“Because it’s you,” Ruby says, and without any further explanation, she holds up her glass for the two of us to clink. “Cheers!”
“Cheers!” Leo and I chorus.
It’s the start of what steadily becomes a rowdy evening. I shouldn’t really be drinking on a weeknight, especially after the hen last weekend, but I throw caution to the wind. It’s not like I have anyone to get home to.
“Maybe I’ll get a cat,” I ponder aloud after we’ve finished eating, plodding back from the kitchen table to the cozy armchair by their window.
“Are you a cat person?” Leo asks, plopping down next to Rubyon the sofa. He sits a bit too enthusiastically and almost spills his red wine as it sloshes around his glass.
“I could be. And it would be nice to come home to a friendly, fluffy animal that is happy to see me.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” Ruby says sincerely, getting bolder and more reckless with every sip of wine. “Why not? Really, why not? You can do what you want now. You get to focus on you. You want a cat? I say, get a cat.”
“I can’t believe you bumped into Akin today,” Leo says, shaking his head. “What are the chances?”
“Actually quite high. He lives a few roads away from yours. I should have prepared myself better.”
“Did you tell him you were on your way to see us?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I said I was going out, but I didn’t say where or with whom. You know, I thought a bit of mystery surrounding my life couldn’t hurt.”
“Yes, well played,” Ruby says, pointing her wine at me. “Now, he probably thinks you’re out on a date.”
“If it was super awkward seeing Akin, how bad is it going to be when I have to see Matthew?” I get a shiver down my spine at the thought.
“You never have to see Matthew again!” Ruby declares defiantly.
“Actually I do.” I sigh heavily. “He’s going to be at Cali and Dominic’s wedding. I can’t ban him from going to a wedding of a mutual friend. At some point we’re going to be in the same room.”
“You have to hold your ground and simply focus on how much better off you are without that scheming little weasel.” Ruby narrows her eyes.
“How am I supposed to do that? How am I going to concentrate on anything else but him?” I groan, draining the last of my wine. “How do I keep him out of my head at all these weddings?”
Leo reaches for the bottle to top us up. Ruby looks thoughtful and then her face lights up.
“I’ve got it!” she announces, pushing herself up off the sofa and putting her glass down on the side table. “Hang on a second.”
She hurries out of the room, returning a moment later carrying marker pens and an A3 pad of paper.
“Hey!” Leo frowns at her. “What are you doing with my special art pad?”
Leo has always been fairly artistic and, about a year ago, he proclaimed that he’d like to get back into it. He bought all the materials and I genuinely believe he had good intentions, but twelve months later, he’s yet to attend any of the life-drawing classes that he banged on about joining or produce a new piece of art.
“I need to borrow it,” Ruby replies simply, taking the lid off the purple pen and flipping the pad to the first page.
“What do you need it for? That’s proper art card, Ruby,” Leo huffs, as I smirk into my glass. “You can’t just doodle on it for no reason.”
“Who said anything about doodling? And there is a reason for using it, a very good one in fact,” she replies haughtily. “We are going to sit here and come up with the plan.”
“Plan for what?”
“Freya needs to survive the Wedding Season,” she announces, her eyes flashing dangerously at me. “And, together, we’re going to work out how.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
I burst out laughing, but Ruby looks deadly serious. She starts writing at the top of the paper and then holds it out so we can see what she’s written: “How to survive the Wedding Season.”
“You’re kidding, right?” I ask nervously.
