‘Oh, no way.’ Alec’s eyes widen. ‘How do you and the groom know each other?’
He says this with interest, with a warmth I’d hoped he wouldn’t have, because if he didn’t have that, there’d be an excuse to hate him. But he isn’t giving me that excuse.
Except, why does he need to ask that question?Come on.
I look at Ollie. Words unspoken. Has he not told Alec about me?
‘He’s a friend from uni,’ Ollie says. ‘We were in the same English Lit class.’
And we were in love, you going to mention that?
Alec beams. ‘Another English Lit grad.’
What’s happening?
My hands tremble; my legs buckle.
Have those years with Ollie been pretend? A figment of my imagination?
Was Ithatinsignificant?
Afriend?
‘I haven’t seen him in years.’ Ollie must believe his own lie. I want to wipe his smile off his face by calling him out, recalling February. ‘It’s great to see you again, but you know the wedding is not until the end of this month, don’t you?’
‘I do, yes,’ I say, as if this is some board meeting with Clive.
‘Right, cool,’ Ollie recovers.
‘Are you bringing anyone? A plus one?’ Alec asks.
‘Will doesn’t have a plus one,’ Ollie says, laughing. How very presumptuous. How tragically true.
‘Uh…’
Why the hell did I come here? Seeing them now, I realise how silly this whole thing is. I didn’t think this through. No logicalthought went into coming here, but then logic has evaded me since finding out Ollie’s getting married. How humiliating it is to be standing here as Ollie drapes his arm around Alec and looks like I’ve disturbed his nuptials, even though this is a chance meeting.
But something shifts within me. A need to explain why I’m here. What I’m about to do is reckless, and logic deserts my decision.
‘Sam here is my plus one,’ I say, reaching for Sam. For a moment, Sam does nothing, and my cheeks threaten to betray my embarrassment, but then he takes my hand, hesitantly, and steps closer to me. His hand cradles my back, and I shiver, hoping that the two people before me haven’t noticed. Both Ollie and Alec regard Sam as if he were the most outstanding specimen on earth. Alec literally stands straighter, blinking Sam into focus.
‘Meet Sam. My?—’
‘Boyfriend,’ Sam blurts. ‘Hi.’
What?
What is Sam doing?
This wasn’t the plan. I have to be available. Off the market. On the shelf. Having a Sam would look like I’ve moved on. Sam should be my plus one friend. Not my plus one romantic interest.
Alec brushes his hand along Ollie’s arm.
So what if I lost Ollie for good? Yeah, it’d fucking hurt. It would be like exposing my wound to the elements all over again, but Lydia’s words, Alice’s reaction, my conversation with Jill, all made me realise that coming here to stop whatever they have was one big mistake.
But now here’s Sam. Pretending to be my lover. Ollie’s brow is furrowed, looking at him and then at me. What if he’sseeingme again? The man he can no longer have? I try to keep my faceneutral as Sam’s hand envelopes Ollie’s and shakes it, their eyes locking.
Look, I could be happy for Ollie. I could begrudgingly go to the wedding and see the pair marry. But how embarrassing would it be to go alone? Would it be bad to pretend I’m with Sam so I can save face and maybe try to make Ollie jealous?
