Did The Earth Move? Page 5

  'Nothing,' was Harry's warning. 'If it was really love, the once in a lifetime stuff that everyone gets so excited about, they will wake up some day and realize.'

  'But what if only one of them realizes?' she'd asked.

  'Well, then it isn't meant to be.' Snip, snip. 'Two people have to be in love together, or else the whole thing falls apart, no?'

  'But can't I just remind them that they still love each other?'

  'How can you be sure?'

  'I'm their daughter. I know this stuff.' She'd crossed her arms and kicked her legs out with a clang against the wall.

  So that was why she was now trying to remind her father of the night he first came across Eve.

  'How did we meet?!' he was repeating her question. 'Oh, you know that story, don't you? Anyway, it was a long time ago.' For a moment, Anna thought he was about to get up and her chance would be gone.

  So she quickly added: 'I know the first thing you ever said to her,' as a prompt.

  'Do you?'

  'Yeah, she told me ages ago. It was: "Do you believe in love at first sight or do I have to walk past you again?"'

  Anna laughed and Joseph felt himself blush.

  Partly because it was such an embarrassing line and partly because with those words he was, of course, there, in the sweaty little jazz club ... ten years ago now . . . clapping eyes on Eve for the very first time and reliving the moment when he had gone to talk to her with a suddenly dry throat and knees in danger of actually knocking together.

  She had been leaning on the bar, sticking out a small pert bottom, twiddling with long blond hair, and he'd only been able to see one side of her face, but the expression was a beguiling mixture of dreamy calm and mischief.

  As he'd got closer, he'd realized that she was about ten years older than she had looked from afar and this had made him even more afraid and even more inflamed. He'd never felt anything like this. And even as he'd prepared to do the line – ironically, of course – he'd been convinced this was the coup de foudre (well, he was a French lit and philosophy student at the time). This was, on his part anyway, love at first sight.

  Chapter Five

  'Do you believe in love at first sight? Or do I have to walk past you again?'

  She had laughed out loud and taken in the handsome face framed with overgrown dark hair. He was ridiculously young. But then so was everyone else in this dim, clammy little nightclub she'd been taken to by her best friend Jen, Jen's husband Ryan and two other friends from work.

  Jen and Eve had been looking forward to the rare night out for weeks, buying silly tight tops, new lipsticks and sparkly eye shadows at the shopping centre, scanning the listings pages for a club that sounded good.

  Eve's boys had been taken to Jen's house to sleep over with her sons and a babysitter, and the five adults had piled into a shared cab to the funky little soul and salsa venue in Islington.

  And how liberating it was to drink, dance and watch a different kind of world go by. Eve felt full of fun. Jen had been right, they needed to do this more often. Get out there. Remember the life beyond work and pre-school breakfasts, homework, snot noses, nutritious suppers and all the other stuff they did day in, day out.

  So when Jen was on the dance floor again and Eve was at the bar, ordering more drinks and taking in the scene, that was when Joseph had walked up to her and started talking.

  About what, it was strangely hard to remember. They had joked about their drinks and the dancing ... oh, God knows.

  Her looking at this handsome, handsome face as he distractedly pushed back locks of hair and smiled lots, a wide-open, disarming smile she couldn't help but smile back at.

  As the conversation went on, she noticed Jen pointedly staying away, so as not to interrupt them, but it took a while for Eve to realize what this was about.

  'So who are you here with tonight?' she'd asked.

  'My mates,' Joseph had answered. 'If you look casually over your right shoulder, you will see a group of morons waving and cheering me on. That's who I'm here with tonight.'

  So she'd looked and sure enough, a tableful of lads about 15 feet away started shouting and giving her the thumbs-up sign.

  'So why are you over here talking to me?' She wasn't being flirtatious, she was genuinely curious.

  'Because I really wanted to and they dared me.'

  'Oh.'

  Oh... Oh! This was about flirting and chatting up and maybe even snogging and dating and things she had barely thought about – let alone done for a long, long time. He was interested ... in her!! She'd looked at this young man properly then. Broad shoulders, the low-hipped jeans which bagged over bright blue trainers, the olive tan hands, face and long fingers with smooth, round nails. She had a vision of small wood-brown nipples on a hairless chest and felt . . . alive, alert – and suddenly nervous. He was absolutely lovely. Their eyes kept meeting and holding. His dark, liquid brown, hers an unfathomable steel grey, he thought.

  'It's really corny,' he'd said as they'd grinned at each other, both frantic to think of something incredibly interesting to say next, 'but would you like to go outside to chat? It's quieter and maybe there are stars ... or at least streetlights.'

