A Brave Start Read online

Eleanor laughed, loudly. She couldn’t believe the craziness of the situation. Here she was standing in front of one of her favorite actors, chatting with him, and laughing with him. He smiled at her and she suddenly felt dizzy again under the power of it. On screen it was one thing, but when that smile is aimed directly at you in person, well, Eleanor understood why the women who show up at his premieres end up screaming and almost fainting.

  Trying to focus herself, “Well, let’s just call it a draw then, shall we? Thanks for catching me again though. It’s been a long night and I’ve been enjoying perhaps a bit too much champagne.”

  “Champagne? Are you celebrating something?”

  “Umm, yeah. My friends surprised me tonight with a birthday party—”

  “It’s your birthday?!” he exclaimed smiling even wider.

  Struggling to maintain her composure, “Umm, uh huh. Yep.”

  “Happy birthday! That’s fantastic!” Patrick replied enthusiastically.

  His smile and enthusiasm were so sincere Eleanor felt her body tingle under his attention. She knew she needed to get back to her table before she made a complete fool of herself.

  “Well, I should get back to my friends, and let you get back to yours,” she said, feeling a bit foolish as she did, for some reason.

  “Wait,” Patrick said quickly, “at least tell me your name this time. I’m Patrick, Patrick Reynolds,” he said, extending his hand to her.

  Shaking it firmly, Eleanor replied, “I know...er, I mean, I’m Eleanor Gordon. Pleased to meet you Patrick.”

  “Very pleased to meet you, officially at last,” he said sincerely. “I’ll let you get back to your friends, I shouldn’t keep the birthday girl held up chatting to a prat like me.”

  “It really was nice to bump into you again. And thank you for the kind birthday wish.”

  “My pleasure. Truly. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your evening.”

  “Thank you.” Smiling at him one last time, Eleanor walked past him and headed back across the room to her friends.

  Jonathan rose when he saw her approaching, “Is everything alright?”

  “Yes, I just saw someone I knew and stopped to chat for a bit.”

  “Someone you knew?” Mark asked curiously.

  Eleanor paused, “Well...we’ve only met one other time, it’s a long story. Sorry I took so long.”

  Jack looked at her puzzled expression and quickly said, “It’s your party and you can talk to whoever you want. But we’re glad you’re back, we’ve been missing you.”

  Eleanor sat down between Jack and Mark and started chatting with them both, trying to put her encounter with Patrick in the back of her mind to replay later when she was home. A few moments later Celeste appeared with a server from the bar holding two more buckets of champagne.

  “Did we order more champers?” Jonathan asked looking around at the group.

  Before anyone could answer Celeste replied, “These are compliments of the gentleman at the bar, along with this,” she finished, handing Eleanor a small card, folded over once. Eleanor unfolded it and read the short message:

  My apologies again for being such a clumsy git. Happy birthday beautiful Eleanor.

  xx

  -Patrick R.

  Eleanor felt herself blush reading the message and quickly folded it back up and slipped it in her clutch before anyone else could read it.

  “Who’s it from Ellie?” Jonathan asked curiously.

  Eleanor replied to Jonathan but looked directly at Celeste, “the friend I bumped into coming out of the ladies.” She didn’t want to make a big deal about having champagne delivered from one of Britain’s most up and coming young actors. Celeste seemed to understand and gave a slight smile and nod. She left the ice buckets with the bottles and the group refilled their glasses and toasted Eleanor again. As she took a sip she glanced beyond their group to the bar and saw Patrick standing there in a group with his friends. He raised his glass in her direction and took a sip. She smiled in return.

  The party continued for another couple hours and sometime around 2 o’clock in the morning they all stumbled out of the club laughing. Eleanor thought she’d seen Patrick wave in her direction as she was walking out but between Jack and Jonathan and Mark all bending over backwards to give her an arm to lean on, she was pretty distracted.

  Eleanor said goodbye to all of her friends one at a time. Jack headed off with the girls from school as they all lived in the same area. It was down to just Eleanor, Jonathan, and Mark, when Jonathan said suddenly, “I forgot to talk to Celeste about something. Mark, can you get Eleanor home alright?”

