Alison Roberts - Midwives On-Call

Isla didn’t know.

‘He’s getting tired,’ Alessi said as he lowered Niko from his shoulders. ‘We’ll take him to see his favourite thing and then get him home.’

‘What is Niko’s favourite thing?’ Isla asked, glad for the change in subject.

It was the meerkats!

Niko hung over the edge of the barrier, shrieking with laughter every time they stood up and froze, calling out to ‘‘Lessi’ to watch.

‘Look at that one,’ Alessi said to Niko. ‘He’s on lookout while the others dig for food.’

Niko didn’t care if he was on lookout; he just laughed and laughed till in the end so, too, were Isla and Alessi.

It was fun.

Just a fun day out and Isla hadn’t had too many of those. She finally felt as if she was being herself, only it was a new self, someone she had never been—someone who was honest and open, except for the lies she had promised to keep.

At six, Alessi strapped an already fast asleep Niko into his car seat. ‘Hopefully he will stay that way till tomorrow,’ he said. ‘I’ll get him home and then we can go and get some dinner.’

‘Won’t it look odd if I’m with you?’ Isla asked.

‘Odd?’ Alessi checked.

‘For Allegra, seeing me out with you …’

‘I’m not going to hide you around the corner and pretend that I’ve spent the day with Niko alone. Anyway, he’s three, he’s going to tell her that you were there.’

‘I guess.’ There was a flutter in her stomach as they pulled up at Allegra’s house, but thankfully Alessi didn’t put her through the torture of coming up to the door when Isla said that she’d prefer to wait for him in the car.

‘I’ll just carry him up the stairs and put him into bed,’ Alessi said. ‘I won’t be long.’

Famous last words.

‘Is that Isla in the car?’ Allegra asked as she let him in.

‘It is.’

‘Alessi …’ Allegra started, but didn’t elaborate until Niko was tucked up in bed and the bedroom door was closed behind him.

‘What?’ Alessi said. He’d heard the note of reprimand in his sister’s voice when she’d seen who was in the car. ‘It’s no big deal.’

‘Well, it is to me,’ Allegra said. ‘Can you try and not break up with this one before I have the baby. I don’t want any bad feelings …’

‘There won’t be any bad feelings,’ Alessi said. ‘Isla would never involve you like that …’ Then he halted, because he’d lied. It was starting to feel like a big deal. ‘Anyway, I have no intention of breaking things up.’

Allegra gave a slightly disbelieving snort. ‘The baby’s still four weeks off, Alessi.’

‘I know.’

Allegra paused at the bottom of the stairs and turned and looked at her brother, who she loved very much. ‘Four weeks would be an all-time record,’ Allegra said. ‘Well, not an all-time …’ Her voice trailed off. She didn’t think the mention of Talia’s name would be particularly welcome here. ‘I like Isla.’

‘I do, too.’ Alessi admitted. ‘Yes, perhaps it would be more sensible to wait till the baby is born but …’ He gave a small shrug. ‘I’d already waited for nearly a year.’

He had.

Alessi said goodbye to his sister and then headed back to the car. A part of him wanted to turn and retract what he’d said to his sister—push the genie back in the bottle—yet he did really like Isla.

He more than liked her, in fact.

It was a rather new feeling to have.

‘Right.’ Alessi climbed into the driver’s seat. ‘Do you want to go for dinner?’

‘I do.’ Isla smiled. ‘I’m actually starving.’

‘Name where you want to go, then,’ Alessi said. ‘I picked the zoo so it’s your turn to choose.’

Isla thought for a moment. ‘We could go to Geo’s. I hear they’ve got a new menu.’

‘Geo’s?’ Alessi frowned but then screwed up his nose. ‘Maybe we could try somewhere else …’

‘Why?’ Isla pushed. ‘You’re Greek and I love Greek food and they do the best in Melbourne.’

‘We’ll never get a booking this time on a Sunday night.’

‘I will,’ Isla said.

‘They have a dress code,’ Alessi pointed out.

‘Not for me …’ She halted then. Geo’s was one of the best Greek restaurants in Melbourne and it was booked out ages in advance, just not for the likes of Isla. She could feel the tension in the car and guessed it was thanks to her latest arrogant remark. God, she’d suggested a seriously expensive restaurant in the same way she’d asked for champagne the first night they’d met.

‘Don’t make me feel pretentious, Alessi.’

‘I’m not.’

‘Actually, you are.’

He could have driven off, Alessi realised, simply left it at that. Instead, he left the engine idling and told her the truth. ‘Geo’s is actually my parents’ restaurant, Isla.’ He watched as her eyes widened in surprise and then he surprised himself and let out the handbrake. ‘Let’s go there.’

‘Alessi.’ Isla let out a nervous laugh. ‘I honestly didn’t know. I don’t want to make things awkward for you.’

‘Why would be it awkward?’ he said, while determined not to make it so.

The restaurant was packed and heads turned as Alessi led her through. Isla was acutely aware that she was wearing shorts and runners, especially when a woman, who had to be his mother, came over and gave her son a kiss.

‘This is Isla,’ Alessi introduced them. ‘She’s a friend from work and we have just taken Niko to the zoo. Isla, this is my mother, Yolanda.’

‘Come upstairs,’ Yolanda said. ‘Introduce Isla …’

‘We’re going to eat downstairs,’ Alessi said firmly, and guided Isla to a table near the back. And as they took a seat he explained. ‘If I take you upstairs then I’d have to marry you,’ he teased.

‘Downstairs it is, then.’

The food was amazing—even if Yolanda did tend to hover. Isla could hear laughter from upstairs. It was clear that Alessi had a huge extended family and a couple of them stopped by, greeting Isla warmly.

‘Your family are close,’ Isla said.

‘Very,’ Alessi agreed, and then told her a little about how the restaurant had started. ‘We started getting more and more orders for catering. People would bring in their own dishes and ask my mother to make her moussaka in them so that they could pass them off as their own. Once we had finished school my parents were ready to take the gamble so the café was closed and Geo’s opened. Upstairs is all for family. Downstairs is the main restaurant.’

‘Do you come here a lot?’

‘I try to drop in once a week,’ Alessi said, ‘maybe once a fortnight if things are busy at work.’

‘And have you ever taken anyone upstairs?’ Isla smiled, more than a little nosy where Alessi was concerned.

‘One person.’

The smile was wiped from her face as she heard the serious note in his voice. ‘You remember Talia from school?’

Isla nodded.

‘We started going out when she first went to med school.’

‘How long were you going out for?’ Isla asked, and his response caught her by surprise.

‘Two years.’

‘Oh.’ She’d always thought Alessi kept his relationships short-term. ‘That’s a long time.’

‘Especially by Greek standards,’ Alessi said, and took a breath. He never went into the past with women but he was starting to hope for more of a future with Isla, and for Alessi that meant being honest. ‘We were about to get engaged. Neither my parents nor hers have ever forgiven me for calling it off.’

‘You were young.’ Isla tried to keep things light. ‘Surely that’s better if you weren’t sure you were ready.’

‘I was ready,’ Alessi said, and watched as Isla’s glass paused just a little before she placed it on the table. He was close to sharing, closer than he had ever been. He liked her take on things, he actually respected her directness and the slight detachment that came from Isla. She offered a rare perspective and he wanted more of that now. ‘Apart from the reunion, do you keep in touch with Talia?’ Alessi asked.