‘Well, I don’t forgive you. And I don’t even know where Staten Island is. I’m assuming it’s an actualisland?’
Seth runs his hands over his stubbled jaw. ‘Look. I’ve got to get to work now, but I don’t start until 2 p.m. tomorrow. How about I go with you to the sorting office tomorrow morning? The letters from today’s mail won’t get there until then anyway and I know Staten Island pretty well, as it happens. We can get the letter; I know a place that does a great pizza. I’ll buy you lunch. Andthenwill youforgiveme?’
Tomorrow isn’t ideal. I could really do with getting this sorted today… But things have a lot better chance of going smoothly if I’m with someone who actually knows this place. I can’t risk getting lost or something going wrong again! And at this point I’m almost expectingitto!
‘Okay. Yes,’ I say quietly. ‘Thankyou.’
‘Great.’ Seth stands up and crosses the hall to grab his still damp shirt from where it’s laid on top of his record bag. ‘I will meet you at The Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Lower Manhattan. Ninethirtya.m.?’
‘Ferry terminal?’ I repeat, feeling suddenly sick at the thought of being on the water. I have never been on a boat in my life! Not even the rowing boats at Heaton Park. Plus, I’m a terrible swimmer. The very thought of a ferry makes me wanttohurl.
‘Yeah’ he says. ‘It’s the best way to get to Staten island. And the most pleasant. Hopefully this rain will clear and you’ll get to see the view of Manhattan from the water. It’s really something tobehold.’
I bite my lip and nod veryslowly.
He already thinks I’m crazy. I can’t be afraid of planesandferries. Even to my mind that sounds superneurotic.
‘Fine. 9 a.m. tomorrow,’ I say. And then, for some reason, I hold out my hand for him to shake. Like we are making some sort of formalbusinessdeal.
Olive,yougeek!
‘Fine,’ Sethreplies.
‘Fine.’
‘Fine.’
‘Can we stop saying fine now,please?’
‘Fine.’
OceanofPDF.com
ChapterNineteen
Text from Olive to Colin:NYC is raining, sadly. Hope it’s still sunny there in OZ. I like head massages, sounds like a good idea for our indoor date ;) Now it’s my turn to ask you a question. What makes youlaugh?X
Text from Colin:Still sunny here! About to have a BBQ. Put another shrimp on the barbie! Haha. What makes me laugh… hmmm. I really enjoy The Lad Bible. Do you know it? It’s a meme site. I love memes. All kinds ofmemes!
On the walkback to the flat, BirdieFaceTimesme.
My stomach lurches. Do I need to tell her about the lost letter? I mean, is it worth stressing her out if I’m just going to get it back from the sorting office tomorrow? I decide to tell her the truth. She must be desperate to hear my updates regardingChuck.
I press answer. And I find out that Chuck appears to be the furthest thing fromhermind.
‘WATCH ME PIDDLE!’ she yells into the screen in a stupid voice. ‘Waaaaatchmeeeeee!’
‘You saw it!’ I hiss into the screen. ‘Nooooooo!’
Birdie laughs. ‘Seems you omitted to tell me a little something about your flight to New York. Why the hell are you being impersonated onSunday Night Live? And why didn’t youtellme?’
With a very red face and over the sound of her squealing laughter, I tell her about Seth and the misunderstanding on the plane. And then I tell her about people recognising me in the street, how I accidentally posted the letter, how Seth was right there in the street and how he’s coming to the sorting office with me tomorrow and that I will absolutely get it back and that she mustn’t worry. I expect her to be at least slightly upset about the letter, but she’s far more interested in that damnSunday Night Livesketch.
‘I was hoping it wouldn’t make its way to the UK,’ I say, approaching Riverside Drive and walking byCentralPark.
‘It showed up on my Facebook feed thismorning.’
‘Noooo! I ammortified.’
