I laugh at his horrified expression.
‘Well, none of those things,’ he says. ‘I just exist solely to irritate you.’
A laugh gets caught in my throat. What is this? Is this man funny all of a sudden? ‘I already know that. I’m looking for new information.’
He looks slightly panicked. ‘Um, I’m not sure. Just see friends, mostly. Live music, obviously. Play basketball. Gym sometimes.’
Ah. That explains the strong curve of his biceps that I may have noticed, by accident.
‘Well.’ I pause, struggling to think of anything that might keep a conversation about sport afloat. ‘Oh! Can you do that thing where you spin a ball on your index finger?’
He grins, then quickly attempts to cover it. ‘I’m not sure if anyone… really does that.’
I nod sagely. ‘Disappointing.’
‘I realise how boring I sound,’ he says, wincing.
‘No, no. I did kind of put you on the spot. Like when someone says “tell me about yourself” and you can’t think of anything so you just panic and say that you have a cat or collect jams.’
‘Do you collect jams?’ he asks politely.
‘Not currently.’
‘That’s a pity.’
‘I do have a cat though,’ I say.
His face lights up. ‘Really?’
‘I do, she’s my world,’ I tell him with pride.
‘What’s her name?’
‘Doctor Stella Fennel.’
His mouth tightens in a way that looks like he’s holding a laugh. ‘So, Stella?’
‘No,’ I say with a frown. ‘Dr Stella Fennel.’
‘Ah, okay. It’s a full-name situation.’
‘Yes,’ I say as if this is obvious. ‘We use her full title.’
‘Right,’ he says cautiously. ‘So, she runs her own medical practice?’ he asks.
‘She does! If running a medical practice involves killing as many mice as possible and then failing to revive them.’
He nods with an alarmed expression. ‘She sounds cute.’
‘You have no idea.’
Luckily, my housemate Allie loves her almost as much as I do and can watch her when I’m not around. Which if I’m honest, doesn’t happen very frequently.
Without even realising it, my body has relaxed and the frazzle of adrenaline that has coursed through my veins since arriving at this festival has sunken to imperceptible levels.
Talking to him becomes easier and easier as we work on our second round of drinks, and I find myself gazing into the ice at the bottom of my glass with a small grimace.
‘I feel like I should ask you what you do?’
