I’d laughed and squeezed his arm in response. It was a throwaway moment; I had forgotten it until now. But even then, we knew that we’d be together forever. He knew then.
“Freya?”
Chido’s voice snaps me from my daze and I turn to smile politely at him.
“Sorry, I was in my own world! What did you ask? Sorry!”
“I asked a boring question about where you live,” he says, brushing it away with his hand.
“That’s not boring,” I assure him. “I’m in South London.”
“Do you live with family?”
“No, on my own.”
“You have a partner?”
I hesitate. “I did. Things are a bit… unsure at the moment.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“That’s okay. What about you?”
“Widow.” He gestures to the wedding ring on his left hand. “Five years now.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say, my heart sinking.
“You would have liked her.” He chuckles, offering me more stewed beef, which I decline, having eaten my weight in rice. “She was very witty and quick. I’m not sure what she saw in me, but I’ll be forever grateful that I was the one lucky enough to marry her.”
I smile. “You must miss her, especially on days like this.”
“Of course.” He shrugs sadly, before a smile creeps across his lips. “But then, weddings are a celebration of the start of something, and I love that, don’t you? It’s so exciting.”
I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat.
He watches me carefully. “This partner that you mention things are unsure with—are they here today?”
“No,” I confirm. Normally, I would never talk about something like this with a stranger, but Chido’s vulnerability makes me want to be honest in return. “We were meant to get married two months ago but he panicked and we broke up. I’m just not sure we’re over forever. Well. I guess what I mean is, I’m sort of hopeful we’re not.”
“I see.”
“I probably sound like an idiot.”
“Not at all. The heart wants what it wants.”
“If only it wanted something that wanted it back,” I say, attempting to sound light-hearted, but failing miserably.
“You know, it will get better,” Chido says simply. “It doesn’t feel like it. But, with time, it will. One day, you’ll be somewhere, couldbe anywhere, and suddenly it will hit you. You won’t be expecting it. It will come out of nowhere.” He claps his hands. “Bam.”
“What? What will hit me?”
“The realization that you really are okay.”
I look up to see him smiling warmly and hopefully at me.
“It will happen,” he continues. “You may not believe it, but it will. It always does.”
“My friends have set me a task for this evening,” I inform him. “To keep me distracted. I have to be the last one on the dance floor.”
