Chapter 4 - "Bonjour, Mademoiselle."
I wanted to look good for Nathan. Admittedly, I always tried to look good for him, but now I wanted it more than ever. Nathan wouldn't have seen me in over a week, and I wanted to make his jaw drop. Or, failing that, I at least wanted to impress him. I enlisted Hayley's help, after she'd witnessed me staring into my wardrobe with a depressed expression on my face.
"Let me see your wardrobe," she said.
"It's no use," I moaned. "Nathan's seen me in all of those clothes."
"I see," Hayley mused. "There won't be a wow factor then, will there?"
"No," I pouted.
"Stop sulking. We'll sort something out."
"My dress sense has never been adventurous though. I just wear plain, ordinary stuff."
"Well then there's more leeway to wow him then," Hayley said lightly. I gave her a sceptical look. "Think about it. If he's used to seeing you in plain dresses, then think about how much his jaw will drop when he sees you in something verging on outrageous."
"I'm not confident enough to wear something outrageous."
"It doesn't have to be too outrageous," Hayley laughed. She pulled something out of my wardrobe. "Wow! This is gorgeous! This isn't plain at all!"
I took the dress from her and studied it. Funnily enough, it was the dress I'd worn to the party where Nathan had kissed me for the first time - or rather, the party where I'd told Nathan to kiss me and had ended up running away from him, traumatised by the experience.
Red and black, strappy and tight, with a diagonal hemline that reached high up my thigh. I remembered thinking how daring it was the first time I wore it. Although it was undoubtedly a sexy dress, that night didn't hold great memories for either of us. We liked to forget about the fake kiss and Nathan hated thinking about how much his aggression had upset me.
"No," I told her. "He's seen me in that."
"Well, there's only one solution: we'll go shopping and buy you a new dress. At least we're in the right city for it, hey?"
I really could not be bothered with shopping, but Hayley's enthusiasm gradually built up my own spirits and soon we were on the Tube, along with Gemma.
To say that Hayley took charge would be a huge understatement. Not only was she dictating which shops to go in, she was also making suggestions for dresses before we'd even seen any.
"Strapless is always sexy," she said.
I grimaced, already thinking about the potential decision between an uncomfortable strapless bra and going braless.
"What's that face for?" Hayley asked.
"Strapless means either having to wear a strapless bra, which is really uncomfortable, or not wearing a bra at all, which is undignified."
"Undignified?" Hayley laughed. "Depends how thick the dress fabric is really. And even if it is slightly undignified, Nathan will be the only person close enough to notice...and you said you wanted to make his jaw drop..."
Gemma snorted in laughter at that. "Hayley, don't embarrass her."
Was I imagining the patronising undertone to that? Maybe. I couldn't get a good read on Gemma at all.
"I'm not embarrassed," I said. "Hayley's right. And I do want to make an impression."
"Your tits would certainly make an impression..." Hayley waggled her brows at me.
Okay, maybe now I was a little embarrassed.
Our conversation had only spurred Hayley on more when it came to strapless dresses. It was as if straps didn't exist anymore.
"Bare shoulders are so sexy," she assured me. "And if he's never seen your bare shoulders before then it'll be even sexier."
We tried a whole array of dresses. Some were tight-fitting, some were flared, none had straps.
"I don't want it too tight," I said. "We're going for dinner."
"It entirely depends on the restaurant, Izzy," Hayley said, entirely missing my point.
"I like the red one the best," Gemma said. "Put that one back on."
I quickly slipped out of the deep purple dress I was currently wearing, and then stepped into the red one. Although it hugged my body, the ruched fabric would go some way to disguise a stomach full of food. It came half way down my thigh and looked classy and mature rather than something a teenager would wear to a party. On top of that, there was a small V cut into the neckline, revealing a hint of cleavage.
"I'd definitely fuck you," Hayley said, matter of fact.
"Thanks."
"I think it's perfect for you, Izzy," Gemma said, there to offer advice that was actually helpful. "It's more outrageous than anything you've worn before but you don't look slutty. Sometimes that's better."
"True," Hayley shrugged. "You want to leave something to the imagination, keep him wondering what you're wearing underneath..."
"And that neckline is definitely sexy," Gemma added.
"I still like this black one," Hayley said, holding up the corresponding dress.
It was a cute outfit, but a little too short for me with its flared skirt. Far too easy to accidentally expose yourself to everyone with a gust of wind or by bending over.
"Not sure I'm comfortable enough with it," I told her.
She shrugged. "Fair enough. If you're not having it then I'm snapping it up."
-
Of course if I thought that I'd be allowed to get ready by myself then I was hugely mistaken. Hayley fussed around with my shoes while I straightened my hair. Nathan loved my hair straight.
"I'm not wearing those heels," I told her as I watched Hayley through the mirror pick out my highest heels.
"Why not?"
