Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

‘It was just so odd. Like you fell off a cliff. One day you were there, directing
everything, the next we were just supposed to … ’
He glanced up as he noticed me standing there. ‘Oh,’ he said, and I felt his
eyes settle on my chest. ‘Hello.’
‘Louisa Clark, meet Freddie Derwent.’
I put Will’s glass in his holder and shook the younger man’s hand.
He adjusted his sightline. ‘Oh,’ he said again. ‘And –’
‘I’m a friend of Will’s,’ I said, and then, not entirely sure why, let my hand
rest lightly on Will’s shoulder.
‘Life not all bad, then,’ Freddie Derwent said, with a laugh that was a bit like a
cough. He flushed a little as he spoke. ‘Anyway … must mingle. You know
these things – apparently, we’re meant to see them as a networking opportunity.
But good to see you, Will. Really. And … and you, Miss Clark.’
‘He seemed nice,’ I said, as we moved away. I lifted my hand from Will’s
shoulder and took a long sip of my Pimm’s. It was actually tastier than it looked.
I had been slightly alarmed by the presence of cucumber.
‘Yes. Yes, he’s a nice kid.’
‘Not too awkward, then.’
‘No.’ Will’s eyes flickered up to meet mine. ‘No, Clark, not too awkward at
all.’
As if freed by the sight of Freddie Derwent doing so, over the next hour
several more people approached Will to say hello. Some stood a little way back
from him, as if this absolved them of the handshake dilemma, while others
hoisted the knees of their trousers and crouched down almost at his feet. I stood
by Will and said little. I watched him stiffen slightly at the approach of two of
them.
One – a big, bluff man with a cigar – seemed not to know what to say when he
was actually there in front of Will, and settled for, ‘Bloody nice wedding, wasn’t
it? Thought the bride looked splendid.’ I guessed he hadn’t known Alicia’s
romantic history.
Another, who seemed to be some business rival of Will’s, hit a more
diplomatic note, but there was something in his very direct gaze, his
straightforward questions about Will’s condition, that I could see made Will