Me Before You: a novel

gentlemen, an emphatic win there from Love Be a Lady, there in first
place, followed by Winter Sun, and Barney Rubble two lengths
behind in third place.

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I pushed Will’s chair through the oblivious groups of people,
deliberately bashing into heels when they failed to react to my
second “excuse me.”
We were just at the lift when I heard Will’s voice. “So, Clark, does
this mean you owe me forty pounds?”
The restaurant had been refurbished, the food now under the
auspices of a television chef whose face appeared on posters
around the racecourse. I had looked up the menu beforehand.
“The signature dish is duck in orange sauce,” I told the two men.
“It’s seventies retro, apparently.”
“Like your outfit,” said Will.
Out of the cold, and away from the crowds, he appeared to have
cheered up a little. He had begun to look around him, instead of
retreating back into his solitary world. My stomach began to rumble,
already anticipating a good, hot lunch. Will’s mother had given us
eighty pounds as a “float.” I had decided I would pay for my food
myself, and show her the receipt, and as a result had no fears at all
that I was going to order myself whatever I fancied on the menu—
retro roast duck or otherwise.
“You like going out to eat, Nathan?” I said.
“I’m more of a beer and takeaway man myself,” Nathan said.
“Happy to come today, though.”
“When did you last go out for a meal, Will?” I said.
He and Nathan looked at each other. “Not while I’ve been there,”
Nathan said.
“Strangely, I’m not overly fond of being spoon-fed in front of
strangers.”
“Then we’ll get a table where we can face you away from the
room,” I said. I had anticipated this one. “And if any celebrities are
here, that will be your loss.”
“Because celebrities are thick on the ground at a muddy minor
racecourse in March.”
“You’re not going to spoil this for me, Will Traynor,” I said, as the
lift doors opened. “The last time I ate out anywhere was a birthday

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