‘Do you mind me asking how it ended? Between you and Stuart?’
‘He dumped me,’ I say matter-of-factly. ‘We weren’t together for that long, but he said I was too needy and clingy. I think the reality was that I was after a serious relationship and he still wanted to play the field.’
‘Immature.’
‘Yes.’
‘And there’s definitely nothing residual there?’ She smiles guiltily. ‘Asking for a friend.’
I might have known. Amy has obviously sent Lily on a mission to butter me up and try to find out what’s going on.
‘You can tell Amy that I have no residual feelings whatsoever where Stuart is concerned,’ I say firmly.
‘Can I ask one more question?’
‘Of course.’
‘Why did you tell her to ask him where he was on New Year’s Eve?’
Fuck. What do I say now? My mind is whirling while I’m trying my best to look like nothing is going on. I could just say it was a mistake, but I don’t think either Amy or Lily would believe that. I could tell a half-truth and say I saw him and we had a chat, but Amy won’t like that and Stuart will only jump down my throat again.
I sigh as the only plausible option comes to me. ‘It was a dick move in the heat of the moment. I’m sorry. Amy had come for me, suggesting that Stuart had cheated on me because I was needy and pathetic, and I just wanted to throw something back at her.’
Lily looks thoughtful. ‘You went to Sonya’s gathering at XYX. Stuart was there when we left. Did you see him?’
‘I did,’ I admit. ‘All we did was have a bit of a chat, but I was so cross with the way Amy was suggesting that I was the problem that I was tempted to suggest there had been more.’
It grates to throw myself under the bus like this, especially just to spare Amy’s feelings, but what else can I do? Lily studies me for a long time and I can feel my skin prickling. I hate lying to her, but I don’t really feel like I have a choice. The question is whether I’ve got away with it.
‘That makes sense,’ she says eventually. ‘I wish you two would find a way to get along, though. She is a lot, Amy, but her heart is in the right place.’
I seriously doubt that, but once again manage to keep my opinion to myself. ‘I’m quite happy to push the reset button, provided she stops accusing me of trying to steal her boyfriend and attempting to micromanage my holiday.’
‘I can’t make any guarantees, but I’ll put your terms to her,’ Lily says gently. ‘Will you be joining us in the spa tomorrow, do you think? I believe it’s a different type of massage and some sort of body wrap.’
‘I’d love to, but I can’t. I’ll be out all day tomorrow.’
‘Really? Where?’
‘I’m doing a tour of the island.’ This isn’t a lie, for once. Before I left the bar this morning, Gabriel offered to pick me up and show me some other bits of Jamaica tomorrow, and I accepted eagerly. I think he’d realised that some time away from the others would do me good, and the idea of spending a whole day with him is far from unwelcome. He’s good for me, I’ve decided, and I’ll have all that time to see if I can get him to open up.
‘Really?’ Lily looks surprised. ‘You know Amy’s organised one of those for the day before we go home.’
‘I didn’t, I’m sorry. Well, maybe I’ll see different places tomorrow, or I’ll be able to add a new perspective having done the same places with a different guide.’
Or maybe I’ll find an excuse not to come on Amy’s trip. The idea of being cooped up for the whole day with her and Stuart is more than I can bear.
‘Lily tells me you’re doing a guided tour of the island tomorrow,’ Amy says over dinner that evening. ‘Did you not see that I’d already included that in the schedule that I sent over before we came?’
‘It must have slipped my mind. Sorry.’
Although Lily promised to do whatever she could to try to smooth things over between Amy and me, I’m not convinced Amy has got the memo as she’s definitely in bossy mode again.
‘No matter,’ she says breezily. ‘You can just cancel yours.’
This is so typical of Amy, and I can feel my hackles rising. What to do though? If I tell her it’s an informal trip with a friend, it’s just going to strengthen her case that I should call it off in favour of her tour and, unsurprisingly. I’m not about to do that.
‘I can’t, I’m afraid,’ I tell her after thinking about it for a moment. ‘I’ve paid a non-refundable deposit and it was, umm, quite substantial.’ I’ve lost count of how many lies I’ve told today. On reflection, maybe I should cancel tomorrow and spend the day in the confessional instead. But surely this is the only option other than the truth, which is that I hadn’t forgotten her tour, I’d just rather walk on hot coals than spend a whole day with her. Telling her that definitely won’t do anything for Tori/Amy relations.
