‘OK, fine. But if you get him to play bloody “Disturbia” again, I’ll fly out there and stage an intervention, do you understand?’
‘Yes, Martin,’ I say meekly.
‘If it’s any consolation, I don’t have a clue who he is either,’ Priya says once Martin has disappeared, muttering darkly about musical illiteracy.
‘I could tell he was good,’ I agree. ‘I just didn’t realise quite how good until I saw his online profile.’
‘And he’s good-looking,’ Rosie observes.
‘That he is,’ I agree.
‘Oho. You fancy him,’ Priya says excitedly. ‘This is a turn up for the books. He’s certainly a better prospect than Flipper. How is Flipper, by the way?’
‘Staying broadly out of my way, which is how I like it. He’s not doing a terribly good job of keeping his side of our bargain though, so I might have to have a word if things don’t change.’
‘What bargain is this?’ Rosie asks.
‘He’s supposed to keep awful Amy out of my face in return for my silence about New Year’s Eve. You should have heard her yesterday, patronising me from here to next week.’
‘Why don’t you just tell her what happened? Flipper deserves everything he’s got coming to him, as far as I can see,’ Priya observes.
‘Because he rightly pointed out that we’re all stuck together for the duration of this holiday and, if Amy is unhappy, she’s going to make absolutely sure we’re all as miserable as her.’
‘How convenient for him,’ Priya says disdainfully. ‘Anyway, let’s get back to Gabriel. What are you going to do about him?’
‘I think he’s a bit out of my league, don’t you?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Priya’s voice is now dripping with sarcasm. ‘I’m sure that’sexactlyhow he feels, which is why he offered to take you out for the day. Come on, Tori, read the signals. He likes you.’
‘I think he just enjoyed spending time with me, because I treated him normally and didn’t bang on about music all the time. He hasn’t given any indication that he fancies me, although he did propose.’
‘What?’
‘We were outside his church, talking about the kind of person he could marry, and he said I was basically describing myself as his ideal partner. Then he jokingly proposed.’
‘Hmm. Sometimes people say how they really feel in a jokey way so they’ve got a way out if it doesn’t go well.’
‘I’m not marrying him, Priya. He’s a lovely guy and he’s very nice to look at, but we’re just friends. I probably won’t ever see him again after this.’
‘You definitely won’t see him if you don’t up your game. Even if it turns out to be nothing more than a sunshine fling, at least it will help to get Flipper out of your system.’
‘Flipper is not in my system, and I’m pretty certain Gabriel isn’t a sunshine fling person, even if I was.’
Rosie giggles. ‘What?’ I ask her tersely. This conversation is making me uncomfortable.
‘Flipper was very muchinyour system on New Year’s Eve,’ she says, grinning.
‘Yuck, Rosie.’
‘Sorry. It was too good an opportunity to resist.’
‘Anyway, back to the matter in hand,’ Priya cuts in briskly. ‘This Gabriel patently likes you and you like him. He lives in the UK and so do you. I’d say that’s a good start. Think about it, yeah?’
‘I will. I promise.’
‘Is everything all right?’ Gabriel asks. He’s finished playing the piano for the evening and we’re sitting outside Raphael’s bar. After some discussion, Robert and I agreed that he, Stuart and Dan would wander down after dinner, leaving the pre-dinner slot free for me to enjoy with Gabriel.
‘Yes, why?’
