Struck by Lightning

23. I Know Who I Want To Take Me Home

The week after her director friend left, Amanda headed down to the bookstore at lunchtime with a paper bag full of sandwiches from the local deli. She tentatively pushed the door open and peered into the room. There were work benches scattered around, pots of paint, rogue wires, piles of boxes, a boy, Ben, shirtless as he carried said boxes in and out of one of the side rooms.

"Is your dad around?" Amanda asked when he spotted her.

"Dad!" Ben yelled. "That lady is here again."

"Which one?" Freddie asked as he emerged from the kitchen. He was in loose jeans and a white vest, dirty with sweat. "Oh, this one. Hi."

"Hi," Amanda said, pulling herself together, not letting his smile disarm her. "I thought you two might be hungry." She held up the bag.

Freddie rubbed his hands on his jeans and approached her.

"Starving. Thanks. What's on the menu?"

She handed over the brown bag. Freddie wiped his forehead before taking it. This was a version of him she'd never seen before. She kind of liked it.

"You can't pay someone to do the work?" she asked, looking him up and down, finding it hard to suppress a grin.

"I spent all my money on this place," he said, taking out a sandwich and handing the bag to Ben who had approached. "Seriously though, I will, but I like to do some stuff myself."

"Do I have to walk around the park again?" Ben asked through a mouthful of his lunch.

"Sounds like a good idea," his dad agreed.

Ben rolled his eyes and stalked off.

"Is this a peace offering?" Freddie asked holding up the sandwich once his son had gone.

"No, I'm still mad. And sad. But I can see you from my roof terrace and you looked as though you could do with a break."

She accidentally let her eyes wander over the outline of his abs, visible through the white cotton.

"You've been keeping an eye on me?"

"On the shop," she corrected him, lifting her gaze.

"Right. Well, yes, we've been busy. Are you eating too?"

Amanda nodded, and they sat down on a raised platform that led up to the main atrium. They ate in silence for a while, both looking around the room for different reasons. Amanda could still visualise her bookstore and cafe. The image refused to fade.

When the food had been demolished Freddie knocked his shoulder into hers gently. The first physical contact in eight years. Amanda leant into him, wishing she wasn't so upset by his presence in her shop.

He raised his arm and put it around her. "I am really sorry. If you won't take this place from me, then I don't know what I'm supposed to do to make it right. I thought maybe we could go into business together, make it part restaurant part bookshop, but I have a strong feeling you wouldn't want that."

"Have you forgotten what happened the last time you went into business with someone?" Amanda said with a laugh. "Anyway, you're right. I don't want that. And neither do you."

They fell into silence again, Freddie's arm still resting with ease around her. Amanda knew he would do anything she asked of him, but it was too late; as much as she hated the idea, the place belonged to him.

"You want to get dinner later?" he asked, breaking into her thoughts. "Catch up properly?"

"I... um... I don't know," she stuttered, him having caught her off guard.