Phillip parked the car in front of the restaurant’s glass walls. He had an uninterrupted view from here.
It was already dark as it was colder lately, so Roman didn’t feel inconspicuous sitting in the car. Not like when he had gone there before. The first time had been in broad daylight and his car had stuck out so much in this neighbourhood that he hadn’t been able to stop long enough to see Evelyn.
Now he could sit here for however long he wanted like some love-struck teenager waiting to catch a glimpse of his crush.
This was so stupid.
He was a grown man and should have been able to just walk in and ask to talk. Maybe this was a mistake. Evelyn had put their time together behind her so he had to respect that. He had to leave things alone instead of playing with fire again.
“Are you going in?” Phillip asked.
Was he?
He looked through the window, and almost immediately Evelyn walked out of the kitchen in the back holding a tray full of food. She smiled her million-watt smile as she expertly manoeuvred around the tables and spoke to the diners. It had been so long since he had been this close to her that he’d forgotten what that smile did to him.
No, not forgotten. He could never forget. Perhaps his mind had dulled those memories like they were past traumas.
Evelyn was still the most stunning woman he had ever seen, even in that uniform she had to wear. Her hair was in a neat bun on top of her head and she was make-up free. She looked fresh even though she’d been on her feet for hours. She looked happy. She hadn’t looked like that in the last weeks of their arrangement.
“Sir?” Phillip said.
He’d stopped caring that Phillip was there to witness most of these moments.
Maybe it was karma. All the women he’d discarded in his life without a thought, with a simple termination of a contract, had led to this moment. Evelyn Bright had been sent to him as a punishment for all his bad deeds.
Because here he was, three months after she had run away from him and he couldn’t move on. He was stuck with only memories of her to keep him warm at night.
At first, he’d told himself that it was because of how things had ended. There had been no closure. But it wasn’t the closure he wanted, it was Evelyn.
He had fucked up, he could admit that now. Evelyn was never going to want to come back to him.
“If we’re going to just sit in the car all night maybe I should order some food,” Phillip said when he didn’t answer again.
“We’re not going in,” he said finally.
When Evelyn finished serving the food, she smiled again at the diners at the table before she walked back to the service counter. Her shift was over now. She was going to change and get her things before she came out into the cold to wait for the bus. Then she would go home to her parents. Her routine was the same every day.
“If you were Evelyn, what would I need to do to get you to talk to me again?” He asked Phillip.
“If I was Evelyn I’d have fucked you off a long time ago.”
“You’re not helping, Phillip.”
“You asked for my opinion and I gave it to you. You knew she wasn’t like the others the moment you saw her.”
He had. But he had still been confident that he could treat her the same and come out on the other side unscathed.
Ten minutes later, Evelyn came out from the back wrapping a scarf around her neck and waving at her co-workers and some diners before she walked out. She didn’t even look in his direction as she rushed to the bus stop, where one was already approaching.
He’d missed his chance.
Phillip sighed and started the car without another word. Moments later they had joined the Birmingham traffic.
It didn’t take too long to reach the house he had bought from under Evelyn’s nose. The work on it had been finished for quite some time because he had been convinced she would eventually call him to talk. But would she ever see it? Would she see all the attention he had paid to the small details?
Everything was accessible and spacious so her father could be more independent. He was extending the house so Mr. And Mrs. Bright could have a larger bedroom downstairs as well as an extra room for the equipment – the perks of owning a construction company. The planning permission had been granted quickly and his people had started building it as soon as possible. He didn’t know how Evelyn and her parents were managing now in a space that was smaller than their previous accommodation. Why hadn’t she tried to find another house with the money she had?
Phillip stopped the car behind Evelyn’s old car. It had been driven there that afternoon, along with his luggage. Would Evelyn appreciate that it was in a better condition than when she’d bought it? Or had he fucked that up, too?
“What time do you need me here tomorrow?” Phillip asked.
“I’ll call you,” he answered as he picked his briefcase up and got out of the car.
He walked straight to the drinks cabinet that he’d asked to be stocked up for him and poured himself a shot of whiskey. Then he took it upstairs to the room that he had set up for Evelyn and sat on the bed.
Was he making a mistake here? He’d had three months to think things through but he still didn’t feel ready. This was new territory for him and for the first time in his life he was unsure of what the outcome would be. He had no control over anything anymore.
And if he was honest with himself, he had lost control long before Evelyn had left him.
He downed his drink before he pulled his phone out of his pocket.
It was now or never.
He took his phone out and typed the message. He hesitated only briefly before he sent it.
There. It was done.
Tomorrow would be the start of a new chapter whether he was ready for it or not. It was time to woo the socks off Evelyn Bright.