Snippet #1848988

"Oh, I see. Parental duties," Chloe said understandingly flashing Kore a quick smile and pulling Conor into a loose hug. Conor wrapped his arms around her quickly; mostly relieved he had got away with his little lie. He saw Jacob out of the corner of his eye, glaring at him. Conor slipped his arms back to their original resting place immediately and Chloe released him from her embrace. Chloe winked slightly as she stood up. "Then I'll just leave the two of you alone." There was a slight edge to her voice. One you could only detect if you were listening closely. But Conor’s senses were on red alert and he noticed it instantly. She waved at him, "Bye Conor," She then turned to Kore and winked again, more obvious this time. "Bye Miss," she said before walking back to her group of friends. She instantly settled on the sofa beside Jacob again and he slipped his arm back round her. His casual, loose position from before had vanished entirely; now replaced with a more possessive air.

Conor felt relief wash over him and his glare in Kore’s direction that he realised was still there, slipped off.

"She's pretty," Kore said. There was no maliciousness or jealousy to the statement. It was usually something a resentful date told her boyfriend when an ex who was just a bit too friendly for their liking sidled up in the middle of dinner together. But Kore sounded totally innocent; the statement said more like a simple, well known fact than a sarcastic comment.

Conor nodded. “She’s just a friend from school. Her name’s Chloe,” he told her. He considered elaborating; explaining a bit about her, what she was like, who the friends were. But instead, he decided against it. “I’m sorry about the whole mother’s friend’s daughter thing. It’s just…” he trailed off.

How was he supposed to explain to her that you couldn’t just tell people that he’d found a strange girl in a park and taken her out for dinner? It sounded crazy. And, he realised, there probably was a very good reason for that. It was crazy. Who did that? But Conor didn’t have much time to toy with ideas as to what to do.

“The Tuscani Meaty Marinara for you Miss,” the waiter’s voice came as he presented Kore with a bowl of steaming pasta. “And, for Sir, a small peperoni pizza,” he said, setting it down in front of Conor. He then placed two glasses of water down for them. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” the waiter asked politely.

“No, that’s great thanks,” Conor smiled warmly.

“Well don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything!” the waiter said, giving Conor just enough time to nod before vanishing off back towards the kitchen.