‘It was brilliant,’ Sive said, scooping guacamole and sour cream onto a tortilla chip.
‘Alan’s great,’ Mimi said. ‘And it’s a fantastic cast.’
‘I can’t wait to see it.’ Aoife heaped a pile of nachos onto her plate. ‘How’s Sam doing?’
‘He’s really good, isn’t he?’ Sive said to Mimi.
Mimi nodded. ‘I must admit I was surprised just how good. And he’s completely in his element.’ She took a sip of water. ‘But Sive says nothing happened on their date.’
‘I told you it wasn’t a date.’ Sive frowned. ‘It’s not like that. We’re just friends.’
‘Really?’ Mimi treated Sive to one of her signature single eyebrow raises. ‘Since when?’
‘Since always. You know men and women can be friends, right?’
‘Did you learn nothing fromWhen Harry Met Sally?’ Mimi said drily.
‘You know that’s total nonsense,’ Sive said.
‘Of course I know it’s possible for men and women to be friends. But it can get awkward when they fancy the pants off each other.’
Sive couldn’t help feeling a warm glow at the thought of Sam fancying the pants off her. She sighed. ‘I used to think that too – that he fancied me. Now I’m not so sure.’
‘And you’re okay with that?’ Mimi asked. ‘I thought you liked Sam.’
‘I do, but… I don’t think he sees me that way. He’s just friendly and flirty, but it doesn’t mean anything. He’s like that with everyone.’
‘He’s never flirted with me,’ Mimi said. ‘Well, except when I hired him to.’
‘He wouldn’t, though, would he? You’re with Rocco. It’d be rude.’
‘You were with Ben,’ Aoife pointed out. ‘It didn’t stop him.’
‘But I’m not anymore. He knows I’m single now.’
Mimi frowned. ‘I must say, I wouldn’t have thought he’d be shy about coming forward. If anything, I’d have said he suffers from an over-abundance of confidence.’
‘Exactly. So he’d have made a move if he wanted to.’ Maybe they’d both flirted freely, safe in the knowledge that it wouldn’t go anywhere.
‘Well, give him a minute. Maybe he thinks it’s too soon?’ Aoife suggested. ‘You have only just broken up with Ben.’
‘Maybe.’ Sive frowned. She thought of the phone call he’d had the other night and the way he’d gone running off to meet ‘Julie’. ‘But he could already have a girlfriend, for all I know.’
‘No way.’ Mimi shook her head emphatically. ‘We’d know about it if he did.’
‘I could ask Jonathan, if you like?’ Aoife offered.
‘No!’ Sive shrieked, horrified. ‘That’d be mortifying.’
‘I’d be subtle – just casually wondering. It’s not as if he’ll know it’s coming from you.’
‘Okay, maybe.’ The chance to get some insight into what was going on with Sam was tempting. ‘But only if you can do it in a way that isn’t cringey for me.’
‘There is another way,’ Mimi said. ‘You know you don’t have to wait for Sam to make the first move? This isn’t the 1950s – more’s the pity,’ she added with a sigh. ‘You could ask him out.’
‘But what if hedoesjust think of me as a friend?’
Mimi shrugged. ‘You can still be friends. You’ve nothing to lose.’
