‘One of my many gifts.’ With that, he bustled off to the next table, arms wide, greeting the diners like long-lost friends.
Preliminaries over, Noah was about to ask Cheska if all was well, when she got in there first.
‘How’s today been? Are you okay? How’s Tress?’
Leaning forward, elbows on the table, he took one of her hands, feeling a sudden need for human touch.
The truth? Today had rattled him. He’d been dreading it for weeks, and now that it was here, he couldn’t wait for it to be over. All anniversaries were difficult after the loss of a partner, especially the first ones. The first birthdays. The first Christmas. The first holiday. But Noah had lost not just his wife, but his lifelong best mate too. Not that he’d ever say it aloud, but he still wasn’t sure who he missed more.
The biggest struggle of all after the accident was, however, that he’d also lost all faith in his judgement. How had he not seen any of it coming? How could he not have known that the two people he was closest to on this earth were capable of the lies, the subterfuge, the betrayal. The surprise visit from Anya this morning had just brought back that feeling of ambush.
‘It’s been… unexpected,’ he answered honestly. ‘It started out well when I stopped in to have a birthday breakfast with Buddy, but then when I got to work, I had a visitor.’
Cheska took a sip of her coffee. ‘A good visitor? Or the kind of visitor that makes you want to pretend you’re not on duty?’
‘Anya,’ he said simply, answering her question in the most direct way possible.
Cheska almost spluttered her coffee out. ‘Noooooo.’ She sat back, puffed out her cheeks and the frown reappeared between her brows. ‘Christ, she’s got some balls. What did she want?’
Noah shrugged. ‘I’ve got no idea. She just said she wants to talk.’
‘And you refused, because you’re a normal human being who has instinctive emotional responses that make him avoid people or things that can cause him pain?’ She was staring at him, waiting for confirmation. When she didn’t get it, she visibly deflated. There was a thick overtone of resignation in her voice now. ‘No, you didn’t. You agreed to talk to her because you’re way too decent to turn her away.’ Noah couldn’t read if that was a compliment or an insult.
‘I’m seeing her at five o’clock. And please don’t give me a lecture about being too nice because Tress and Keli beat you to it. I just… She was my wife, Cheska,’ he repeated the same mitigation he’d thrown out earlier to Tress.
The irony of this situation was that the one person who used to balance him out, tell him to buck up when he was being too soft, or stand right next to him in times of conflict, was Max. Bastard.
Noah braced himself for Cheska to try to talk him out of it or give him a dozen reasons why he shouldn’t do it, but the objections didn’t come. ‘I know there’s no point arguing,’ she said, almost wearily. ‘You’ll do it anyway.’
There was an uncomfortable silence that lasted a bit too long and he wasn’t sure how to tackle it. Cheska was usually so easy to talk to, and there had been barely a cross word between them since they’d been together, so this was way out of his wheelhouse.
Cheska broke the agitated silence first. She took a deep breath, as if resetting the conversation. ‘You didn’t tell me how Tress was. Today can’t be easy for her.’
One of Carlo’s waiters arrived with Noah’s drinks and, in all honesty, he was glad of the interruption. He wasn’t sure how to describe how Tress was today. That scene in her office earlier had been the second surprise of the day. ‘She’s… bearing up.’
The waiter interjected with, ‘Do you need more time with the menu or are we good to go?’
‘Are you ready to order?’ Noah asked Cheska, almost a hundred per cent positive that she would go with the Caesar salad, no cheese, no anchovies.
‘Caesar salad, no cheese, no anchovies, please,’ she said, handing the menu back to the gent with the notepad.
Noah did the same. ‘I’ll have the chicken tagliatelle please.’
The waiter nodded and retreated back to the kitchen, forcing Noah’s attention back to the conversation. Where were they? Tress.
He told Cheska all about the birthday breakfast, about how Tress was determined not to spend the day wallowing in memories and regret. The waiter brought their meals, just as he was saying how he was blown away by her strength and resilience and her determination to carve out a happy life for Buddy.
‘And I think she’s having a pretty unexpected day too,’ he remarked.
Cheska raised an eyebrow of curiosity.
‘I went by the studio to tell her about Anya’s reappearance and she was in her office, lip locked with that actor from the show. Rex.’
A whole series of emotions crossed her face and he wasn’t sure he was keeping up with them. ‘Wow,’ she blurted. ‘And how was that? Awkward?’
Noah’s fork paused mid-air, as he realised that he wasn’t quite sure what to say.
‘Erm, yeah, a bit. Just strange really. Haven’t seen her with anyone since… well, Max. But I’m happy for her. I’m glad she’s met someone.’
