Beauty and the Brit -Chapter 6 (Patreon)

CHAPTER 6: SUNDAY LUNCH

Paige looked up and was surprised when she saw none other than Mr. Derick DeBurgh browsing the shop. Her heart sank into her stomach in instant nervousness. What was he doing here!?

He was dressed a bit more casually than yesterday: black slacks and a royal blue polo shirt with his hair casually combed and comfortable shoes, though she couldn’t quite see them from his position behind a book display on a table. Oh my gosh he looks great!

His bright blue eyes suddenly caught hers and she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to shrink away or feel excited that he knew where she was now. The grin accompanying his eye contact favoured the latter.

“D-Derick hi,” she stammered as he came up to her at the cashiering desk.

“Hi!” he greeted warmly.

“What are you doing here!?” she exclaimed with surprise. She internally chastised herself; it wasn’t as though there was anything wrong with him being here in her bookstore smiling at her...

“Well I was in the area and noticed the shop name and figured it was yours so I thought I’d pop in and check it out!” he explained in that swoon-worthy accent of his. “I love it in here I can see why you do too,” he went on.

“Thanks,” she blushed a little. “It really is like...home sometimes.”

Her honest confession only made him grin all the more. “That’s perfect.”

The two paused for a few comfortable moments –Paige feeling her heart beating a little faster than normal from the exhilaration of this whole scenario.

“Wow I… Your hair down you look...different. A good different!” he quickly followed up with and she blushed and smiled.

“Thanks, um…” It took everything in her power not to fidget or play with it now. “You look different out of a suit! A good different!” she returned with a soft laugh feeling nervous.

He laughed too. “Thanks! I try to take my casual days when I can!”

She nodded silently, smiling and appreciating him. She tried not to feel so nervous but it was difficult. He was so attractive… 

And here she was in jeans, a light chiffon blouse; white with flowers bordering the hem and a white undershirt. Work casual and probably better than the uniform of white and black yesterday but still she felt underdressed in front of such a sophisticated person.

“I believe it’s lunchtime if I’m not mistaken,” he went on shortly, “Uh and I was wondering if you’d already taken your break?”

“Uh no I haven’t yet,” she admitted almost breathlessly.

“Ah brilliant. `Coz I was wondering whether you and I might be able to go out to lunch,” he put forward, “And if not then if you could so kindly provide me a recommendation.”

“Oh! Oh uh...” The surprise and flattery was momentarily overwhelming. 

“It’s truly alright if you’re busy or you—”

“Oh no, no,” she stammered, “No it’s not that I guess I just wasn’t expecting –but yeah sure. I normally only have a half hour but I can extend that today seeing as it’s Sunday and...”

“Truly I don’t wish to interrupt your schedule,” Derick countered with some embarrassment.

“No it’s fine it’s really fine. Sundays are generally slow and mostly just browsers. It’s sort of a catch-up day for anything we need doing around the store and today there’s nothing so... it’s fine honestly let’s go I don’t mind,” she reassured him.

Derick seemed pleased although there was one more argument briefly when he realized she needed to lock up shop to go with him. But they settled it and went on their way.

“So uh frankly I don’t actually know where to go I admittedly was hoping you could point out a spot...”

“Oh well depends on what you want I guess... There are quite a few different places that are all nice.”

“Well I don’t want you to have to go too far,” he put in, “Something close; type of food doesn’t really matter to me.”

She thought briefly. "There's a sort of café - hot lunch spot near here. The owner Jerry is really great; always makes sure to see to it his customers enjoy their food and get a thank you for coming in it's really nice."

"That sounds delightful."

Paige led the way only a couple of short blocks as she and Derick made small talk about the summer weather and he complimented the charm of the streets of town. When they arrived he opened and held the door for her and she smiled bashfully as she thanked him and went through to the inside.

They chose a table towards the back –the windows were shining too much light in at the moment for them to be comfortable– and sat down together. Derick looked the layout of the place over with a smile. “It’s really lovely,” he declared in a plain but warm tone in his beautiful accent. “It’s comfortable even if all the tables were filled up.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. Jerry, the owner she’d mentioned to Derick, had set his place up with great spacing of the tables and chairs and made great use of the space. It was great to come here anytime of day for a bite to eat and if need be to get some work done on a laptop or read a bit of a book in peace.

Paige gestured for Derick to take his menu from the side of the table where it was slid into the silver coloured salt and pepper holder that also held a couple of condiments. Derick looked the menu over with a smile. There were sandwiches, soups, salads and treats available in addition to over a dozen drink options of both the hot and cold variety. Paige had chosen well.

After a bit of debate, Derick decided to go with the roast beef and melted mozzarella with a side of ‘Soup of the Day’ –a broccoli, cheese and ham concoction– while Paige decided on a simple ham and swiss panini. Ever the gentleman, Derick offered to go up and order and when she offered some cash from her wallet the young philanthropist shook his head and headed off to the front counter to order and pay for them both. What could she do but blush and offer shy thanks to his retreating back as she tried to tell herself that he was just being kind and she shouldn’t treat this like a date of any sort.

By the time Derick returned carrying her strawberry lemonade and what looked to be an iced tea for himself she had composed her demeanor once more.

“So, Paige Wilkinson, tell me more about your Quiet Village bookstore and how you came to be so in love with it,” he prodded.

