And dammit she looked good. When he finally and yes finally, didn't they have watches in England spotted his ex he was annoyingly reminded of why he'd fallen for her. She could make casual wear classy as hell and it annoyed him that he couldn't just get on with hating her in peace. He had been enjoying hating her for everything she'd done to him, much as, yes, he supposed he had tried to win her back in Bangkok. But when Florence fell for someone she fell hard and quickly and she'd fallen for Sergievsky in Merano and stuck with him. Of course he'd been on top of the Chess World and Florence had enjoyed being the controversial little bit on the side. Huh. Turns out he could hate her just fine after all. But that would work itself out in conversation he was pretty sure. Freddie shot her a smile that was at least 80% condesending and waited for her to reach him. "Don't chew your nails, it looks ridiculous." he told her automaticly. It was habit for him to correct her. Tell her how she should be acting or sounding.
He noticed she'd worn heels too. He'd always argued with her over heels. Sure he had a good few inches on her but she was tall enough that she shouldn't wear stupid sized heels and look ridiculous. That had been clear and he'd made sure she never got those stupid ones that had been popular in the late seventies. Anyway they wouldn't have suited her, she'd have looked like a tree in a fitted suit and who wanted to be stood next to that.
"You look good." he finally told her, deciding the nail comment probably wasn't appropriate for conversations in which they were supposed to be able to coexist. Even if it was a bad habit. "So, I guess I should do the usual when are you from question but since he already won and hotfooted it back to Russia with his wife and kids I've got some idea. I guess the next question is what you plan to do now you're here. Because frankly I have no desire at all to have to fend of screaming insults every time I dare to pass you in the halls. And if you're gonna beg me to come back give me some advance warning, alright."
It seemed she had a point about the what Freddie did and what he thought it was okay to do filters being the same. She probably didn't appreciate his comments but what was he supposed to do? Just let her away with breaking his heart. Not that he'd ever admit to her that was what she'd done. But how else would he have lost. He'd have retained his title in Merano if she'd been faithful. He knew that.