‘So basically I’ve got no idea what’s going on and where we stand now.’
‘You didn’t talk to him about it?’ What, like mature adults with functioning communication skills? Is she insane?
‘There wasn’t really an opportunity.’
‘But you haven’t texted since?’
‘No.’
‘What is wrong with you?’
This shocks me. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You like him. He likes you. He kissed you. Text him! Go on a date! Check out the rig!’ My hands are starting to fall asleep now from Nicole’s squeezing, but when I try to pull them back, she clings harder. Her face is really close to mine now, her eyes imploring me to listen to her.
‘That’s what you got from this story? I never said I liked him!’
‘Yes you did, just with different words.’
No. Nicole has never met Arthur, never seen us together. And I never said I like him. ‘I can’t like him,’ I say quietly. And I’m aware that’s not saying that Idon’tlike him.
‘And why the fuck not?’
‘Why the fuck not what?’ In saunters Reg, shirt unbuttonedscandalously low, hair artfully mussed. ‘Gertie, darling, it has been an age!’ Then he kisses me three times on the cheeks. Like I’ve been on holiday and not on the shit list. ‘Why the fuck not what, Nic?’
‘Gertie likes a boy, and he finally kissed her, but she’s too scared to ask him out.’
‘Okay, I’m interested. Do we have a picture?’
Before Nicole can answer, I say, ‘It’s a little more complicated than that.’
‘Complicated how?’ Reg asks, opening a muesli bar and taking an aggressive bite.
‘He’s Bee’s boyfriend’s best friend.’
‘So?’
‘Do you know how many men I have dated because they’re the best friends of Bee’s latest? I can’t just go for yet another man hand-selected for me by Bee’s romantic preferences. Gotta break the cycle or something.’ And just like that, I’ve stopped talking around it with carefully chosen can’ts and shouldn’ts. It’s a tacit admission of feelings, and I think I’m ready to acknowledge it to myself now. I like him. Against my will, but I do.
‘Bullshit,’ Reg says. ‘Tell me this guy isn’t different. I can see it all over your face.’
He is. ‘He isn’t.’
‘Double bullshit,’ he replies, crossing his arms. ‘Not dating him just because you met him through Bee is just as bad as dating him because of Bee.’ Damn, that’s wise.
‘So text him!’ Nicole says. ‘Go out on your own date. Or, go out on another date. I mean, you’ve basically been dating formonths anyway.’ Reg looks confused. Nicole tells him she’ll fill him in later. I should protest at how easily she plans to pass on the gossip. I don’t.
But hang on. ‘There’s a flaw in this plan. I might notnotlike him, but he certainly doesn’t like me.’
‘He kissed you!’ Nicole says. Reg gasps.
‘For science!’
They don’t buy that one. ‘Oh, come on Gertie, even you don’t believe that.’
‘She’s right, darling. Men don’t do that.’
‘Kiss women they’re not into? I entirely beg to differ.’
