‘Oh?’
‘My friends arranged to meet here. I didn’t want to make a fuss, so I went along with the arrangement. I want to make that clear.’
‘Right.’
‘I just want to say, I accept your apology, and I don’t want you to give it another thought.’
He smiled again. ‘That’s a relief.’
‘No, you misunderstand. I don’t want you to give it, or me, another thought. I want you to draw a line underneath whatever you think this is and leave me alone.’
‘Right.’ He furrowed his brows together, which wasn’t difficult. They’d clearly never seen any kind of grooming tool. She kind of liked their wild wilfulness. They balanced out the incredibly long eyelashes which framed his dark eyes. ‘I’m Gull, by the way.’ He held out a hand. She ignored it, wondering if he was always this persistent.
‘Gull?’
‘I know.’ He shook his head. ‘My parents totally stiffed me with that. Short for Gulliver. Can you believe it?’
Against her better judgement, she felt herself smile. ‘I can,’ she said, shaking his hand.
‘Ah,’ he said, grasping her fingers with an exceptionally firm grip. ‘First-hand experience?’
Tania laughed. ‘You could say that.’
‘But you’re not going to elaborate?’
‘Nope.’
‘Why am I not surprised.’
‘Can’t imagine. Everyone calls me Tania, let’s leave it at that.’
‘Tania.’ He sounded as if he was trying the word out.
‘This is where I say, “It was nice to meet you, Gull. Goodbye”,’ she said.Gull. The word sat more comfortably on her lips than she thought it would. She frowned again, but the frustration wasn’t to do with him, this time, it was to do with her. She felt it again, an invisible string binding her to this square foot of space outside the Cocoon, with servers pushing past them to clear tables, customers arriving and leaving, the sound of ski boots clumping on the wooden decking.
‘Why?’ he said.
‘Why what?’
‘Why do you need to say goodbye?’
She studied his face for a moment, her frown deepening as she realised that she didn’t have an answer.
Chapter 10
Tania glanced towards her friends as Gull held his ground and asked if he could buy her some lunch.
‘I should get back to the others,’ she said. The words sounded weak, and he still had hold of her hand. She shook herself free from his fingers and gestured towards the group Gull had arrived with. ‘And aren’t you with those people? They’ll be wondering what you’re doing, won’t they?’
He shrugged. ‘I think it’s fairly obvious what I’m doing. Isn’t it?’ His eyebrows arched again, his face breaking into a broad grin. Then he buried it under a frown. ‘You didn’t answer my question.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘I didn’t.’
‘Shall I rephrase it? Do you want to sit at the same table as me while we eat some lunch purchased by an, as yet, unspecified individual or individuals?’
‘Are you this persistent in everything you do?’ she asked, trying not to notice Madeleine grinning at her, while Clara and Rose seemed to be craning their necks to hear the conversation.
‘No.’
