‘That’s why we set up our own business, wasn’t it?’ Sarah said, turning to Blake with a flirtatious smile. ‘We wanted to be our own bosses.’ He just nodded.
‘I couldn’t imagine having a boss,’ Willow admitted.
‘You wouldn’t cope well with one,’ I told her with a grin.
‘I’m amazed it suited you,’ she said, smiling back. ‘You always did what anyone told you not to.’
I chuckled. ‘Yeah, I wasn’t good with authority when I was younger. When I started at school, I was told off on the first day for wearing a skirt half an inch shorter than the requirements and for talking in assembly. But I had to ask the girl in front of me where she had got her moon necklace from.’
Willow and my uncle laughed and so did Blake, but Henry was looking at me aghast and Sarah was sipping her wine like I hadn’t spoken.
‘Thank God you’ve changed now,’ Henry said. ‘You wouldn’t have lasted five minutes working for my father otherwise.’
‘What’s your father like?’ Willow asked him.
‘A sharp businessman. We run an investment company and we’re growing rapidly each year. I learn a lot from him. He went through a fair few assistants until Daisy came along. She charmed him like she charmed us all,’ Henry said, in the proud way he always spoke about his dad. He smiled across at me. ‘He told me she’s been his best assistant ever.’
‘And yet he wanted to sack me,’ I couldn’t help but say. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Henry’s father exactly. He was great at his job and although demanding, he always respected how organised and capable I was, and after a while spoke to me as an equal. But outside the office, he was just as demanding and his word was law in Henry’s family home. I felt like he controlled every aspect of my life, just like he did with Henry and Henry’s mum too.
‘They just thought you’d want to focus on being a wife and mother, like my mum did after they got married,’ Henry said. ‘And so did I,’ he added, reaching to touch my hand. He looked over at Blake to make sure he saw the move. I started eating again so he had to let go.
‘That’s really old-fashioned,’ Sarah spoke up then. I was amazed she was on my side on this. ‘I’m so focused on my career. We’ve set up a dating app and I think it’s going to be really successful. Right, Blake?’
‘Well, we need to talk about that,’ he mumbled, glancing over at me.
Sarah saw and narrowed her eyes. ‘You can’t just walk away when we’ve only just begun.’
‘I thought that’s what you wanted,’ Blake replied, raising an eyebrow. He looked confused by her words. I supposed if you found out your partner was cheating, you’d assume they didn’t want the life you had together any more. But here she was talking about their business still.
‘I just told you – he had nothing to do with us, or our life. Just like this hasn’t,’ she said, waving a dismissive hand in my direction.
‘Exactly what I said,’ Henry said, giving Sarah a nod of approval.
I stared at him. He was so arrogant. What if I really had started to date Blake? Henry was acting like there was no way I could even consider another man. It appeared Sarah was being equally dismissive about us too. It kind of made me want to dig my heels in further. But Blake might feel the opposite way, I had no idea.
‘I’d love to hear about your dating app,’ Dylan said then, smoothly moving the subject away from our personal drama, thank God.
‘Our app uses AI to find matches for you and start conversations with them if you’re stuck for what to say: how to flirt and ask for a date, things like that,’ Sarah said. ‘Basically, it will help people who are hopeless at using dating apps to get that first date so they can impress in person when they wouldn’t when communicating solely online. Like Blakey, for example.’ She shook her head. ‘We matched on a dating app but he was so dry when messaging and took ages to actually ask me out. I almost gave up on him.’
I glanced at Blake. He had blushed and was taking a sip of his wine. It felt uncomfortable to hear her dismissing their early interactions.
‘But isn’t that giving a false impression?’ I couldn’t help but ask.
‘What do you mean?’ she snapped.
‘Well, it’s all a lie. You’re chatting to AI and not a potential partner. It means you don’t really know what they are like so, you could form an impression that will turn out to be completely wrong when you meet.’
‘When I met Blakey, he was so different to how he was online, I was pleasantly surprised. Our app means you won’t dismiss having a date with someone because of how they’ve communicated with you.’
‘But it will also work the other way,’ Dylan pointed out.
Sarah arched an eyebrow. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You could end up on a date with someone who is completely different to what you thought, and then you’ve wasted your time going on a date with them.’
‘You don’t understand,’ she said dismissively. ‘This will help so many people. Won’t it, Blakey?’
I wondered if Blake enjoyed her calling him that or not.
