‘Nerd,’ she replies and bumps shoulders with me.
After the show we mingle and Flick introduces me to about a dozen people in quick succession. I have no idea who I’m meant to have met before and who is a stranger, and I can feel my anxiety levels begin to ratchet upwards. Eventually I can’t take it any longer and excuse myself to go to the ladies, desperate for a moment of peace. I need a few minutes to decompress; this world is so loud and confusing and I have no idea who I’m meant to be here.
Except that peace is the one thing I don’t find in the ladies’ bathroom of a fashion show. Over a dozen women jostle for space in front of the mirrors, reapplying lipstick and smoothing their hair. A few are taking selfies, pouting and contorting their bodies and faces as they search for the best angle.
‘Love those Loulous!’ one of them says to me as I squeeze past. ‘I adore that Eighties patent vibe.’
‘Thanks,’ I mumble before I disappear inside an empty cubicle. I lock the door and lean back against it, closing my eyes and trying to block out the cacophony from outside.
After a minute I can feel my heart rate finally slowing down, the deep breaths I’ve been taking clearing my head. But the burning in my brain is replaced by a burning in the balls of my feet. I thought Louboutins were meant to be comfortable but suspect I’ve been lied to. I close the lid of the toilet and sit down, carefully easing my feet out of their torture devices.
They are pretty though. Why would this Bethany have wanted a matt pair when these are so shiny?
Oh.
Ooohhh.
This Bethany didn’t want a matt pair. This Bethany did choose the patent ones.
So who was the Bethany who last week told Flick she wouldn’t have chosen them?
Chapter Forty-One
I find Flick chatting to some guy with bad teeth and an alarming love of tweed. She casts me a desperate look and I rush to rescue her.
Once we’re safely away she turns to me. ‘Thank you! Jeez, Monty is such a dick.’ She shivers. ‘He told me I need to come to my senses and go out with him before all my value is lost to time.’
‘Gross.’
‘Yep.’ She takes a step back and looks at me carefully. ‘Something’s happened – you look all flushed.’
‘It’s just …’ How can I explain to her that I’ve had a breakthrough idea about my predicament? ‘I need a favour,’ I say instead.
‘Is it about a man?’
‘I need you to give me a lift somewhere.’
‘Where?’ She narrows her eyes as she tries to puzzle out what’s going on.
‘To Tyler’s.’
She squeals. ‘You dirty little minx.’ She sounds thrilled.
‘Oh no—’ But I cut myself off. I can’t explain why I really need to talk to Tyler and so why does it hurt if she thinks she’s taking me to a booty call?
It’s almost dark when Flick pulls up in front of Tyler’s apartment building. I wonder if I should have messaged him, let him know I was coming. But it’s too late now.
‘You go get him, tiger,’ Flick says as I open the door and slide out of the car. ‘Call me in the morning, okay?’
I nod and go to thank her. And then a wave of emotion rushes over me and I sit back down to pull her into a hug. ‘Thank you,’ I whisper into her hair.
She squeezes me back. ‘I don’t know what’s got into you recently,’ she tells me. ‘But I’m here for you, okay?’
And then I break away and walk up the steps towards the row of buzzers. I think I’m really going to miss her.
She waits until the door opens and Tyler appears and then I hear the rev of the engine and she’s gone.
He’s wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, his feet bare. He reaches out and pulls me inside the building, pushing me gently up against the wall as he kicks the door shut. ‘Jesus, Bethany,’ he breathes into my neck as his arms circle my waist. ‘I had no idea you were coming over tonight.’
