She watched for a minute longer, long enough to see the two of them exchange phone numbers, and then walked over to pull Maria away for the premiere.
***
After the screening they went back to the party but, as the night wore on, Luisa found there were only so many people she could talk to. Maria had headed home herself ten minutes before, and when Julian saw that she was flagging a little he called up his driver. Fifteen minutes later they were in the car, headed back to his place.
“Tired?” Julian asked, sat next to her now in the back, his hand finding hers in the dark.
“A little. But it was fun. Good party, good premiere.”
“The movie’s going to bomb, I can tell.”
“Well, yeah… I was just being nice.”
She saw him glance over and grin. “What did Nico Wilde want?”
“You saw that?”
“Hard to miss. He wasn’t being subtle.”
“He asked me out for dinner. A place by the beach in Malibu.”
“Are you going to do it?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Because of the someone in London.”
“Yeah.”
They were quiet for the rest of the drive. When they pulled up at his house, Julian asked, “Want to stay? Or want to be dropped home?”
Luisa thought for a moment. It had been a nice night, and she had her overnight bag at his place anyway. “I’ll stay.”
***
A little while later, Luisa lay awake next to Julian, looking at the shadows cast by the lights against the curtains. He was sound asleep now, but he hadn’t slept until they’d carried on where they’d left off that afternoon… less urgent, less frantic than earlier, but just as fun. He was a good lover, and Luisa let herself push away the thoughts about Amy for just a few minutes so that she could be in the moment. It had been good.
Now, she lay there and thought about Amy properly. Amy, who made her stomach do peculiar things when her name came up on Luisa’s phone. Amy, who she’d known for only a few weeks but already felt like the most real relationship of her life. Amy, who was five thousand miles away and might not even want what Luisa was starting to realise she wanted.
Her phone buzzed quietly on the bedside table. Luisa reached for it carefully, trying not to disturb Julian, and saw she had a message from Amy.
Sorry for radio silence today. It’s been completely insane here. Long story that I’ll tell you about when we talk. Hope the party was fun. Can we talk tomorrow? I miss you xx
Luisa stared at the message, reading it again and again. Something about the tone felt off… not bad, exactly, but as if there was something momentous that she couldn’t say.Long storycould mean anything.Can we talk tomorrowsounded ominous, like the preamble toit’s not you, it’s me. Luisa desperately hoped not, and she had never been the type to catastrophise, but she’d be glad when she had the chance to speak to Amy properly.I miss youwas very reassuring though.
She typed out a reply:
Just got back. Party was good but movie was bad. Of course we can talk tomorrow, call me whenever. Everything ok? xx
She hit send and lay back down, phone still in hand. Julian stirred next to her but didn’t wake up.
Luisa thought about the message…completely insane here. She knew, obviously, that Amy had her boyfriend and her ‘not-girlfriend’ so possibly it was something to do with them. Who knew? Five thousand miles was a long way from which to try to decipher a few sentences over text message.
Her phone lit up with a reply.
You and me are. But I think I might have exploded the rest of my life. Sleep well and don’t worry xx
That sounded… interesting. Dramatic.
