‘Tonight?’ Emily looks towards the chopping board, where two delicate sea bass fillets are sat waiting to be prepared. ‘You know what? That would be lovely. Really lovely. I feel as though I’ve barely seen you all week.’ She moves past him quickly, shoving the fish into the fridge and giving him a fleeting kiss on the cheek. He lets out a sigh once he’s alone. He’d forgotten how complicated it was, keeping a wife happy.
They get a cab into town before walking the short distance towards the restaurant, meandering along the streets with their arms linked together under a clear, dusky purple sky. Despite the slight chill in the air, there is still that faint sense of the last vestiges of summer thanks to the fact that the clocks haven’t yet gone back, and that people are still braving the outside areas of the few pubs that they walk past, some huddling under patio heaters but still in T-shirts, reluctant to let autumn kick in properly. Emily seems to have relaxed now that they are out of the house, her forehead no longer tightly creased with a frown, the dark circles under her eyes hidden by concealer. Rupert is pleased that he thought to bring her out to dinner, he should have realized that she needed to get out after being at home on her own all week.
They reach the door of the Italian restaurant that Rupert has frequented for years. A tiny, family-run affair, Rupert and Caro used to come here regularly, but Rupert hasn’t been since Caro died. He didn’t feel ready before, the place awash with memories of past nights out, that nagging guilt heavy in the pit of his stomach, but he’s missed the excellent food, the friendly service. Tonight, he can’t think of a better place to spend his Friday evening.
Rupert pushes open the door, leaning out of the way so that Emily can duck under his arm and enter the restaurant first. The familiar smell of garlic on the air makes his stomach rumble, making Emily laugh as she hears it behind her. A laugh that quickly fades as Gino, the restaurant owner, bears down on Rupert, arms spread open in welcome.
‘Ahhh, Mr Osbourne-Milligan! How lovely to see you, but where is the delightful Mrs Caro?’ He peers over Rupert’s shoulder out into the street, and then back to Rupert with a questioning look on his face. Rupert’s mouth goes dry, and he can’t find the words to speak.
Emily looks up at him, her face stricken. ‘Rupert?’
His face burning, Rupert tucks his arm around her, ‘Gino, this is Emily. I’m afraid…’ He has to cough, to push the words past the lump in his throat. ‘Caro passed away. Emily and I were very recently married, and I wanted to bring her to my favourite restaurant. Could we possibly have a table for two, please?’
Rupert slides the light jacket from Emily’s shoulders and holds it out for the restaurant owner to take, even though the place is crowded, and Rupert can’t see any vacant tables.
‘Oh… of course, I apologize for my…’ Gino breaks off, turning to survey the room. ‘This way, please.’
Rupert and Emily follow him through the crowded restaurant to a table tucked away in the corner that Rupert hasn’t seen. It’s perfect – completely private, the best place for a romantic meal for two – Gino obviously wants to make things up to them. Gino scurries away to get menus as Emily and Rupert take their seats.
‘Em, I’m so sorry. I haven’t been here for… God, months and months. Way before Caro died. I just didn’t think.’ Rupert is being deadly honest – he really hadn’t thought about it, he’d just fancied a meal out at one of his favourite restaurants. It hadn’t even crossed his mind that the restaurant owner wouldn’t have known that Caro had passed away.
‘It’s fine.’ Emily gives a tight smile and fusses with her napkin, seemingly fully absorbed in making sure that it is spread over her lap perfectly.
‘No, it’s not. I should have thought about it. I’ll explain to the owner what happened to Caro… I feel awful, especially after what happened at yoga today with the instructor.’ Rupert wants to make it up to her, but if he’s honest he doesn’t really know how to even start. Nothing like this ever happened between him and Caro, obviously.
‘Really, Rupert, I’d rather you left it.’ Emily takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly and forcing her mouth into a smile. ‘Let’s just have a nice dinner, like we planned. Ahh, here we go, menus.’ She turns the full-watt smile onto Gino who hands over the menus and discreetly backs away.
Rupert eyes her carefully as she reads the menu, her face serious. Is that really all she’s going to say about his giant fuck-up? If it had been Caro then he would have been in serious shit, and they probably would have rowed for days. Emily must feel his eyes on her, as she looks up and smiles. ‘Are you ready to order?’
‘Yes.’ Rupert smiles back. She really does seem to be OK about things. He waves Gino over. ‘We’ll both have the veal, please, Gino. That’s OK with you, Em, isn’t it? It’s the best dish on the menu, I have it whenever I come here.’ Too late, he realizes he probably shouldn’t have said that last part.
‘Um, I quite fancy…’
‘It’s really, really good. We’ll have a bottle of Chianti to go with it, Gino.’ Rupert snaps the menu shut and hands it back, before turning to Emily. ‘Now, let’s concentrate on us. How was your first week as a lady of leisure?’
‘If I’m honest with you, Rupert, I’m not sure I’m cut out for this housewife lark,’ Emily says, tapping lightly on the table with her fork. ‘I’m not really enjoying being at home on my own.’ She looks as though she’d like to say more but