  “I can wait for you Jonathan,” Eleanor said, feeling slightly alarmed with the thought of being alone with Mark. She was still somewhat uneasy about him “liking” her.

  “No, you need to get home and go straight to bed. You’re looking dead on your feet dear,” Jonathan replied a little too quickly.

  “I’ll see she makes it home safely mate, no worries,” Mark interrupted.

  Eleanor felt herself being guided into a taxi before she could say anything else and suddenly was whisked back to Holborn. There was light traffic that late at night so the drive didn’t take long. Mark got out first and paid and then offered his hand to help Eleanor get out of the taxi, which she accepted gratefully. Suddenly the lateness of the hour caught up with her and she suddenly felt so tired. While she had been careful with the champagne and wasn’t drunk, she was still a bit tipsy. She realized suddenly that a bit too much alcohol, high heels, fatigue, and gravity were a potentially dangerous mix.

  “Steady there,” she heard Mark say with a laugh.

  “I swear I was doing just fine in these shoes until about thirty minutes ago,” Eleanor grumbled in return.

  “Shall I carry you upstairs my lady?”

  Appalled at the idea Eleanor gasped, “Absolutely not, thank you very much. I can manage on my own for another few minutes.”

  Mark continued laughing, “Very well then. Let’s get you upstairs.”

  After a short and quiet ride in the lift they were soon at Eleanor’s front door. She fished her key out of her clutch and opened the door. She turned to say goodnight to Mark and saw him looking down at her, a very serious expression on his face.

  “Is everything alright Mark?” Eleanor asked with concern.

  Shaking his head, as if to clear his mind, he smiled and said, “Yes, I was just thinking.”

  “Thinking about what?”

  “Would you like to have dinner with me? I mean, not just as friends, not like we’ve done before, but, you know...as a date? What I mean is...what I’m trying to say, very clumsily I’m afraid, is...Eleanor, would you go on a date with me, to dinner? Wow, that was still rubbish, wasn’t it?”

  “No! That was sweet, and sincere. Thank you," Eleanor said with a smile. She felt a moment of hesitation. Did she really want to go out on a date with Mark? She liked him, but was she ready to date again? As quick as the questions came into her mind she squashed them even quicker and said suddenly, “I would love to go out to dinner with you. As a date. Thank you.”

  Mark beamed down at her, “That’s great! Brilliant. How about Friday? Say, 7 o’clock?”

  “Friday at 7 it is. And now if you’ll excuse me I really must go to sleep, before I collapse,” Eleanor said, pleadingly.

  “Right, off to bed you go. Sweet dreams.”

  And before Eleanor could realize what was happening, Mark reached his hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned in to kiss her. She was surprised but quickly found herself kissing him back. His hand moved from by her ear to the back of her head, his other hand wrapping gently around her back. He was a good kisser; his lips were smooth and gentle but there was no mistaking his interest.

  Her eyes were still closed when he broke away, and said, “See you Friday then?”

  Eyes fluttering open, Eleanor struggled to bring her mind into focus, “Yeah, um, yes. Friday. 7 o’clock. Um, do you want me t
o meet you somewhere?”

  “No, I’ll pick you up here. Alright, I’ll let you go. Get some sleep.” He gave her one last smile and then turned and walked back to the lift.

  Eleanor stood there for a moment before stepping back and closing the door. What a night! She couldn’t believe everything that happened this evening. The shopping, the surprise party, bumping into Patrick Reynolds. Again. And now Mark asking her out? And that kiss! She felt like she was living in one of the romance novels she loved to read. Smiling to herself as she walked into her room and kicked off her shoes Eleanor thought to herself, this was the best night ever! And moving to London? she thought as she collapsed on her bed, still wearing her dress, definitely, absolutely, the best decision ever! And with that she promptly fell asleep sprawled diagonally across her bed and slept better than she had in months.

  Chapter 7

  The next week Eleanor felt like she was floating through life, living on Cloud 9. School was going so well, her latest assignments had come back with top marks and Eleanor felt like she was finally getting into a rhythm. She spent hours in the afternoon in her favorite coffee shops writing and wandering around the One New Change shopping center behind St. Paul’s Cathedral. She was looking forward to her date on Friday. Thursday found her taking advantage of the few days they had off from school before the next term began. She decided to pick up some new jewelry at Accessorize before treating herself to a cream tea at Bea’s of Bloomsbury, which had quickly become a favorite after Jack had taken her there one day after class earlier in the term. While she enjoyed sipping her tea, Eleanor thought about everything that had been happening over the last few days and weeks. For once it felt like things were going her way and things were working out.

