in place with a finger until the crucial moment.
Walking across the room, she felt as if everyone must be watching, wondering what she was doing, even though, in reality, several people had risen from their tables at various points, to collect items or make their way to the bathroom.
Her heart hammering, she let the bracelet slip further and, just as she passed Pierre, allowed it to fall to the ground. To her, it made an enormous clatter as the wooden beads hit the parquet, but nobody around seemed to flinch or notice the noise at all. Making sure she didn’t obviously react, she made her way to the condiments where she could browse little packets of salt and pepper and look back subtly to see what happened next.
To her disappointment, Pierre didn’t move; didn’t seem to have noticed the jewellery by his chair. He was saying something earnest to the man to his left, his hand on his shoulder. Both men roared with laughter moments later.
Look to your right!Nina wanted to tell him.Notice it!
The bracelet lay just a few inches from Pierre’s slightly pointed leather shoe. He moved his foot a little and came painfully close to touching it. But nothing. Across the room, Sabine was looking too. Nina gave her a shrug – what else could she do?
Pierre broke away from the conversation and had a deep drink of water. His eyes wandered around the room, and rested on Nina for a second. She thought she might have seen his brow furrow a little, wondered if he recognised her but couldn’t place her. But before he could work it out, one of his colleagues tapped his shoulder. Turning, he placed his glass back down and put his cutlery together on the table, and started looking around – probably for a waiter. Surely, he’d see the bracelet in a second? she thought, picking up more napkins than an ordinary person probably would. Surely, he’d pick it up and realise what had happened. Surely…
The door to the restaurant opened and a man entered, looking around, searching for someone. With a start, Nina realised it was Antoine. He noticed her by the stand and a large smile spread across his face. Walking towards her, his foot kicked the bracelet slightly and he bent down to pick it up after it had skittered a little on the floor. He looked at it then flagged down a passing water and handed it to him.
Pierre had now attracted the attention of his own waiter and was talking to him earnestly, possibly about coffee or desserts or something completely different. The moment, the opportunity had passed.
Antoine arrived at the condiment stand, ‘Hello’ he said.
‘Hi. I didn’t know you were coming.’
Antoine nodded. ‘I came to join you for coffee after your meal – Sabine said you’d be here.’ He looked over and saw Sabine, who’d gone to claim her bracelet back from the waiter.
Nina smiled. ‘Well, nice to see you,’ she said. She didn’t tell him he’d blown her meet-cute. After all, there was no way he could have known how important it was to leave the bracelet near Pierre. And there was always tomorrow, she told herself, walking with him past Pierre – so painfully close yet so far away – and back to their little corner table.
Sabine was shaking her head. ‘Ah, Antoine, you have terrible timing!’ she said.
He glanced at his watch. ‘But it is one o’clock like you said.’
