‘How does that work while I’m on a plane?’
‘Abbey, the last time I checked, it was your job to book the travel. Sort it out.’
I had been dreaming of our bodies being in close proximity, but the truth was that I would fly economy and he would not, so it would not have happened, anyway.
‘You must avoid extended eye contact. Holding a man’s gaze too long can suggest that you want him, the same as looking at his lips. It will not do. You must remove all of the period-drama tropes, my dear girl.’
I sighed. ‘I love those.’
My sister drank her wine and rolled her eyes at me.
‘Also remember, the less time you spend alone together, the less chance there is of having sex. Unless you want to add additional partners, in which case other people around might still make you want to have sex. I must say, Abbey, I tried group sex in between marriages during the eighties and found it highly overrated.’
Oh, my God.
***
On Thursday night, I’d had the rescheduled date with the hot doctor.
I made the bare minimum effort for my dinner with Sebastian. I had agreed to go, but, beyond that, I knew deep down my heart wasn’t really free to find love or even companionship with another. Still, a girl had to at leastpretendto move on.
He had picked this dodgy-looking Turkish restaurant in Alexandria, which looked awful but served the tastiest food. The tables were the 1950s aluminium kind, and the chairs were in mustard and orange vinyl, which reminded me of my mother’s Tupperware drawer in 1987.
Sebastian was confident, intelligent, funny, apparently carrying these personality traits with a grace and humility that defied his handsomeness and his profession. He was dressed in jeans and a Henley shirt in a soft caramel colour, which suited his eyes and fitted against his firm, gorgeously muscled chest. Other women could not help but stare at him, which was vaguely disconcerting, especially since he didn’t seem to notice.
He reached over the table to touch my hand when he was making a point about something. And when he drove me home, he got out and walked me to my door, before planting a kiss on my cheek, which was sweet but didn’t alter my pulse.
Kate was waiting expectantly in the kitchen; a weird nervous energy radiating off her.
‘Well, how was it?’
‘Where’s Ella?’
‘She’s doing her English assessment in her room.’ Kate was packing her bag for work and stopped to fill up her drink bottle, which was absolutely enormous. How she drank that much water in a day was frankly bizarre. All I could think was that I would constantly be on the loo.
‘How was it? He’s lovely, right?’
‘It was fine.’
‘Fine?’
‘Yeah, um, nice … I guess.’
‘Nice? You guess?’
Her accusing tone instantly pissed me off.
‘What do you want me to say, Kate?’
‘Abbey …’
‘What?’ I walked into the kitchen and started to unpack the dishwasher. I was tired, emotionally raw, and if there was an edge to my voice and an immediate defensiveness, then it was warranted.
‘Sebastian is the perfect guy,’ Kate pushed.
I handed her the cutlery rack. ‘Maybe you should date him then, Kate, since you seem to think so.’
‘I see what you’re doing. You won’t give Sebastian a chance because you think you’re in love with Nick fucking Northby. He who refuses to commit, and leads you on, all while telling you he cannot love anyone. Doesn’t stop him from having sex with you, though, does it?’
