‘Did you hear from any of Sharon’scontacts?’
‘No.’ I sigh. ‘I’ll chase them uptomorrow.’
‘I’ll text her, see if she can chase them. People don’t generally leave Sharonhanging!’
I eye him as he taps a text out on his phone. He has her personalnumberthen.
‘You know her well?’ I ask super, supercasually.
Seth nods and leans back against the bench. ‘We usedtodate.’
I knew it. I may not be clued up in the ways of sexual adulting, but I could completely tell that they hadhistory.
‘Cool. Cool,’ I say nonchalantly. ‘So what happened? Why did it end? When did you break up? What’s the story?’ I add, completely ruining mycasualvibe.
Seth puts his phone pack into his shirt pocket and turns to me. ‘We were together for about a year and she cheated on me,’ he says it very matter-of-fact. So matter-of-factly that he was evidently hurtbyit.
‘Shit,’ I say. ‘That’shorrible.’
Seth nods, giving a small empty laugh. ‘It was. She always told fibs, little white lies, exaggerations. I hate liars – hate them – but I figured they were little lies, harmless. And she’s in PR after all, and that whole deal is about putting a spin on shit. But she lied about sleeping with someone else for three months. Not such a little or harmless lie. I had completely trusted her. I felt like such anidiot.’
‘Gross! I’m sorry that happenedtoyou.’
‘Yeah.’
‘And you still have to work withher!Ick.’
Seth shrugs. ‘Ah, I’m over it now. We’re learning to be friends again. I mean, we were never right for each other in a romantic way so I’m glad it happened. I tend to stay in long relationships, so if she hadn’t have cheated I’d probably still be withhernow.’
Does that mean he still has feelingsforher?
Ihopenot.
Not that it should mattertome…
‘Oh.’ I saycasually.
Seth nods. ‘Plus she farted in her sleep. At first I thought it was cute. But sometimes they were so loud they literally wokemeup.’
‘We all do farts in oursleep!’
‘Sure. I bet yours smell like fresh springblooms.’
‘They do. And onthatnote I propose a subjectchange!’
And by subject change I mean that perhaps it’s about time to do some kissing. I’ve been watching his lips moving all night and have been able to think of nothing but what they will feel like on my neck. Pressed against my belly.Onmy…
‘Olive?’
Seth’s voice interrupts my fantasy. I’m drooling alittlebit.
He’s grinning at me, his tongue poking out. I scooch towards him so that our thighs aretouching.
His eyes run over my face me like he wants to eat me up for a seconddessert.
I nudge my knee against his and turn so that I’m properlyfacinghim.
He moves his face closer to mine. Closer, closer, closerandthen.
