Among The Roses

Chapter 29: Wine and Tangerines

Rather than call for a car, they just took two cabs back to the hotel. Ellie obviously was trying to get Noah, Ned and herself into one cab, but Ned grabbed Chiara's coat and helped her into it inside the pub, and managed to take so long over it that they were last two out.

"It's fine, we'll grab the next one," he called cheerfully, waving at the Penningtons as their cab pulled away from the curb. He turned to Chiara as they stood on the chilly sidewalk and smiled, grabbing her hand.

"Alone at last," he quipped, rubbing her knuckles.

Chiara smiled back at him and was getting ready to say something when Ned was approached by a bunch of girls who wanted pictures. He immediately dropped Chiara's hand and obliged them, posing with each girl and chatting with them for a few minutes.

"Sorry about that," he said when they were finally in a taxi.

"Please, it's your job," she replied with an airy wave of her hand.

"So, what's going on with you and Drew?" he asked, leaning forward so he could see her face clearly. "I sort of thought after the mess last night that the last thing you'd be feeling toward him is friendly."

Chiara sighed. "We've decided to try to be friends, if that doesn't sound too silly," she finally said.

Ned shook his head. "No, not silly. But you two definitely looked more than friendly when you were out there dancing earlier, if I may say."

"Well, like I told Mara last night, Ellie really likes me, and she wants us to be really good friends, probably. So we're trying extra hard to show her that we are, that's all."

"So you're lying to her." Ned's face was serious, all traces of his earlier grin gone.

"No, not exactly. She just wants us to be close, so while she's here we're acting like we're close." She searched Ned's face for signs of understanding. "We're not going to be snogging all over the place or sending out wedding invitations or anything--"

"But still, you're leading her on, you have to admit." Ned's voice was gentle, but firm.

"I thought you'd understand, Ned. He's your friend. Drew doesn't want her to know that whatever might have happened between us probably isn't going to happen now, because then she'll want to know why, and last night's whole, horrid mess will have to come out, including the truth about your eye and everything, so--" Chiara shrugged. "We thought this would be easier."

"Easier for whom?"

"Well, for her, of course." Chiara hadn't meant for her voice to come out sounding quite so forlorn.

"And I noticed you said 'probably isn't going to happen'?" Ned inflected his words like. question. "Does that mean that, after what he did, the way he treated you yesterday, you still think you might pursue things with him?"

Chiara ran her words back in her head.

Fuck.

She looked out the window at the bright lights of night time London as they slid by. She finally shrugged again. "No, I don't think so," she finally said, her voice low with defeat.

"And I noticed that this time you said you don't 'think' so."

Fuck fuck.

"You need to stop paying such close attention to what I say, Ned Hunter."

"And you need to stop dropping qualifiers in your speech, Chiara Cavuto."

"He's not interested in me, anyway, like I said yesterday. I can't even count the number of times I heard him say 'don't fuck around with the help.' Well, that's me, right? I'm 'the help,' so--" she looked at Ned and paused.