Sebastian grinned. “You should definitely go then. I’ve told you before, you hit the sperm jackpot with Tom — you know, aside from the whole seven-year-long abandonment thing — oh, and all the lying. Anyway, you should definitely start riding that child-support pony.”
Ari grimaced. “I don’t want to ride any sort of... metaphorical ponies.”
Sebastian gave her another grin. “So maybe go to Spain and ride Tom then? Honestly, the man clearly wants you so much that even I almost feel sad for the poor fucker and—”
“Sebastian!”
“Oh, blush all you want,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. “But the two of you aren’t fooling anyone, you know.”
If anything, Ari blushed harder. “We aren’t — we don’t... look, there’s no way I want to go down that path again, and—”
“You totally want to.” Sebastian reached over to poke Ari in the arm. “And I can’t say I blame you. The man’s a total ride. Even I’d love to slather that man in retinol and take him down to town.”
“What would Luis say?”
“Oh, he feelsexactlythe same. I know we didn’t like Tom at first, but he does kind of grow on you. If you gave him another chance—”
“Well, I’m not giving him another chance,” Ari finally snapped, coming to a stand. She stomped over to the coffee machine, setting it to make a cappuccino. “I gave him a chance years ago and he let me down. I’m not going down that path again. Never ever.”
Ari watched as Sebastian sank back in his seat.
“Fine,” he said eventually. “Fine. So, things can just carry on as they are, with you and Tom constantly giving each otherlooksand being all awkward and quiet and sexually frustrated. Fine.”
Ari took a deep breath, waiting for the coffee machine to finish frothing her milk, staring into the depths of her black coffee, the liquid hot and dark, just like the look that came into Tom’s eyes when he stared at her.
Shaking herself, she turned back to Sebastian. “We should go through the wedding plan for Mr and Mrs ‘money-is-no-object’ again,” she suggested. “Are the flights to Iceland all confirmed?”
“Yes,” Sebastian nodded, flicking through some papers on his desk. “I still think it’s ridiculous, but yes. The wedding will take place in a cave next to the black sand beach under the aurora borealis, as planned.”
“Good.”
“And the hotel is booked, with a four-course Icelandic meal to be served after the ceremony.”
Ari nodded, sipping at her cappuccino. “You made sure it was vegetarian, right? The groom was insistent.”
“Of course I did—wait, salmon counts as vegetarian, right? It’s not really meat. It’s too coral in colour. Meat isn’t out there like that.”
Ari looked at Sebastian in horror. “Um, no?”
For a moment, Sebastian looked concerned. Then he gave a shrug, flicking to another sheet of paper.
“Okay, so I’ll cancel the salmon. I’ve done a lot of that this last year. I’m an old hat at it now.” He paused. “An old, wrinkly hat.”
“You aren’t old,” Ari said again. “Stop with the retinol.”
Sebastian gave her a look, before nodding to the coffee machine. “Make me a latte, will you please? I’ll contact our florist, get the bridezilla’s order ASAP. I’ll probably head home after that—”
“You literally just got here,” Ari said flatly.
“I need to pop into Waitrose, we’re throwing a dinner party tonight. Luis’s making duck.”
“That sounds nice,” Ari replied absently. “I should think about what I’m going to eat tonight. I haven’t really had time to shop though... not with this Icelandic wedding spectacular just around the corner.”
“It’s Tom’s turn to have Reine this weekend, right?” Sebastian asked.
“Yes, he’s picking her up after school today. His flight was delayed.”
“Okay, so, come to our place then? We’ll make space for you. I’m sure Luis will pick up an extra duck. Or maybe three, given how much you eat.”
