‘Yes.’ Ava took another forkful of her pasta, focused for a moment on the sheer pleasure experienced by her taste buds in the hope it could counter the bitter taste generated by thoughts of her last relationship. Another mouthful and she sighed. ‘On that note I suppose we should share some information about our past relationships. A real couple would have done that by now.’
He nodded, his face unreadable apart from a grim twist of his lips.
‘I know it will be very hard for you to discuss Jess, and I’m truly sorry. Please know I am not trying to pry.’
Another nod. ‘I get that.’
‘I may as well go first.’ She sensed from his silence that he needed time to gather his thoughts. ‘How much do you know? It was a fairly well publicised romance.’
‘If I remember right he was a producer or something to do with acting.’
‘Yes. His name was, well, still is, Nick Abingworth and he was every girl’s dream. Handsome, charming...he had the ability to make you believe you were the world to him. He was an on-the-up producer—he’d done a very successful series and was about to film the next season. Just beginning to get some recognition. I was the perfect girlfriend for him.’ Her gaze met his and now she allowed her lips to turn up in a cynical smile. ‘For all the same reasons I am the perfect one for you. I was famous, I raised his profile, I had the connections he wanted, and I came from money.’ The reminder of exactly why they were sitting there was a welcome one. ‘He was trying to get a new project off the ground so I did my best to help him—I partied, I introduced him to people, I was photographed with him, and I did everything I could to promote him.’
‘It sounds like you did a lot for him. What did he do for you?’
A small frown creased her brow. ‘It doesn’t work like that. I loved him, I wanted to make him happy, wanted us to work out, so I did my best to make that happen, be who he wanted me to be.’
His flinch was unmistakeable, as if her words had caused him physical pain, and then he shifted, reached for his fork, and she wondered if she’d imagined it. Then he said, his voice tight, ‘But surely you should just have been yourself.’
‘That was me being myself.’
‘But did you enjoy the parties, promoting Nick?’
‘I... I didn’t really think about that. It was the right thing to do so I did it. I mean, I like the occasional party but I’m more a “curl up in front of a film with a big bowl of popcorn” kind of girl really.’ Not that she and Nick had ever done that. Somehow Ava had convinced herself that all the socialising, all the networking had only been temporary, that once Nick had achieved his goal they would settle into a ‘normal’ life, maybe even get married, have kids. Because she’d believed he loved her.
‘What happened?’
‘We broke up. I asked my father to invest in Nick’s project and he refused. Said he didn’t think it was viable.’ Ava had been stunned and then furious. Especially when James Casseveti had explained his other reasons.
‘I’m sorry, Ava, but I don’t believe the project is viable. I also don’t believe in Nick. I think he is using you.’
Her father’s face had been unusually grim.
‘I won’t let that happen. You deserve real love, a man who loves you—not your money, or your public persona, or your connections.’
It was in that moment that Ava had known with certainty that her father had married her mother for all those reasons, a confirmation of a suspicion she’d harboured and resisted all her life, and anger had heated her veins.
‘Just because that’s what you did it doesn’t mean Nick is the same. It doesn’t.’
She’d waited, hoped her dad would deny the accusation, would agree with her, but he hadn’t.
‘I’m sorry, Ava. I hope I’m wrong, but I won’t back Nick’s project.’
‘Nick was devastated so I backed it myself.’
Used up a vast amount of her savings, gave him a lump sum and loaned him the rest. Told herself that there was a difference between buying love and trusting love. Told herself that Nick’s easy acceptance of the money was all right, that she didn’t want gratitude because, as he pointed out, he was giving her an opportunity to invest. Told herself that she was imagining a change in their relationship, a withdrawal from Nick.
‘Then Dad had his heart attack. I gave up modelling to enter Dolci. Life changed and Nick couldn’t handle it. Couldn’t cope with my “emotional neediness” so he left.’
The flush of remembered humiliation touched her anew a
nd she pulled herself back to the present, saw the understanding in his eyes as he watched her. Nick had only been interested in what Ava Casseveti could get him and she’d been taken for a fool. That wouldn’t happen again.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘But he sounds like a scumbag. You’re better off without him.’
‘Yes, I know.’ But it hadn’t felt like that at the time. Yet, ‘But compared to what happened to you a break-up is nothing. My situation was sad, yours is tragic.’ Without thinking, she reached out and placed her hand over his. ‘I’m sorry to ask, but do you think you could tell me a little bit about your marriage? I know it must be painful but it will look odd if I don’t know anything.’
There was a silence as he took the last sip of his sparkling water and then he nodded, as the sun vanished behind a cloud and a small shiver touched her. ‘I get that. But how about we move on from here first? There’s a bar a few streets away with a heated rooftop terrace—we can watch the sunset.’