She heard Zara come out the shower and knew she had to divert the conversation. She didn’t want Zara to hear about her dad drink driving or Alex’s inappropriate crush on Zara’s uncle.
‘Look, I’m going on dates like you wanted, let’s just leave Quinn out of it. I highly doubt he is even an option. So let’s focus on today instead. I wore a dress.’Alex did a little twirl, trying to change the subject. ‘Is it OK?’
‘You look lovely,’ Immy said.
‘Is it too much for a coffee?’
‘No, it’s pretty.’
‘I didn’t know what to do with my hair.’ Alex ran one of her red curls through her fingers. ‘I thought I might put it up but I’m useless at stuff like that.’
‘Come on, sit down, I’ll do it.’
Immy took off her coat, revealing a brightly coloured dress that had polar bears ice skating all over it. Ever since her brain injury Immy had decided that life was too short to live her life for other people. She didn’t wear dark sensible clothes anymore, she wore every colour of the rainbow, she wore dresses with frogs or cows or narwhals playing on them. She dyed her hair a multitude of colours, she quit her job as an accountant and opened up a very successful sweet shop in the town. She’d taken up scuba diving, painting, pottery and learned how to play the saxophone. She was the very definition of reinventing yourself. Immy was a firework and Alex only hoped that one day she would find a man worthy of her. Immy had been at this dating malarkey for a while now but had yet to find anyone she wanted something serious with, which didn’t give Alex any hope that she’d find her happy ever after either. Not that she was really looking for that.
Immy started work on Alex’s hair, reminding Alex of how they’d spend hours playing with each other’s hair when they were kids. Immy had always had a talent forcreating beautiful braids or twists when the best that Alex could manage was a messy bun.
‘What are you nervous about?’ Immy said, expertly sweeping, twisting and scraping Alex’s hair.
‘I don’t know, conversation running smoothly, awkward silences, making a good impression.’
‘Of course there’ll be awkward silences, you don’t know each other, but just keep asking him questions. In my experience, men like nothing more than talking about themselves. And you don’t need to worry about making a good impression. You are a wonderful, brilliant, kind, funny person and any man would be lucky to go on a date with you. If they can’t see that, then there’s something wrong with them.’
Alex smiled. ‘OK, then what if the conversation flows really well, what if we just click and the chemistry is off the charts, what if we end up…’ She paused in case little ears were listening. ‘Doing the horizontal tango?’
Alex couldn’t even begin to imagine going to bed with someone she’d just met. She wasn’t judging anyone who did that, but for her, intimacy went hand in hand with an emotional connection. There was no way she could have that with a man she barely knew.
‘What’s the problem with that?’ Immy said, her hands moving swiftly across Alex’s head.
‘It’s been a really long time since I’ve done… the tango.’
‘All the more reason for you to get back on the horse.’
‘But what if I’ve forgotten which bits go where? What if I’m completely useless at it?’
‘It’s like riding a bike, you never forget.’
‘Which is it, a horse or a bike?’
Immy laughed. ‘Look, don’t be scared off by it. You deserve to have some fun. Having a one-night stand is hugely liberating.’
‘How many one-night stands haveyouhad?’
‘One and it was amazing.’
‘Why don’t I know about this?’
Alex knew about all of Immy’s exes – they talked about everything.
‘I was always dating men looking for Mr Right, someone I could one day fall in love with and marry, just as I imagine you will be looking for that when you date,’ said Immy. ‘I was never looking for something casual. I’m still not. But Quinn had taken you and Zara to London for the weekend so Zara could see the dinosaurs in the Natural History Museum and it just sort of happened. It was one of those incredible, unexpected, brilliant nights and I don’t regret it for one second.’
‘Wait, that was three weeks ago, the weekend when you were supposed to have a date with that loser Ethan. You said he never turned up?’
‘No, he didn’t.’
‘So who was it?’
There was a pause before Immy spoke. ‘Xander.’
