Rosie nods. ‘Bay leaves are very powerful.’
I thank her and open the cover and see that she’s scrawled:
Sending Love and Light. Rosie Flint x
On my way home, I buy an astonishing amount of bay leaves. Even the supermarket check-out girl raised an eyebrow at the amount of bay leaves I was buying.
I’m busy stuffing bay leaves under my mattress when I hear, ‘What are you doing?’
With a groan, I turn around and spot Oliver standing in the doorway to my room. I was so quick to put the bay leaves under my mattress that I forgot to close my door.
‘It’s a natural remedy for a condition I have,’ I mumble.
He surveys the empty boxes scattered all over my floor. ‘Well, I hope it works. You’d better be careful, as bay leaves can be used to manifest love.’
‘I’m not doing this to manifest love.’
‘You won’t catch me trying to manifest love,’ he says gloomily. ‘I am done with that emotion.’
I feel a twang of irritation. ‘I’m not manifesting love, Oliver.’
‘I’m sorry about last night. I should not have argued with… that guy in the pub.’
Did he say – pub? That’s not what they told me last night. ‘You said it was an argument at a taxi rank.’
His eyes widen. ‘Oh, yes… you’re right. The taxi rank.’
Why do I sense he’s not telling me the truth about what happened last night?
He casts me a gloomy look. ‘I’m off out.’
‘Do you ever have a night in, Oliver? Perhaps watch TV or write something?’
An awkward silence descends upon us. He scratches his head. ‘I have to put Alfie…’ His words come to an abrupt stop, and I make a mental note of the name Alfie.
He clears his throat. ‘Jamie is lonely. He… ummm… needs company.’
‘Jamie?’
‘Yes, he’s struggling. I’d better go out. There’s a homemade meat pie in the oven for you.’ His dark eyes hold my gaze for longer than necessary.
I return to shoving handfuls of bay leaves under my mattress and mutter under my breath about annoying but handsome flatmates who cause chaos but cook wonderful meals.
19
He’s gone out. The apology dinner he’d cooked for me was out of this world. His homemade meat pie had golden-brown flaky pastry and a rich beef filling. He had served it with cream potatoes and a plate of green vegetables, which were so flavoursome I devoured them in seconds. Lenny sat on the opposite kitchen chair and cast me judgey looks. He is a huge Oliver fan, and I sense that he wants me to forget about the late nights and enjoy the food.
After washing up my plate, I open up TikTok on my phone and gasp. On my For You page, staring back at me is Eva and her new book-review account. Wow – she’s gone back to what she loves best. Seeing her greeting her followers makes me feel emotional. She’s standing in front of a white bookcase, filled with colourful book spines, ornaments and a lush, green trailing plant.
She holds up a pink romance book. ‘I have finished reading this. It was spicy, yet in places an emotionally charged read. It was so well written that I felt like I was the female lead by the end, and he was my sexy boyfriend. I will say that if he were my boyfriend, I would have to do something with his obsession with beige roll neck sweaters.’
That was posted earlier. I flick through her new profile and see that she has several new videos. I watch her first one where she introduces herself, and then I watch the rest. By the end, I am fighting back tears.
We fell out because of my curse and my big mouth. If I had kept my mouth shut about Karl, Eva and I would still be friends.
I flick onto Instagram and see that she’s on there too with her book reviews and her pretty shelves. She must be back living with her mum, as I can see photos of her in a kitchen with a silver tabby cat who looks like her mum’s cat, Tiddles.
God, I miss you, Eva. I stare at a photo of her smiling into the camera.