  She'd laughed at this, but just a little because the thud, thud, thud in her heart was so loud she could hardly hear him over it.

  Once they'd stepped out of the club onto the back street pavement it felt weird and very cold. The air was frosty and their words made clouds. He smiled a bit shyly at her now and they just looked at each other for a breath-holdingly long time.

  'Do I look a lot older than I did in there?' she'd blurted out.

  'A bit – but that's making me feel shy, not putting me off . . . or anything ... I mean ... I don't ... I didn't . . .' he'd petered out, embarrassed.

  'How old are you?' she'd asked, hugging her bare arms tightly around her and trying to stop her teeth chattering.

  'Twenty-two.'

  'Ah! Well, that makes me ten years older than you, which is maybe a bit scary,' she'd told him, wondering if he was going to rush back inside.

  'You know, it could be fun. We probably shouldn't even think about it,' he'd said encouragingly and leaned just slightly towards her, coming closer without actually moving.

  It was a pivotal moment: should she just laugh this off and turn back into the club, which is what she thought she was about to do, or should she allow herself just a little bit of . . . what? Fun? Daring? Experiment? She thought of Jen's words to her earlier in the evening: 'You're turning into such a boring old drudge, Eve. Lighten up!'

  So she hesitated for just a little moment between turning or staying, turning or staying, and then she moved, stepping towards the soft mouth that bumped down onto hers. Thud, thud, thud – she'd never felt so wired in her life. She couldn't breathe, could barely stand up, knew she was going to have to surface for air from this long, gasping underwater kiss.

  'You're lovely,' he said when they broke apart and she felt the kind of embarrassed flush you'd hope to have grown out of by 32.

  And so was he, so soft – soft mouth, soft stubble. Babyfaced. Oh God, that thought was embarrassing her even more.

  'You too,' she'd managed back in a voice barely above a mumble. 'My friends will be wondering where I am. Why don't you come in and say hello?'

  'In a minute.' He pulled her in to kiss her neck now, causing every hair the length of her spine to stand on end.

  When they made it back inside, Jen, Ryan and Eve's other very intrigued looking friends had insisted Joseph sit down beside them and answer questions far nosier than any Eve would have dared to ask him.

  It turned out he was a student – French and Philosophy. How romantic, she'd thought, forcing herself to look away now and again because she was staring at him, hungry for every little detail: the way he waved his hands about when he spoke, the cheekbones when he smiled, that little scoop of skin between the top of his lip and his nose.

  He'd worked in France for three years, saving up m
oney to do his degree, so he still had a couple of years of study ahead of him, he was telling them.

  He looked a little French, she'd thought, and whenever he'd glanced up and met her gaze she'd felt the jolt of excitement that made it very hard to concentrate on anything other than him.

  He'd insisted on buying everyone drinks and when he'd come back from the bar he'd squeezed himself onto the sofa next to her and begun tracing circles on the skin of her back with his fingers. She'd sipped the marguerita, which was making her head spin anyway, and thought only about where else she would like those fingers to go.

  When she'd torn herself away to go in search of the toilets, she'd been tailed by all three of her friends, Jen, Liza and Jessie.

  'You bad, bad girl,' Liza was telling her.

  'What?! We've had one kiss.'

  'You've already snogged!' Liza pretended to be shocked.

  'One kiss. Well... maybe it was three. It's just for fun.' Eve had clicked open her handbag and was trying to be casual about the lipgloss, spritz of perfume, hair fuss she was going to do in front of the mirror now.

  'Hmmm . . .' Jen rolled her eyes. 'He is gorgeous! Just what the doctor ordered, Eve. Please do yourself this favour ... for my sake!'

  'Don't be silly.'

  Toyboy!' Liza had teased.

  'Has he offered you a lift home yet?' Jessie's voice from the other side of the cubicle. 'I bet he's mentioned how he lives "just around the corner" and it won't be any bother to share a cab?'

  'For goodness sake!' Eve had protested but it was no use, the three of them were cackling now. And it was true, he didn't live too far away and they had made the arrangements, in excited whispers into each other's delicious little earlobes.

  'Can I give you a lift?' he'd asked.

  'Oh, it's out of your way,' she'd protested, all the time thinking: yes please, yes please.

  'Please, can I give you a lift home? Please, please,' he'd whispered, 'I'll be very good.'

  Oh. She'd thought of the back circles. Of course he would be. Very good.

  'OK then,' she'd agreed. 'Just let me check with Jen.'

  He'd gone off as well, to make sure all the friends he'd brought to the club were able to get home without him.

  'Your boys will be fine,' Jen had told her. 'Go off, have fun. And there's no rush tomorrow, pick them up whenever you like.'