She tried not to blush again. “Well what more is there to know? Um… Like I said I started interning for the library here because that’s where I was putting my schooling. But then I just started to find that I was loving my job at the bookstore way more than any time I was spending at the library or in studying towards that career so I gracefully bowed out after the semester was over after realizing all that and decided to go full-time with the store -with my manager’s support. She loved me and my work ethic and she sorta secretly was hoping I could go full-time when I was between school semesters which I had done once already. And then after a few months once I’d quit school –ugh I hate saying quit but it’s just sort of the way we talk nowadays isn’t it–?” she mused then shook her head and went on, “After I was done with school she finally confessed that she thought she’d like to have me succeed her as owner of the store once she retired in a year or two. Everything happened so fast from the moment I went full-time to that moment and all the promotions and raises in-between it was really surreal but at the same time I think I knew it was the right thing. I still talked everything over with her extensively though; I like never jump right in with two feet until I’m entirely sure of something after thinking it over awhile and weighing everything out but yeah I just… We made a plan to have me slowly take everything over. And honestly I’ve been really blessed; Cornelia has made things a very smooth and easy transition for me. I think somewhere in her heart she knew long before she spoke to me about it that she was sure I’d take the thing on and so she started...I dunno grooming me towards it? That sounds bad but she’d always explain things to me about the behind-the-scenes part of the business even though I didn’t need to know it at the time and then once I realized I’d be taking over eventually I already had knowledge and experience with a lot of the business-side of things so I felt like I wasn’t in over my head or that I needed to take any extra business courses.”

Derick’s expression as she spoke betrayed his utter interest and fascination with Paige’s explanation. Perhaps for her part that’s what helped her open up completely in explaining it all to him so freely. He actually cared about the answer to his open-ended invitation to tell him more. She didn’t feel like she was boring him with the details. And she didn’t feel like her words were falling on deaf ears –much unlike some other individuals in her life who only asked her questions to make themselves look good; make them appear kind and caring when they were really quite self-absorbed in their own thoughts and perceptions of her and the world around them.

“I think you’re quite fortunate to have been blessed to find something so special,” he remarked.

“I think the same thing,” she agreed warmly after a sip of her strawberry lemonade.

“Now what about you?” she posed, “You told me you got into philanthropy through your parents and the family ‘business’ so to speak. What was the moment that made you know it’s what you wanted to put your heart into and not just your time?”

“Gosh ehm…” he paused to think, “Hard to pinpoint. I always was surrounded by giving back to people since childhood so it was sort of inherent and then as I got older I was encouraged to attend the banquets and such and come up with my own projects and causes I wanted to support. So it just… It’s just grown over time. I think everyone saw that I hated business in school and uni when I took it. So I was allowed to restructure so that I’d be able to be responsible for our charities instead of DeBurgh Industries as a whole. So I’ve been fortunate too.”

“You certainly have,” she agreed with a smile.

Their prospective orders came and the two enjoyed their food for a while contentedly. Both found it was really nice to just enjoy their sandwiches and drinks in the other’s company without feeling anxious or the need to talk except to compliment the flavour after the first bite or two.

If you’d asked Paige last night if it was possible for her to actually feel calm around the handsome Derick DeBurgh she would have laughed nervously at the suggestion.

Now, she acknowledged the moment silently to herself and was happy that she felt so peaceful and content here with the guy.

Apparently though Derick either felt nervous or rude for not talking during his entire meal since he spoke up a little, trying to make some small talk as they got through their second halves of their sandwiches while he also finished off his soup.

Derick was also impressed when, as Paige had earlier said, the owner Jerry came by to see how they’d enjoyed their food and was delighted to hear that Derick had enjoyed his first ever visit! “‘The food faire here is never second best’ I always like to tease! Do come back if and when you’re able!”

“Thanks so much that’s very kind; I will!”

Once the two were walking back to her shop a short time later, Paige thought to herself that had this been a date, it had been a great one! But, it wasn’t. ‘It wasn’t a date.’

“I just want to say thank you to you, Paige, for coming to lunch with me,” Derick spoke as she put away her purse underneath the till behind the counter and stood up, “I-I’m glad I took the chance of coming by.”

“I’m glad you did too,” she admitted shyly though she smiled as she moved her loose brown hair behind her shoulders after standing to full height again.

“I’ll be in town at least another day or so,” he started, “so perhaps I’ll see you again just once more before I’m off back to England!”

“O-okay,” she stammered softly as she tucked some loose hair behind her ear.

“You’ve been a wonderful and kind host to me to show me some local faire. I appreciate it greatly! But I’ll leave you in peace now to work. I still feel bad you had to close up to come with me,” he blushed a little.

“Gosh don’t worry about it! Sundays are the perfect day to do what we did. And you forget: I’m co-owner. I make the rules and the hours of the store,” Paige mused.

“Right you are,” he nodded with a laugh. “Well, take care. Ehm...don’t work too hard!” he added with a nervous smile.

“I won’t. Enjoy the rest of your day and your stay here in our little town,” she exclaimed in return.

“I think I will just that little bit more, now that I’ve made a friend. I-I hope that’s not too bold but I… Thank you again!” Derick spoke quickly the last bit as though he felt awkward leaving Paige laughing softly to herself as he exited the store and gave her a short wave outside the window then departed down the street.

“Well, dang,” she spoke softly to the store, “I’m in love with a sexy, kind, dork of a man…”