Ever So Slightly

We finally reach the salad bar and pile food into these huge wooden bowls - lettuce, pasta, beans, ham, avocado, sausage, salmon - you name it, it was in there, and made our way to a table on the café’s terrace. We sit eating and enjoying the sun, and tentatively, William extends his hand and holds on to the one I have resting on the table. I jump violently in surprise, and knock the forkful of salad I was raising to my mouth down my front.

‘Shit!’ I exclaim, pulling my hand away and standing to brush myself off. ‘Oh fuck…I’ve gotten mayonnaise on your scarf Will…I’m sor-’

‘It’s not a problem,’ he smiles amusedly, squinting up at me against the sun. I sit back down in my chair and pick up my fork again.

‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me…’ I sigh, agitated.

‘Look…about before-’ he begins, but I know if he tries to explain about the tickling scenario, then it will only bring back the rejection I felt before, and thoroughly kill my good mood.

‘It’s fine,’ I interject. ‘I understand.’

What a lie.

‘Oh-’ I say, quickly changing the subject. ‘You have pastrami or something by your mouth.’

‘Here?’ he asks, swiping haphazardly at the wrong side.

‘Other side,’ I reply.

He swipes aimlessly again. ‘Gone?’

‘No-’ I say, leaning forwards and brushing it off with my thumb. ‘There…gone.’

I sit back down in my seat, stunned by my brazenness, and begin eating again as though nothing had happened. ‘So uh…what time does the show start tonight?’

‘Well, we open at six, but we have to get there for sound check and set up at five. I think Gabe’s girlfriend is turning up tonight to watch too, so you can hang with her before the show. She’s real nice, you’ll like her - but she gets a lot of shit off the Cobra fans.’

‘Gabe has a girlfriend?’ I ask, surprised. Usually he’s so out there and… flirty.

Or at least he seemed to be with me. Why do I feel the slightest bit shunned?

‘Don’t sound so surprised - he’s not totally incorrigible.’

‘I didn’t mean it like that,’ I say, as he sticks his tongue out at me. There’s a short pause.

‘So she’s flying all the way from America huh?’ I cover.

‘Oh no, she lives in London. I reckon she couldn’t wait to see Gabe at the London leg so decided to come down earlier.’

I nod, scraping the last shreds of lettuce from my bowl, just as Will is finishing.

‘Where to now?’ I ask.

‘I dunno,’ he shrugs. ‘We could just walk around for a bit - find somewhere to sit if you want.’

‘Sounds good,’ I agree, and we both stand up to make our way out.

We walk down the street silently for a while, until William breaks the silence with, ‘So you know my name’s William Becket, but I don’t know yours.’

‘Sure you do,’ I answer. ‘I’m Hannah.’

‘No, I mean your full name.’

‘Oh.’

‘So…what is it?’ he asks again, slipping his hand once again into mine.

My heart skips a beat.

‘Fine...I’ll tell you, but only if you promise not to laugh,’ I say sternly.

‘…Okay,’ he agrees.

I pull down on his arm, feeling the hard muscle of his bicep under my fingertips, and put my mouth to his ear, whispering my surname.

He splutters.

‘Hey!’ I protest.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ he grins, trying to keep a straight face. ‘That’s not weird at all.’

‘Hmph,’ I say, pretending to be pissed of .

‘Aw, come on,’ he says, pulling his palm away from mine and stepping behind me to wrap his arms around my shoulders. He lurches side to side as we walk, dragging me along with him and soon, we’re both cracked up laughing.

He slips to my side again, and we walk along.

One still arm slung around my neck, sun kissing our skin with feathery lips.