‘Are you sure you’re all right?’ his friend pressed. ‘You sound a little off.’
‘I’m fine. It’s just this stuff with my mum. Really throwna spanner in the works.’ Fin felt a spasm of guilt ping against his chest. He hated keeping things from his friend, but right now the thought of deep-diving into his break-up with Camilla was too exhausting. There would be plenty of time to analyse why Fin couldn’t seem to keep a girlfriend for more than two years, and why he was most likely an idiot for dating yet another high-maintenance and highly strung LA socialite.
‘Of course. Must be pretty tough, I’m not surprised you’re a bit blindsided by it. You know I’m here if you want to talk about it, don’t you?’
‘Thanks, mate.’ He knew Rob wasn’t the best at emotional conversations either, but Fin felt a swell of gratitude at his attempt. ‘Also, are you sure I can stay at your place?’
‘Course!Mi casa, su casaand all that. Besides, it’s been sat empty for months so it would be good to have someone check everything’s all working and stuff,’ Rob confessed.
‘Oh, to have a spare flat lying around in London,’ Fin teased. As much as Rob liked to pretend he was from humble beginnings, Fin liked to remind him otherwise.
‘Oi. Come off it.’
‘I’m kidding, I’m really grateful for this. You know that, right?’
‘I do.’ Rob sighed despondently. ‘Man, I’m going to miss you while you’re gone. Who the hell am I going to hang around with?’
‘I’m sure you’ll cope.’
‘You’d better hope I do.’ Rob laughed. ‘Anyway, buddy, I got to go and get stuff sorted before tonight. Safe flight and call me when you’re in the flat.’
‘Cheers. Will do.’
‘Oh, and Fin?’ Rob called, just as Fin was about to hang up.
‘Yeah?’
‘Happy New Year, mate.’
Fin smiled. ‘Happy New Year to you too.’
*
3.05 a.m.
Fin cursed himself for looking. He knew that, realistically, no more than an hour could have passed since his last glance, but fifteen minutes! Time was toying with him.
Could he get up now? Most people were probably still out celebrating. Would it be totally insane to go and join them at an after party? A younger version of himself wouldn’t have even thought twice about it; he’d be half a bottle of Jack Daniel’s down and on his way in an Uber.
A drop of whiskey wouldn’t go amiss right now.
He scrunched his eyes tightly and willed the urge to dissipate from his body. Funny how the temptation could spring up on him even after all this time.
‘Come on, sleep. Come on, come on, come on!’ He threw his head back on to the pillow with every word, frustration rising up inside him. He reached for his phone once again.
3.30 a.m.
He’d have to get up soon, this was becoming unbearable. When was his flight anyway?
Fin scrolled through his emails looking for the confirmation, a task made far more difficult than it needed to be by the constant stream of messages flooding his phone screen. He kept his eyes focused on the emails, trying to avoid looking at the New Year’s well wishes and drunken tokens of affection that were ungraciously interrupting his task. Rob must have messaged him over twenty times already.
‘British Airways … British Airways, where the hell are you?’ he muttered, scrolling through his inbox. ‘Aha! Dear Mr Taylor, please find this as confirmation of your flight …’ He scanned the screen. ‘Here we go! Flight departure 1 p.m.’
His heart sank. There was no way he could face turning up to the airport over five hours early, especially as his default setting was always at least ten minutes late. It was a habit that for his entire life he’d never been able to shake, much to the dismay of everyone who had ever known him.
‘Speaking of late,’ he whispered, catching her name in the long list of emails. ‘Would it be ridiculous?’ he asked himself.
Fin opened the ‘save the date’ email he’d received months ago and stared at it. He’d told his friend he couldn’t make it to her wedding; he’d RSVP’d the very next day with a decline. He knew Kate wouldn’t be surprised or especially upset. He hadn’t been back home in so long that he was shocked to even have made the guest list. But Kate was one of his oldest friends and despite their long stretches of no contact, she always seemed to make the effort to check in with him at least once a year. Now he would be in the UK at the same time as her big day … surely it would be the perfect opportunity to go?
