Page 21

T hen Chris Showed Up

“O kay, this is probably not a big deal. He’s probably just with his boss or a business colleague or something—” Then she watched the two people kiss and hold hands, Chris gently rubbing his finger along h er cheek.

“What the hell am I seeing right now?” she breathed.

Rafferty sighed. “He is with a woman. What is surprising ab out this?”

“Well, one: he’s married to Charlie. It’s not about women or men. It’s the fact that his tongue just went into the mouth of someone who is not Charlie.”

“Maybe they have an understanding? It is not uncommon at all. I wo uld know.”

Helena let out a worried breath. “I mean maybe? But … I don’t know. I feel like Chris would have told me about it? But I mean, it’s their private life, so why would they… Oh, dammit, I don’t know wh at to do.”

“Ignore them, refocus here, and enjoy the rest of your meal,” Rafferty said practically, but it didn’t help the gnawing pani c inside.

“It is easy to give that advice when you don’t have to live with the consequences,” she said levelly.

“Cons equences?”

“Yes, if I don’t tell Charlie, and he finds out some other horrible way… or maybe this is all on the up and up, and I don’t say anything, but I’ll always treat him a little differently when open communication would have solved all of this.”

“You are always seeking the ‘right’ answers, aren’t you?” Rafferty said, his hands folded in his lap.

“I…” She stopped at that. “Well, yes I su ppose so.”

“Let me tell you something: from my experience, nothing we do here really matters,” he said before taking another sip of wine, even though he couldn’t taste it.

Helena frowned at that. “I think making a deal … like we both have, matters a lot. And no, that’s not true. We are what we do. It’s the only thing that matters.”

Pursing his lips, Rafferty sat back just as éliott appeared bearing plates with tiny roasted birds on it, something that reminded her of cheesy mashed potatoes, and green beans with slivers of almonds.

“We have here: Pommes Aligot, Haricots Verts Amandine, Caille r?tie et raisins,” éliott said, “which is roasted quail an d grapes.”

“I think I can identify the rest,” Helena agreed, nodding at the green beans and cheesy potatoes.

éliott gave her a wink. “Anything else I can do for you?”

“No, we’re good. Thank you,” she returned, keeping her eyes on the young man and not on the friend just be hind him.

“Oh, not yet madame. I see you need more wine,” he added, tapping his nose before disappearing to go fetch it.

Once their server was gone, Rafferty held out his hand toward her. This time it felt like a challenge. Like he was waiting for her to stop this game now that he had said something she didn’t agree with. But she did believe it—her actions defined her, and she would not punish him for something as petty as having a differing opinion from her. So she gripped his hand, and they continued with th eir meal.

After the first bite of the quail, she had to release her hand to bring it to her mouth to prevent the juices from escaping. “Oh, my God, I’ve never… You know you hear that phrase, melt in your mouth good, but this thing is actually melting in my mouth. This is amazing.”

Rafferty chuckled as he cut another bite, and it was only then she realized she let go of his hand while he chewed. “Oh, damn sorry,” she said, reaching out to reca pture it.

“It’s alright. I’m getting as much enjoyment watching you eat this than actually eating it,” he said warmly, the starbursts in his eyes dancin g merrily.

“You think I’m this crazy about a tiny bird—you should watch me eat Thai food,” she said.

“Yes, I want that more than anything in the world,” he said. “I could spend the rest of my time here with you in this city, watching you stuff your face with every food im aginable.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I know you’re teasing, but I also think you m ean that.”

He lifted a bite of the quail, offering it to her. Chuckling, she bit down on his fork, making a little grr sound. As she chewed, it occurred to her for one heartstopping moment, Am I flirting?

The implications of that would have startled her, but her gaze got drawn away from their table and locked onto Chris, looking directl y at her.

“Oh crap,” she sa id softly.

“What’s wrong?” Rafferty asked, following it to look past his shoulder. His own narrowed as he realized what was h appening.

“Just ignore him,” he repeated slowly, but it was too late.

“He’s coming over here,” Helena said, alarmed, and Rafferty reclaimed her hand, not to take from her but to give her strength. Strangely, a warm feeling of calm did sweep through her, and she managed to take a deep fortifying breath before her friend made to the ir table.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Chris hissed at her as soon as he was clo se enough.

