‘And how do you propose we do that?’
‘I thought we could play a game.’
Olivia’s brow furrowed. ‘A game?’
‘Yes, using these.’ Jacob reached into his pocket and pulled out his two very worn-looking dice. ‘Basically, you roll the dice like so.’ He let the two wooden cubes fall out of his palm and on to the table. ‘If it’s an even number, you get to ask me a question; if it’s odd, I get to ask you one.’
‘Why can’t we have a normal conversation like normal people, where I ask you a question and you answer it?’
‘Because normal people don’t exist. And this way is much more fun.’
‘For you, maybe.’
‘Comeon, at least give it a go.’
‘Jacob, are you ever serious?’ She sighed.
‘Roll the dice, and if you get the right number,maybeI’ll give you an answer.’
He popped another syrup-soaked ball into his mouth and watched the myriad of emotions unfolding on her face. He knew that deep down, under all the layers of control and organization, lived a playful version of Olivia. There was one in everybody, if you looked hard enough.
‘Fine,’ she conceded eventually, picking up the dice and shaking them in her hands. ‘But I get to add in a rule.’
‘Go on …’
‘If we don’t want to answer a question, we can use a pass. We have three each.’
He had to hand it to her, an escape clause was a fantastic idea. Jacob knew that there were a lot of questions he would rather not answer, parts of himself that even he was loath to talk about, but it was interesting to learn she felt the same.
‘Hmm, that sounds fair enough,’ he agreed. ‘Let’s play!’
Olivia let the dice roll.
‘Two threes,’ he announced. ‘The floor is yours; ask away.’
His heartbeat quickened underneath his shirt as he watched her searching for a starting point. Her eyes looked suddenly brighter with the power the dice had afforded her.
‘OK, let’s start nice and easy. Where did you grow up?’
Oh, Olivia, you’re going to have to do better than that.
‘Surrey,’ he replied swiftly, gathering the dice and handing them to her. ‘Roll again.’
‘Excuse me! I wanted a bit more detail than just Surrey.’
‘Ask more specific questions, then.’ He sat forward in his seat. ‘You get as good as you give in this game.’
Olivia snatched the dice and rolled once more, her expression darkening a little in frustration.
‘Look at that’ – Jacob pointed – ‘a four and a five. My turn!’ He leant further across the table, his fingers drumming a mindless rhythm on the surface, his question already fully formed in his mind. ‘Now tell me, what’s the real reason you decided to come to India?’
Olivia recoiled ever so slightly, her face remaining impassive but her body revealing the impact of his words. He knew there was more to her trip than she was letting on.After years of keeping his own secrets, it was easy to see when someone else was doing the same.
‘My sister bought me the ticket as a present,’ she eventually said. ‘I came because she wanted me to.’
‘Aha!’ he cheered, banging his fist down on the Formica table. ‘I knew it wasn’t your idea!’
‘No, I can safely say it was not.’
