The Interview (English) *completed*

Chapter 22

NEW YEARS

George filled two glasses with champagne and handed me a soft blanket. I smiled at the man in front of me, it was such a relief to be back with him. He noticed my look and chuckled.
"What?"
I shook my head. "Nothing." I gave him a quick kiss and laughed when he deepened it. After what had happened we had agreed to not talk about it too much. I explained to him that I needed to work on a few things, some Kyle related but not all, and would definitely let him know when I was ready to move on with the relationship. Especially the Kyle argument made him calm down about it and not bother me too much, he didn't want to behave in any way that I could associate with my manipulative ex and I appreciated it.
Now on New Year's eve we were on his balcony, waiting for the fireworks to start and making ourselves comfortable on the outdoor sofas. When George arrived back in London yesterday evening and had surprised Camilla and me I had nearly started crying again, which I had done a whole lot that evening already. Camilla had dropped by my flat yesterday, to give me the best Christmas present by asking me to be the godmother to one of her twin girls and of course I had said yes.

My phone on the table lit up, dragging me out of my thoughts and I asked George to look at it for me, since he was closer. I had nothing to hide on my phone, everything that George didn't know was in my head. Well, so I thought, but I didn't think of one particular German person.
"Who is Chris?", he asked through clenched teeth.
I was confused for a moment until I remembered that my mother had given Chris my number.
"Oh, he is just my mother's neighbour's son. I met him at my parent's Christmas dinner party."
George nodded slowly. "And what is the reason for him to send you heart emojis and kisses?" he looked at me in a mixture of pain and anger and I frowned.
"I don't know, I haven't talked to him since the party. Let me see.", I grabbed my phone from George and checked the message.

Happy New Year :*

I hope your 2018 will be amazing and maybe with some bigger changes...

Have you ditched your "famous boyfriend" yet so we can turn the show into reality? ;)

Love, Chris.

I swallowed when I read through his disturbing message but smiled at George to cover it up. He didn't have to know the entire content of the message.
"He just wished me a happy new year, you know, Germany is ahead of us by an hour."
"Is that really what he said? I might not speak German but I know that this text says way more."
I rolled my eyes, he seemed really upset.
"George, what is this about? He is just some random guy my mother introduced to me at her party. I don't know him.", it surprised me that George acted jealous over practically nothing.
"Your mum tried to set you up with him didn't she. You told me how she tries that every now and then."
Damn, he was a good listener.
"Yes she tried, but Chris and I established that there was nothing between us."
George lifted his brows, still standing on the other side of the side table. "Ah, I see. Do you think he is attractive?"
My eyes widened. I had to be careful, this ice was about to get really thin. George's face was a mask of anger and I wasn't really sure where this all suddenly came from.
"No, I don't find him attractive. I'm more into jealous Greek idiots."
He didn't really react to my attempt to calm the situation down. "And yet he has your number, is texting you and even your mother would like you to be with him. An ordinary, German guy, probably quite boring but yet handsome." he snarled the last few words.
I nearly jumped up from the sofa. I couldn't believe what he was talking about. "George, look at me." I took his face between my hands. The light stubble on his cheeks tickling my palms. "I don't know where this is suddenly coming from, but I am not in the slightest interested in that guy. Yes we talked for a bit on that party because it was quite boring listening to all my relatives scolding me for still being single and it was nice to talk to someone. Especially because it meant I could get my mother off my back for a while. But I am with you. Only you." I stroke his cheek with my thumb. "You should know that by now."
His face got softer and then ice cold again. "Is that why you called me crying on Christmas eve?"
I swallowed. "George..."
He shook his head and stepped away from me. "I can't believe it. You didn't call me because you missed me or because you felt the same about me, but because you felt guilty that some other guy thought you were available.  Am I right?" 
"No, that wasn't why I called you. I missed you and I felt horrible for not being with you because of my own fear of..." I shook my head. "I called you because I wanted to let you know how much you mean to me and that I truly can't stop thinking about you."
George still didn't really look at me. For a moment I thought I saw his eyes get wet, then he blinked and emptied his champagne in one go. 
Once again I stepped closer to him again and put my hand on the side of his face. George took a deep breath, his eyes still glowing in anger and his jaw tensed under my fingertips.
"Come on, I really don't want to start the new year fighting with you over someone so unimportant."
I could see the conflict in his eyes when he took another deep breath. "There was really nothing between you?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. You can trust me, you know that."
We both know that our fight had not been about Chris. This was about me not being able to say that I am truly committed to him. This was about me not being able to tell him how I truly felt because the last time I had loved had died in my arms.