"I don't wanna look like I've tried too hard," I said. "And they're far too high for a restaurant."
"Who says they're too high?" Hayley pouted.
"Me," I stated. "Anything but those."
So she picked me another pair of heels, these ones slightly lower than her previous selection.
"More eyeliner," she instructed before heading out of my room, finally leaving me to prepare myself in peace.
The table was booked for half past seven and it was pushing seven o'clock now. Checking my bag, and then my appearance one last time, I headed out. Jack greeted me with wolf whistles but I barely spared him a glance, my mind already on Nathan.
After queuing in traffic and driving down many dark streets, the taxi driver finally pulled up in a deserted road and nodded to a single door amongst the filthy brickwork. Was Nathan having a laugh?
"Are you sure this is the right place?" I asked him.
"Yes, love."
I gingerly stepped out of the taxi. Credit to him, the driver waited until I'd pushed open the door to this alleged restaurant before he drove away.
The inside was proof of how you should never judge a book by its cover. There were no lights in the room -- the whole place was lit by hundreds of candles darted around, giving it a mixture between a romantic feel and a medieval one. Classical music played softly in the background and, upon closer inspection, I noticed a string quartet almost hidden away in the corner. I was so in awe of the room that I didn't even realize that a waiter had approached me.
"Bonjour, Mademoiselle. Est-ce que je peux vous aider?"
Stunned by the sudden switch in language, it took a few seconds for my brain to catch up. Then a few more seconds before I remembered that I could actually speak French to a certain extent.
"Oui," I spluttered. Why had I forgotten every French word in the vocabulary? "Erm, une table pour deux personnes...sous le nom de Nathan Hunt?"
I tried not to focus on how many grammatical mistakes I'd made in that sentence; in all fairness, I hadn't spoken French in a good few months. The waiter seemed to understand me, though.
He winked in a friendly manner, comforting me. "Vous parlez bien, mademoiselle. Voici votre table."
I followed him into a darker corner of the restaurant and was relieved to see that Nathan was already seated, browsing a menu. Relief was just one of the emotions I felt upon seeing Nathan after our short time apart; I knew that over time it would become easier, but after spending every day of summer together, I missed him.
Sensing our approach, he stood up, setting the menu back down onto the table.
"Merci," I smiled at the waiter before he departed.
"You look beautiful," Nathan said.
Gentle fingertips gripped my waist as he leant in to kiss my cheek. His lips lingered longer than usual before he let his hands drop back to his sides. A waft of his familiar cologne comforted me, and suddenly it was like we'd never been apart.
"This place is amazing," I told him, looking around again. "Good choice."
He laughed gently. "Well, I asked around and I mentioned your interest in other cultures. No Italian recommendations, unfortunately, but I thought you'd appreciate the French nostalgia. It's not just French food, though."
"I'm impressed," I said earnestly.
Our eyes met across the table, and Nathan reached to place his hand on top of my own. His fingers swept over mine, brushing back and forth over my knuckles.
"I aim to impress," he said.
"I hope you're not trying to quote Fifty Shades," I told him.
"Definitely not. It's filth."
"Really? Is that why you've read it yourself?"
"Well if you leave porn lying around then obviously I'm gonna look at it."
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. More like you were looking for tips."
He snorted at that as he picked up his menu. "Yeah. Sure. Like I need tips."
"Alright, Mr Confidence. Let's choose our food."
"Yes, let's. I can't believe you'd bring up such an inappropriate conversation in a restaurant like this..." He shook his head, pretending to be disgusted with me.
I didn't rise to the bait, but instead picked up my own menu and began to skim the choices.
"Are we getting starters?" Nathan asked.
"I'd rather have a dessert."
"We can have all three. A three course meal. I wanted to make this special after all."
"Yeah but I won't be able to manage all three."
"That's fine; I'll help you out," he smiled, seeming happy at the thought of extra food.
Being back with Nathan felt better than ever. Conversation flowed just as naturally and was just as witty as usual. When we had finally stopped ripping into each other every five minutes, the topic turned serious.
"I hate my assistant," Nathan said. "And worse than that, I hate my boss."
"What's happened?"
"My assistant is responsible for making photocopies of my assignments, getting me all the resources I need, letting me know which meetings I need to attend et cetera. But she's useless. I've got in so much trouble this week for allegedly not doing assignments on time and missing important meetings...but my boss has no sympathy."
"Have you explained the situation to him?"
"Yeah but he says it's up to me to train my assistant." He rolled his eyes as he said it. "She's lazy and no amount of training will change that."
"Can you get a new one?"
"Yeah. I've been to human resources. They're reviewing her now and hopefully I'll have a new one by the end of next week."
"Sounds stressful. I hope they sort it for you."
"I kept giving her the benefit of the doubt to begin with. But her incompetence is too consistent."
"Have you spoken to her about it?"
