‘Ah, I see, newly single?’ Ben asked.
‘Yeah, that obvious, huh? I left LA and a relationship behind me. London is a good place to lick wounds though. There’s never a dull moment.’ Fin sipped his glass of water.
‘Eleanor said you’ve come over from America. How long have you been out there for?’
‘Over fifteen years now. Have you ever been?’ Fin asked.
‘Nope. Not really sure it’s my scene. The people seem way too cool for me.’ Ben laughed self-consciously.
‘Trust me. If I can fit in there, anyone can.’ Fin smiled and turned to look at Eleanor. ‘I’ve never been cool, have I?’
‘Oh yes, of course!’ Ben rubbed his hands together. ‘You can give me the intel on the younger Eleanor, can’t you?’ He elbowed Eleanor jokingly.
Fin held his hands up. ‘Don’t go down that road. You won’t get a word out of me.’
Eleanor’s heart surged a little. After all this time, he was still willing to keep her secrets under lock and key.
‘Can’t blame a guy for trying.’ Ben sat back and sighed.
‘To be fair, it’s me who should be worried,’ Fin continued, his cheeks colouring slightly at the edges. ‘She has way more dirt on me than I’d care to imagine.’
‘Better keep her sweet then!’ Ben chuckled. ‘You two must have been pretty good friends.’
‘Yeah.’ Fin fixed his emerald eyes on to Eleanor. ‘We were the best.’
Fin
Fin had spent the last half-hour of the evening preparing for his exit. Over the years he’d managed to perfect the art of sneaking out of social events undetected. He’d learnt the hard way that actually announcing your departure and saying goodbye to a room full of people often just resulted in offers of more drinks, more conversation and an even later night. It wasn’t worth it. All he needed to do was grab his coat, slink out of the door and send a thank-you message when he arrived home. Nobody would even notice he was missing. Especially tonight; after all, he’d only just met these people.
‘Fin!’ Sal cried, pushing her way across the room to him. ‘Please don’t tell me you were about to leave without saying goodbye?’
He quickly replaced the disappointment on his face at being caught with a rather over-the-top look of surprise. ‘Absolutely not! I was actually just coming to find you to say goodbye.’ He squirmed, praying that his lie wasn’t too detectable.
Sal leant in and hugged him. ‘If I wasn’t the one hosting this thing, I’d be sneaking off about now too.’
Fin laughed. ‘I didn’t realize I was that bad at lying.’
‘Nothing gets past me.’ Sal released her grip and stared at him intently. ‘It was really lovely to meet you, Fin. Tell me I’ll see you again before you head back to America?’
‘That would be really nice.’
‘Good. I’ll sort something out with Eleanor,’ she noted.
‘Sal, we need some more wine!’ a slurred cry rang out from the back of the kitchen.
‘Better tend to the children.’ She grinned. ‘Eleanor’s just in the corner if you want to say bye.’
Fin hesitated for a moment before throwing his coat over his shoulder and turning back to the room full of people. He caught Eleanor’s eye and gave an overly enthusiastic wave. She was standing next to that Ben guy who he’d met earlier that evening. Fin didn’t want to interrupt anything; he’d felt the chemistry between them from across the table, it was palpable.
‘Are you going?’ she mouthed.
He nodded and before he could insist that she stay exactly where she was, Eleanor was making her way over to him, leaving Ben looking a little lost on his own. Fin had to admit, he was a good-looking man and he seemed nice.
Please turn out to be nice.
‘Fin! Thanks so much for coming.’ Her eyes were wide; she looked happy.
‘Thanks for inviting me.’
