Fin chuckled. ‘And by “their” I assume you mean the female population?’
‘Uh-huh,’ Rob replied glumly.
‘Too right it’s hard. But apparently that’s meant to be half the fun of it.’ Fin pushed the memory of Camilla’s face from his mind. He hadn’t spoken to her since the night they broke up. Should he have at least sent a message?
She’s better off without you.
They always are.
‘Have you seen this woman since your ever so magical first date?’ Fin shook himself back to the present moment.
‘Yeah, a few times. She’s actually coming over tonight and I’m cooking her dinner.’
‘Wow, Rob, you must like her.’
‘I know, mate. That’s the problem. I’m not used to all these emotions,’ he exclaimed.
Fin stood up and stretched, craning his head for any signs of Eleanor. ‘You have nothing to worry about. The moment she’s tasted your cooking, she’ll be dumping you anyway.’
‘Cheers. Thanks for that.’
‘Pleasure.’ Suddenly he spotted a head full of dark curls appear at the door. ‘Look, mate, I’m really sorry but I have to go. My friend’s just arrived.’
‘Your friend?’ Rob gasped. ‘You’ve replaced me already, you cheating bastard. I thought you didn’t have any friends in London.’
Fin dropped his voice, even though Eleanor was standing on the other side of the room in the queue and definitely unable to hear him. ‘It’s an old friend. I mean, I’m not even sure you could call us friends.’
‘You’ve slept with her?’
‘No!’ Fin whispered fervently. ‘She’s a family friend. Anyway, I need to go. You’ll be fine tonight! And I promise I’ll call you tomorrow for all the details, all right?’
‘Sure. Catch you in a bit, bud,’ Rob grumbled. ‘And remember … I’m your best friend, OK?’
‘How could I forget?’ Fin smiled. He hung up the phone and made his way across the room to where Eleanor was inching her way slowly to the front of the line.
‘Asifyou got here before me?’ she marvelled. ‘That’s got to be some sort of record, surely?’
Fin shrugged nonchalantly. ‘What can I say? I’m a changed man.’
‘Uh-huh. I would have been early if other people actually learnt to do their jobs properly,’ Eleanor muttered. ‘Do you want a drink?’
‘I’ll get them, I’m the one that dragged you out here after work.’
‘It’s fine, I don’t mind.’
‘Honestly, go sit. What do you want?’ he insisted.
‘Jesus, maybe you are changed after all,’ she joked. ‘I’ll have a flat white, please.’
‘You bet.’ He did a strange salute that instantly made him cringe.
Be normal. For God’s sake, just be normal.
*
‘Two flat whites, a brownieanda slice of carrot cake,’ Fin announced, delivering the stacked tray shakily on to the table.
‘Wow. You really went all out, didn’t you?’ She took the steaming cup from the tray. ‘Thank you.’