  'What are you suggesting?!' Eve had tried to sound outraged but couldn't keep the grin off her face.

  'What's going to happen, I bloody well hope. He's lovely!'

  They both laughed at this.

  'OK, night-night. I'll speak to you tomorrow. Don't let the boys eat everything in your cupboards for breakfast,' Eve warned.

  Jen waved her away. 'Good night. Don't go to bed too early ... please! For my sake!'

  Eve turned from her friend and walked towards the smiling stranger waiting for her on the other side of the room.

  What did she want to do? she'd wondered. Did she want to take him home? Did she want to sleep with him? She felt a blood rush just at the thought of that. And slight panic.

  Oh God, just get over there girl, see what happens. He was fun to be with. Couldn't she just concentrate on being with him? Enjoy the moment, rather than fast-forward to the future where she was filing for divorce because he'd been cheating on her with A-Level students because 'they really understand me'. EVE!!

  He'd put an arm round her, which they'd both pretended to be so casual about, then they'd walked out to his car – even smaller, older and rattier than her own – sweet! So there they were, sitting in the front seats, looking at each other over the handbrake as he started up the ignition.

  'So... where to now?' she'd asked, wondering if this was going to be awkward. But he wasn't going to let it get awkward. He'd leaned over and kissed her again, making her pulse jump in her throat like a live thing.

  'You know I don't have to take you home,' he'd said, stroking her cheek. 'And I don't have to drag you home with me. This is nice ... we could go for a drive. Watch the sun come up, stay up till breakfast.'

  Stay up till breakfast?! The last time she did that, vomit-soaked sheets and two small boys with raging fevers were involved. But Joseph didn't need to know that. She wasn't hiding anything, he already knew she was a single mother of two. But she didn't want to bore him with too much domestic stuff. She didn't want to bore herself with it either. He was right: this was nice.

  So, he'd fired up the car and they'd driven off together. First, to the all night bagel shop in Brick Lane and then out through east London, the Docklands and Greenwich to a quiet street overlooking the river. He'd left the car stereo on and they'd moved to the back seat where, huddled under a blanket, they'd talked, joked, kissed and snogged and watched a pale pink wintry sun break through the low mist – or was it smog? – over the water.

  Just a little bit after dawn, when the insides of the car windows were steamed up with the cold outside and the warm breaths inside, Joseph's kissing was too hot and persistent to ignore.

  His breath was moving over her face as he licked at her eyelids, lips, earlobes. She felt herself undoing the buttons of his shirt as his hands moved up under hers, tugging her small breasts out of the stretchy little cotton bra, pulling her top up so he could lick her nipples.

  She'd wanted to keep this strictly above waist level: it was night one – the first time she'd met the guy. But it was too good. Her eyes were closed and she was yearning for more, for all of this, for him. She wanted to touch his legs, his buttocks, the dark hair curled up in his groin... him.

  He was tugging at the zip of her trousers now and pushing aside wringingly wet pants in the awkward fumble of trying to get intimate in the back seat of a tiny car. She blinked open to see his brown eyes locked onto hers with black pupils wide open, soft lips all rosy and flushed.

  'You are so lovely,' she'd whispered, before her mouth was under his again and his fingers were finding the melting, dissolving place between her legs.

  In a giggly tangle, she'd managed to unzip him and get the warm olive cock between her lips, before she'd scrambled up into his lap, taken him inside and sat over him watching his lovely face change, sigh, tense and finally come as she moved with him, breathed into his ear, kissed his eyebrows and told him how good he was.

  And then came the awkward bit. Her not able to quite believe what had just happened, him knotting up a wet, filled condom and wondering where to put it.

  Where did they go from here? she'd worried, tugging her jeans back up, suddenly feeling the cold and damp in the car.

  'We need breakfast now,' he'd said with a smile and then crawled to the driver's seat to turn on the ignition and the fan heater up to full blast.

  'You know, I don't really know what I want,' she'd tried to tell him. 'I mean from...' Big blush, why was all this stuff so hard to spit out? 'A man ...' Oh cringe cringe.

  'Neither do I,' he'd joked back.

  'I've got the kids and I don't want to complicate anything or confuse them... or even spend much time away from them.'

  'It's OK,' he'd said, 'I just wanted a quick shag in the back of a car and what's your name again?'

  She'd looked at him in dismay.

  'JOKE!' he'd said quickly. 'Joke . . . stupid, tasteless... strange moment after sex joke. Sorry. I'm sorry. I think you're lovely, you obviously like me, so why don't we hang out a bit and see how it goes? No promises, no-one doing anything they don't want to do. If you want to call a halt at any time, you can.' He put his arms out to help her squeeze through to the front seat again.