Something Good Can Work

Chapter Three

I woke up the next morning in a panic. Everyone has those mornings after a night out. You're not really hungover, but you're just tired and want to hibernate in your bed for a few days with tea and Netflix. That's exactly what I chose to do, while pressing the snooze button about ten times. However, this was a Thursday morning and I had a meeting with my thesis superviser, mr. Klein, at 10 am and had to be at the lab for a five hour shift by 1:00. "Fuck". 

I jumped in the shower, put on makeup and didn't even bother to blow dry my hair. Leggings and a t-shirt it was, along with rain boots and a rain jacket because it was raining. Typical. I ran to the Tube station and made it just in time. 

The meeting went fine. All we did was talk about how to obtain participants for my thesis. The shift, however, was not so fine. I spent five hours entering data in a computer for statistical analyses, which trust me, is very long and very boring. Thankfully, I had a supper date with my best friend Chris at this Italian restaurant near Kensington. I finished my shift and made my way to meet him. 

"Emilie, vraiment, ce que tu portes c'est vraiment classe!" [Wow, Emilie, the way you're dressed is really classy!]. I could feel the sarcasm from Chris' comment run through my veins. "Va chier, j'ai eu une journée de marde'' [Fuck off, I had a shit day] I responded, amically of course. Chris and I always spoke in French to one another. The reasoning behind this was that we did not want to loose such language. 

While I looked like a wet dog, Chris was well dressed. Of course he was, he worked in fashion marketing. He was wearing black jeans, Calvin Klein boots, a plain white shirt and a leather jacket. We were on our way to the restaurant, Osteria Basilico. 

"Chris, I don't think you understand. I'm so excited to eat bread and pasta and cannolis!". "Em, your love of carbs is unreal". Laughing, we entered the restaurant and someone brought us to our seats. We were sitting in booth near the back of the restaurant, with a view of the exterior and front entrance so we could see everyone that walked in. We ordered a bottle of red wine, appetizers and pasta when I almost died. 

Genuinely, I almost died. One thing you must know about me is that my anxiety tends to go through the roof and when it does, I tend to act unrationally. Alex Trimble had just walked into the restaurant with Jamie, and they were waiting in line to be given a table as the restaurant was full. 

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK". Chris looked at me, confused. "What?". "Fucking Alex is here, kill me". Chris knew all about Alex for several reasons. The first is that we had obviously kept in touch while I lived in Northern Ireland, so he knew all about our relationship. He also knew all about our breakup since he was the person that helped me through it in Montreal. 

"WHERE?" he asked. "No, don't look! He'll see you looking and see me and NO! I look like shit, I'm dressed in my pajamas basically WHY IS THIS HAPPENING CHRIS". It seemed that my distress was amusing to Chris as he was laughing. "He's near the entrance".

Chris turns around and sees him. "Oh my God" is all he manages to say. "You should totally go and say hi to him". Cross-eyed, I looked at Chris and responded "How about NO". Our appetizers and wine arrived, and all I could manage to do at this point was stuff my face with bread and olive oil while downing my wine. I had to deal with this anxiety somehow. All I wished for is that they would be seated far away from us so I could pass icognito. "Em, please leave me some bread you ogre!".

"You know, they have an art exhibition soon. Kim invited me, and I said no because I don't want to see them and I don't want them to see me. Karma is just lovely, ain't it?" I managed to say between bites. I saw them get ready to head towards their table, and oh my God they were walking towards us. I looked at Chris wide-eyed, him laughing of course. I slowly slid down the seat and turned my head to the right so  it would be hidden. "Not obvious at all, Em".

I waited a few seconds while Chris' laugh filled the air. "Where are they now?" I whispered. "Near the window, Em. They can't see." I slowly start to sit back up and look somewhat normal when I lock eyes with Jamie. They were not sitting near the window, they were sitting a few tables away in diagonal from us. Shocked and wide eye, I started to try and hide my face again. "Fuck you Chris! Jamie has seen me now. Save me, Chris, please do something". "Em, calm down, please. Just enjoy your meal and ignore them, they may not even recognize you!". 

I tried to calm down. I refused to look towards their direction when the waiter brought us our seafood pasta. Of course I didn't forget about the fact that Jamie and Alex were just a few feet away from me, but the delicious carbs I was consuming were enough of a deterrant for me to ignore them. Over our food, Chris and I caught up over anything and everything. I was grateful that Chris could get my mind away from my distress.

Our bill came, we paid, and that is when I realized we had to leave. That implied me standing up, getting my coat and passing right beside the alley Jamie and Alex were sitting at since that was the way out of the reataurant. "Fucking hell". Chris started laughing again, "Do you want me to walk behind you so I can try to hide you?". I looked in Alex and Jamie's direction. They seemed deep in conversation, in their own bubble. I was so relieved, maybe Jamie had not recognized me after all. "I think it will be okay, but yes please try and hide me Chris" I responded, smiling. 

I put on my rain coat, grabed my purse and started walking fairly quickly. I just wanted to get out so Chris and I could go grab a drink. God only knew how much I needed a drink in that moment. Chris gave me a supportive smile as we were passing by them. 

"Emilie?" I heard Jamie ask. 

FUCK, I thought