"Yeah but I get the impression that she doesn't have two brain cells to rub together. My boss says if I'm that fussed with her performance then I should hire my own assistant."
"As if you'd have time for that. They already work you to the ground."
He shrugged. "I don't know. I might sit in on the interviews though. I need to get on with the new one."
"That's a good idea," I agreed.
We stayed in that restaurant for what felt like hours, until Nathan reluctantly suggested that we should head back as he had work tomorrow morning.
"Still don't want to stay the night?" I asked him as he drove me back to my flat.
"You know I can't," he said. "I need to be up for seven."
He flicked on his left indicator and then pulled into the car-park, immediately swinging into an empty space. Cutting the engine, he opened his door.
"Come on. I'll at least walk you to your block."
We walked through the car-park, hand in hand but silent. I knew we were both thinking the same thing; there'd been tension between us all evening and it needed diffusing.
As we neared the door of the block, I stepped in front of Nathan and wound my arms around his body, pressing myself up against him.
"At least come inside for a bit," I said quietly, almost pleading.
He sighed, looking torn. "Bella...you know I want to. But it's gone eleven o'clock...I need to drive back and get some sleep."
"Just for a little bit," I murmured, staring into his eyes. I knew he found it difficult to say no to me. "Ten minutes."
"Bella...if I go inside...then things are gonna happen and we both know that it won't be just for ten minutes."
"We've not seen each other for a week," I reminded him.
His hands gently rubbed my back as his eyes scanned over my body. "You don't realize how much you've been torturing me this evening. That dress is amazing...you look incredible in it. As soon as I'm alone with you, I'm not gonna be able to keep my hands off you."
"That sounds like fun," I said with a slight smile. I was happy that Nathan had noticed the dress, and by the sounds of it he'd more than noticed it.
Slowly, he lowered his mouth to mine. Our tongues instantly brushed and I melted into the warmth of his body. Nathan had been a perfect gentleman all night, to the extent that he hadn't shown any signs of noticing my dress until now. His hands around my waist tightened, and I pressed my breasts against the solid muscles lining his torso.
"Don't," he murmured, pulling away slightly and leaning backwards so there was no contact between our chests.
I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "Is something wrong?"
"Your body has been driving me insane all night... If you start doing things like that, then I'll never leave." The corner of his mouth tugged up into a sheepish smile.
Although he'd made it clear that nothing should happen tonight, I couldn't resist my next line.
"You know something about this dress?" I asked him, straightening his collar that had become twisted during our make-out session.
"What's that?" He brushed a calloused fingertip over my bare shoulder.
"It's impossible to wear underwear with it. Not even pants."
His finger immediately froze as his eyes widened. "Are you being serious?"
I shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter. Like you said, nothing should happen tonight."
"I hate you so much right now... But not as much as I want you."
He pushed me almost roughly against the door to the block, making my heart rate speed up at how sexy this assertion was. Then his mouth crashed onto mine without warning. I let out a yelp that quickly transformed into a moan as I became intoxicated by all-things-Nathan. This time he didn't hold back. His hips pressed into mine, turning me into a shuddering mess. If I hadn't been firmly wedged between the door and Nathan's body then I was pretty sure that my knees would have given way and I'd have slid to the floor. Then, almost as quickly as he'd kissed me, Nathan pulled away, taking two steps backwards.
"What's wrong?" I asked quickly, adjusting my dress that had slipped down slightly.
"Nothing," he said, too quickly.
I frowned. "You backed off pretty damn quickly, like I'd burned you or something."
"Like I said, it's getting late. And we shouldn't be doing stuff like that outside where everyone can see."
"Nathan, we were just making out. It's fine. Everyone does it."
He met my eyes for a couple of seconds. Something was clearly troubling him. "It wasn't just making out."
I huffed and folded my arms. "Oh for God's sake. You're not gonna go back to accusing me of being innocent, are you? Just because I've never done half the stuff that you're clearly so accustomed to?"
Hurt crossed his features and I immediately regretted my words.
"Sorry." I scraped my hair back from my face. "That came out wrong."
"Bella," he said quietly. "Let's not argue. We've had a wonderful evening... I didn't want it to end like this."
"Me neither," I said quietly.
I closed the distance between us and rested my head against his chest. Nathan wrapped his arms around me for a few moments, then stepped back to offer me a tender smile. He pressed a chaste kiss to my lips, his fingertips brushing my cheek.
"I love you," he said. "More than you know."
"I love you too," I told him. "Tonight has been so nice. Thank you for everything you did."
He smiled, seeming genuinely pleased. "I'm glad you liked it. See you at the weekend?"
"Looking forward to it already."
After another quick kiss, I headed inside, mixed emotions bubbling within me. I hated that we'd nearly argued after such a special evening, and guilt churned in my stomach. But this whole situation was still new to us, and we were bound to take a few wrong turns along the way. Every relationship faced challenges. And both Nathan and I loved a challenge.
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