  On Friday she headed straight home from school, arriving back at the flat around 5:45 in the evening. She frantically flew around her room trying to put together the perfect outfit, but nothing seemed right. She didn’t know where Mark was taking her. She didn’t think it was appropriate to dress up as formally as she’d been the week before for her party but she felt like jeans and a sweater weren’t nice enough. Finally, with only a few minutes to spare she settled on a slim black pencil skirt with tights and knee high boots and a plain peacock blue sweater with a deep cowl neck and one of her favorite new blue and green statement necklaces from River Island. It was dressy but not too dressy and the neckline hinted at cleavage without actually showing any. Eleanor blushed at the thought, considering she would have never worn this sweater on a date with Michael, then immediately pushed all thoughts of Michael out of her head. She grabbed her black handbag, threw her scarf and coat over her arm before walking out into the foyer just as the bell rang letting her know Mark had arrived downstairs.

  Pressing the button on the intercom, “Hello?”

  “Hi, it’s me,” came Mark’s voice from the front door below.

  “Be right down.”

  Once she got to the ground floor and stepped outside the building Eleanor was hit with a blast of cool night air, it had become much cooler than it had been earlier in the day.

  “Oooh, it’s gotten chilly, hasn’t it?” Eleanor said with a laugh. As she struggled to put her coat on, “I should have put this on upstairs,” she said sheepishly.

  “Here, let me help you,” Mark said, taking Eleanor’s coat and stepping around behind her. He held it out so she could slip her arms through the sleeves and then pulled it up over her shoulders. Eleanor reached up to pull her hair out from under the collar just as Mark stepped back in front of her and leaned down to kiss her lightly on the lips. “Good evening,” he said with a smile.

  Startled slightly and feeling thrown a bit off balance by the sudden display of affection Eleanor stammered back, “G-g-good evening.”

  Mark continued to stare at her for a second, as if thinking, before reaching out to place his hands on either side of Eleanor’s face and drawing her towards him, he leaned down and kissed her, gently at first, but soon growing in intensity. Eleanor felt thrown even further off balance and placed her hands on his chest to steady herself, which made Mark kiss her even more intensely, reaching one hand around to the back of her head and the other down around behind her waist. Eleanor felt like her head was spinning off into space and she struggled to keep up with Mark as his mouth explored hers.

  Finally, Mark broke off and Eleanor found it difficult to catch her breath.

  “I’ve been dreaming about doing that all week. I was going to wait until the end of the date but then you came out that door looking so ravishing. I’m afraid I’ve quite undone your lip color though,” Mark said with a laugh.

  Trying to focus her vision, Eleanor looked up at Mark and started laughing, noticing that he had indeed messed up her lipstick and was now, in fact, wearing some of it himself. Cocking her head to the side she quipped, “You know, it almost looks better on you.” She laughed as Mark blushed sheepishly, and she quickly pulled a tissue out of her bag and wiped the lipstick from Mark’s mouth and then wiped the remains off hers as well. She had brought the tube with her for touch ups but if this was how the date was starting she figured she’d better stick with her trusty Burt’s Bees lip balm instead.

  Mark reached out for her hand and tucked her arm through his as they walked off down the road towards Holborn Station, “Do you mind taking the Tube?” he asked.

  “Not at all. I do it every day,” she said with a smile.

  “Yes, but this is a date. Not every woman appreciates taking public transit on a date.”

  “I wasn’t expecting you to splurge on a cab. Where are we going,” she asked, changing the subject.

  “A friend of a friend owns a little Italian place in Kensington. How does that sound?”

  Thinking about what had happened the last time she had been at an Italian restaurant on a date, Eleanor quickly pushed the thought out of her mind and tried to smile, “Sounds good.”

  Noticing her false brightness, “Are you sure? We don’t have to, it’s just I know you and Jonathan eat spag bol all the time, so I figured Italian was a safe guess.”

