Free Somewhere Only We Know by Erin Lawless Page A

continued on Thursday.”

Chapter 5
    Alex
    He’d spent most of the week thinking it was all some sort of elaborate joke that he wasn’t quite getting. He fully expected she’d cancel or, worse, he’d be stood up, left standing hopefully underneath the clock by Clapham Common Tube station like so many other losers before him. He’d gone to text her on Monday night (after deciding to plump for a McDonalds over the promised filthy kebab) before realising that he had never actually got her mobile number in return for his. And – let's be honest - a Facebook message just to tell someone about a burger seemed creepy…
    Alex arrived at the station at an embarrassingly early seventeen minutes to seven. In an attempt to kill time he queued up at an ATM for cash he didn’t need before slipping into Starbucks for a drink he didn’t want – different barista, equally surly – and picked Nadia up a Lime Refresher whilst he was at it (despite the fact that this would just make him feel even more stupid if she didn’t turn up). When he saw her appear from the Underground, blinking as her eyes acclimatised to the bright sunshine, the relief was a tangible rush. She clocked him almost immediately and her face broke out into a genuine smile as she made her way over to him.
    “Are you, by any chance, in need of refreshment?” Alex asked, holding the transparent plastic cup out to Nadia as she reached him. She gave a startled laugh.

    “Oh, my God! Thank you,” she said as she took it. “None for you?” she asked teasingly as she noticed the hot drink takeaway cup in Alex’s other hand.
    “I think I’ll stick to the natural energy boost that is a double shot of espresso,” he told her with a wry smile, tilting his coffee towards her in a salute.
    “Fair enough! So, are you hungry?"
    “I’m ravenous,” he answered her.
    “Really? That’s good.”
    “I actively did not each lunch today in preparation for this,” he admitted. “These ribs had better be as colossal as you led me to believe.”
    “Oh, they are!” Nadia assured him, dipping her head towards the nearby pelican crossing to indicate that they needed to cross the road. “I swear, you imbibe calories just by breathing the air in this place.”
    “Goodie!” Alex hurried to keep up as Nadia set off purposefully. “So did you skip lunch too?”
    “Me? No! I’m probably just going to have a salad or a jacket potato!” she waved him off.
    Alex snorted as he hurried to keep up. “Like hell you are!”
    Nadia
    Nadia knew her hair always smelt like barbecue sauce after a meal in this particular place, but couldn’t quite bring herself to care. Alex’s expression as he watched the waiter bring a plate – or, rather, a tray – of the so-called Jacob’s Ladder ribs to a nearby table was too priceless.
    “You weren’t kidding,” he told her, unable to take his eyes off the food. “Seriously! What animal is that?”
    Nadia shrugged. “We always thought that as it actively doesn’t specify on the menu, we probably didn’t want to know.”
    “I think it’s a bit rude to eat an animal and not even know what it is. I might have to ask.”

    Nadia jokingly clapped her hands over her ears. “If you do, don’t tell me!”
    “It’s probably buffalo or something…” Alex continued, teasingly. Nadia squealed in protest. “A buffalo that’s been fed steroids all its life…”
    “Can I get you guys some drinks to start with?” the waitress interrupted, with superb timing.
    “He’ll have a Cowboy Martini,” Nadia interjected, just as Alex opened his mouth, presumably to order something less vodka-based. He frowned at her.
    “What’s that?”
    “Obligatory,” Nadia answered, airily.
    “Fine then. Same for the lady, then,” he told the waitress. “And the drinks are my treat,” he said quickly, cutting Nadia off as she opened her mouth to argue. She didn’t want him thinking this was a date, but then again, she was spending pretty much her