Signals

“Don’t you see what he’s doing?” Emily questioned loudly as she pulled the sizzling chips out of the deep fryer. Louise ignored the buzzing phone in her pocket and focused on stabbing a toothpick through the last burger. Even if it was Tom calling her and a chat with him would de-stress her, she was far too busy to answer.

“No, I don’t,” Louise replied as she pushed the plates of gourmet burgers towards Emily to receive their chips.

“He’s been trying to get you this whole time,” Emily explained, almost spilling the chips with her excitement. “Don’t you get it? He’s been diverting you from all of the men you find, and then he has this little fling to make you jealous-”

“I don’t think Annie was a fling,” Louise interrupted before starting work on a salad.

“Well I’m certain she was,” Emily shrugged.

“Look, I’ve told you before; we have chemistry but… the romance just isn’t quite there. And because of that, I genuinely believe that he was giving me good dating advice so I could avoid all of the tools out there, not because he was interested in me.”

“You are so wrong,” Emily said with a roll of her eyes. “I mean, he spent his first day back in London with you. He could have spent it with anyone else, or only just a portion with you, but no. You get the whole day with him. He likes you.” She dusted a layer of salt onto the chips and rung the bell for a waitress. Louise could only sigh at her friend.

“Hey Louise, got a man here who wants to give compliments to the chef!” a waitress called out and Louise hesitated, glancing up and seeing Tom round the corner, a cheeky smile across his lips.

“Tom? What are you doing here?” she blurted, her cheeks turning pink as she hoped that he hadn’t heard Emily’s nonsense ranting.

“Grabbing a bite to eat and visiting you,” he answered casually as Louise left her salad and hurried around the benches. She brushed past Emily who was wide-eyed as she checked Tom out. “Your grilled chicken salad is delicious, really. All of the flavours just melted in my mouth. You should cook for me sometime.”

“I’m not going to cook for you,” Louise chuckled as she came to a stop before Tom. He was wearing a dark blue vest and skinny tie over a white shirt, rather dressed up but looking great, and his hair was a shade or two lighter than when he had returned from LA and it was brushed back off his face. Louise couldn’t help but feel insignificant in her hairnet, white chef’s jacket, and flustered expression from working hard non-stop for the past few hours.

“Why not? It would be great fun,” Tom beamed and Louise glanced away.

“I just don’t want you only liking me for my cooking skills,” she admitted, having had so-called friends abuse her talents in the past.

“Well I think we both know that wouldn’t happen,” he remarked. Louise raised her eyebrows for a second as she read too much into his words, only because of the way Emily was talking moments ago. “What are you doing after work? I was wondering if maybe we could go somewhere together?”

“Yeah, sure, that would be great,” Louise nodded with a grin.

“Which would you prefer: a bar to pick up guys in, or maybe something more intimate like dinner and a movie?” Tom asked smoothly and Louise froze for a brief second with surprise before her face cracked into a smile.

“What?” she breathed with disbelief. Her grin did nothing to hide her excitement at what Tom had just said, so he leaned in and kissed her, finally willing to admit to himself that he had fallen for her.