  Trying for a more sincere smile Eleanor insisted, “Yes, I love Italian. I’m sorry, it’s just Jonathan and I eat at home. It’s been ages since I’ve been to an Italian restaurant for a meal and to be honest, the last time wasn’t the most spectacular experience. But that was back in Arizona, I’m sure it will be much better here,” she finished in a hurry, hoping Mark would think it had been the food that had been the disappointment, and not her ex-boyfriend.

  “Right, ok…,” Mark said, clearly thinking about something, finally he said, “Ok, change of plans—“

  “—oh no! We don’t have to change the plans!” Eleanor interrupted.

  “No, it’s fine. I want you happy and comfortable and not worrying about a single thing. Tonight is meant to be fun. How do you feel about Chinese?”

  “Umm, I’m really boring with my selection but I do like it, a lot.”

  “Ok, I know a really good spot, we can walk there if that’s alright.”

  “I can walk,” Eleanor said with a smile.

  “Good, off we go then.”

  They headed towards Holborn Station but went past it and Mark led her towards Soho. Before long they were walking through Chinatown, but Mark kept leading her past one Chinese restaurant after another, until they’d almost reached the other side of Chinatown, when he suddenly led her down a small side street, away from the hustle and bustle of the main area of Chinatown where all the tourists were hanging out. Eleanor had finally managed to learn the larger roads in the area but she knew that she would have never found her way to this place, it was so tucked away. They finally walked up to a small, unassuming restaurant that was sandwiched between a dry cleaners and a newsagent in a small square with a couple office buildings around it. It was brightly lit from inside, with little Christmas tree lights twinkling around the windows.

  They walked inside and were greeted by a kind looking older woman, who greeted Mark
with a hug. They exchanged a few words of greeting in Mandarin, Eleanor recognized a couple words, thanks to having a friend during undergrad who was an exchange student from China, but she was impressed with how much Mark seemed to know. Finally, they switched to English.

  “Mark, it has been too long,” she said with a British accent, only slightly marked by her native language. Glancing at Eleanor, she smiled and asked, “Table for two?”

  “Yes,” agreed Mark. “Lois, this is my friend Eleanor. Elle, this is Lois, her family has owned and operated a restaurant in this space since the 1950s.”

  Eleanor’s eyes grew wide and Lois said smiling, “Yes, I grew up in the flat upstairs. Please, take a seat wherever you like.”

  Mark led Eleanor through the tables, which at this time of night were mostly full, but Eleanor soon found that the restaurant was much deeper than it looked from the front. Mark led them back into an interior room that was much quieter and looked out over a small patio, lit up with more Christmas lights. The room was smaller than the main dining area but still a decent size and there were no other customers sitting in it.

  “This room is usually used for private parties but Lois always lets me sit here or out on the patio when it’s nice,” Mark explained.

  “How lovely,” Eleanor replied, looking around.

  They walked to a table by the window, looking out on the patio, and Mark came around behind Eleanor and held out her chair. Eleanor couldn’t help but compare Mark’s behavior to Michael’s. Michael had never been one for holding open doors, pulling out chairs, and she couldn’t remember the last time they had held hands or walked arm in arm. At the time she’d told herself she didn’t need those little gestures, but experiencing it now with Mark, she found herself really enjoying and appreciating them.

  The next couple hours seemed to fly by. Even though she had spent a lot of time with Mark and the rest of Jonathan’s friends, they still had so much to talk about. The conversation ranged from their favorite TV shows (both couldn't decide between Sherlock and Doctor Who), favorite books (his sci-fi, hers chick lit), favorite bands and music (both admitted sheepishly to having Britany Spears on their iPods) and chatted about places they’d travelled to. The only pauses and silences were caused by stopping to eat the delicious food that had arrived. Somewhere around 10 o’clock, three hours after the date had started, Eleanor realized how long it had been and couldn’t believe how easy going the date had been. She’d been a nervous wreck the first time she went out with Michael, and for the few horrid first dates she’d gone on during their first breakup. She knew it had to have been because unlike those dates, she already knew Mark. With Michael, it had just been a couple book club meetings and the others a very brief (and immediately regretted) foray into online dating.