“Hey!” Helena tried to say cheerfully, like she was happily surprised to see him, but it morphed into a protest as he planted his hands around her, one on the back of her chair and one on the table, boxing her in. His sudden weight made the silverware jump and attracted the attention of the few other people seated nearby. He towered over her.

“Answer me—are you following me?” he demanded even while he turned and smiled an apology at the closest n eighbors.

“What? No,” she started to say, but Chris didn’t even slow his roll.

“I thought you were my friend . I can’t believe you are doing this to me.” His face was so close to Helena’s, she could feel him spitting on her as he spoke.

“You need to back away right now,” Rafferty warned. He had stood up and seized Chris’s wrist of the hand planted on the table.

“Calm down, buddy. We’re friends,” Chris dismissed, shaking him off, then did a double take back at Rafferty. “Wait, you’re that caterer from that dinner she gave a few w eeks ago.”

“Yes, Rafferty here is helping me try out different places to pick a caterer for a thing at work,” Helena explained quickly, not really understanding what was happening but desperate to get out of it as easily as possible.

At that explanation, Chris did back off, looking confused and unsure. “Oh,” was all he said. “So… so this is a coincidence.” Then his eyes went wide as if he were just understanding the implications of his actions. He glanced back at his “date,” who was looking over their way with a clear expression of concern. Their table’s waiter stood next to her, frozen at the aggressive display. “Okay, Helena, I know how th is looks—”

“Is everything alright here?” éliott asked, cordially, but with a clear stance of someone who was ready to do what he must to protect hi s guests.

“Yeah,” Chris said, blinking at the sudden appearance of the waiter. “This is just one of my good friends. I didn’t know she was supposed to be here today,” he said, looking to Helena to corrob orate it.

She nodded. “Yeah, yeah, we’re old friends. It was just a shoc k is all.”

éliott nodded, though he clearly didn’t believe it, but also wanted to restore the serenity of the dining room. “Well, your current reservations are for two couples only and all of our four person tables are spoken for, so we cannot accommodate you sitting together. Therefore, I must be the bad guy and ask you to return to your party.” He smiled politely with the killer eyes of a nightclub bouncer.

Chris straightened his jacket. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry.” He turned to all the neighbors, saying louder, “Sorry everyone,” which was not received well as it prompted grumbling. éliott didn’t leave Chris’s side until he had been walked all the way back to his seat.

Only then did Helena let out a breath, giving Rafferty a brave face. “I’m alright,” she tried to as sure him.

“Bullshit. No, yo u’re not.”

“Yeah, but I got to be,” she said, readjusting her napkin on her lap. “We still have the salad, cheese, and dessert cours es to go.”

“Forget that. Do you want to leave?” Raffer ty asked.

“No,” she assured, squeezing his hand again. “This is your special dinner out. I’m not going to r uin that.”

“You didn’t,” he said. His eyes were bursting with fiery stars and that was when she realized the wrong feeling was radiating off of her companion. Suddenly it hit her that she had taken a demon to a very public restaurant, which rang a klaxon in side her.

“Please, don’t do this,” she asked softly. “Don’t hurt anybody.”

His eyes widened a little bit, maybe because he realized what was happening too. The wrong feeling subsided just as éliott returned. “How is your dinner?” he asked, his eyebrows pinched together in a genuine show of worry that was touching.

“I am so sorry, but we need to go,” she said, not willing to abandon the dinner for her sake, but she would before Rafferty lost himself. “I am so ve ry sorry.”

éliott leaned forward. “If you would like me to have your ‘friend’ removed we can do so. It is no problem.”

“No, no, please don’t do that,” Helena asked. “It’s just…” She glanced worried over at Rafferty, who was determinedly staring at the window trying to master himself.

“I understand,” éliott said, though there was no way he did. Helena was grateful for his sentiment anyway. “I have been there, believe me. I will inform the chef and have them pack up the rest of the courses for you to enjoy at home.”

“Thank you, and please, apologize to the chef for me,” Helena said, feeling terrible but also knowing this was the correct th ing to do.

“I will. Do no t worry.”