I’m fine.
Niamh and Freddie had, of course, invited Matthew to the sten, back when everyone assumed we’d be married by now. They must have forgotten to tell the best man to cross him off the list. Or maybe that’s my job now?
I bought an unnecessarily large cookie in M&S that I was planning on nibbling later on in the journey if I got peckish, but I’ll be needing that ASAP.
Our tickets take up a large section of the carriage, so the best man instructs us to pick any one of the many seats we’ve been allocated. I wait patiently as everyone sorts out their bags and getsthemselves settled, and then quietly make my way to the back row of our cluster.
I chuckle as Freddie pops open a bottle of prosecco and pours some for Niamh into a plastic flute, spilling it everywhere and making her laugh. The maid of honor holds out two crowns for them both to wear, promising us all that the costumes will get a lot worse as the weekend continues. I hope the other passengers in this carriage don’t mind sharing it with a rowdy bunch. I’m pleased to have two seats to myself and reach down into my shopping bag to find my cookie. Keeping my head down, I take a large bite.
Oh my god. So gooey. This cookie is officially everything to me.
A whistle is blown as the train prepares to leave and there’s suddenly an eruption of cheers. I crane my neck over the seats to see that Jamie has arrived, jumping on the train just before the doors close. As the others pat him on the back in congratulations, he laughs, running a hand through his hair, looking frazzled.
After greeting his friends and giving Freddie and Niamh a hug, he starts strolling down the aisle looking for a seat as the train moves off. I sink into my seat, hoping he won’t notice me or the empty seat beside me. There should be another spare one somewhere that would have been Matthew’s, so he can have that one.
Look, it’s not that I have anything against this guy. It’s just that I was looking forward to being away from the crowd for the journey, hidden away here on my own with my cookie and the luxury of two seats to myself.
“Well, well, well,” he says, stopping at my row.
I glance up, pretending I’d only just noticed he was here. “Oh, hi, Jamie.”
“Hello, Freya.” He grins, shoving his bag in the overheadspace above us, before slumping down next to me. “Looks like we’re stuck on another journey together.”
I grumpily shift toward the window as he knocks into my arm while digging into his own M&S bag to pull out a bottle of water and a can of craft beer. He really is something else.
“Why do you look irritated already?” he asks, unscrewing the lid of his water bottle and taking a few glugs.
“I’m surprised you found the time to do some shopping when you were running late.”
“I wasn’t running late.”
“You literally just made the train by the skin of your teeth.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t running late when I got to the shops. I was perfectly on time. It was the browsing that made me late. But, doesn’t matter, because I made the train.”
“I don’t know how you’re so calm.”
“I wasn’t a minute ago. I was running like a crazy person, shouting at people to get out of my way. I think I knocked over an old lady in my hurry to make it.” His eyes drift to the lowered tray table in front of me. “That cookie is ginormous.”
“I know.”
“You have a sweet tooth?”
“A little bit.”
“I’m more of a savory man myself. How long is this journey?”
“Just over two hours.”
“Not too bad.” He opens his can of beer. “And if we get delayed, then no one needs to worry about starving to death thanks to the giant cookie of yours. That would feed the five thousand.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “There’s nothing wrong with giant cookies.”
“Never said there was.” He takes a swig of his beer. “So, am I allowed to know the fate of my cuff links? You didn’t use them in a potion to curse me, did you? Because I’ve had an extraordinarily bad week.”
“Dancing Bear having trouble finding its rhythm?”
“Okay, that was a terrible joke so don’t look so proud of yourself,” he says with a sigh. “Work wasn’t brilliant, but the week was shit because of my sister.”
