It didn’t help Sarah’s unaccustomed nerves that evening that Amy looked as good as ever, dressed down in jeans and a dark blue hoody, her brown hair tied back loosely. Sarah couldn’t tell whether it was a genuinely low effort casual look or something that Amy had spent ages on, but really it didn’t matter. Probably a bit of both. Either way Amy looked good.
Sarah had managed to go home briefly before going to the bar and change from her work clothes into more casual jeans and a top, a bit more dressed up than Amy. She’d also at the last minute taken a quick shower and put on her best lingerie, very much in hope rather than expectation. She didn’t have a clue where the evening was going but best to be prepared.
“So…” Sarah joked, thinking she'd break the ice. “Been up to much?”
There was a pause of a second or two where Sarah had the sinking feeling that she shouldn’t have said that, and that she’d just trivialised whatever had happened in Amy’s life since Sarah left her flat on Saturday afternoon.
Then Amy pursed her lips and Sarah cursed herself for not saying something more sensitive. “You could say so, yes. Get yourself a drink first. Then I'll tell you all about it.”
Sarah ordered a glass of wine, Amy ordering a second glass for herself too, and they made slightly awkward small talk for the couple of minutes they took to arrive.
“You took today off did you say?” Sarah asked as their wine arrived.
“I don’t use all my holiday as it is, and I figured if I can’t use some now then when can I? I’m going to take the next two days as well, and I fly to LA on Thursday.”
“You’re still going to go? I mean, you could delay. We’d all understand.”I don’t want you to spend that time with Luisa, I want you to spend it with meran through Sarah’s head, but she knew not to say it.
“The project genuinely needs me there… and I think not far off three weeks away from here will do me good.”
“It makes sense. We appreciate you doing it.”
Amy looked into Sarah’s eyes for a few moments. “Look, am I talking to work Sarah my mentor here, or social Sarah my lunch companion from Saturday? That sounded like work Sarah just now and I need to know. It really changes the conversation we're about to have.”
Sarah was taken aback but realised that Amy was right. She had just talked to Amy as her boss, not as her friend. And that wasn’t the dynamic that Sarah was after at all.
“I’m sorry, I’ve been in work mode all day. That came out wrong. You’re talking to your friend Sarah from now on, I promise.”
“Good.” Amy visibly relaxed to hear it. “That’s what I’d hoped. That’s the version I want to talk to.”
Sarah took a sip of her wine. “So, how have things been? Are you ok?”
A look passed across Amy’s face, and for a moment Sarah thought that there might be tears, but Amy took a deep breath, looking away and back at Sarah again, and it passed.
“I’m ok, I think. A lot has happened since Saturday.”
“I’ve got all evening to listen, and if you don’t want to talk about it then there’s no need.”
“Oh, I definitely want to talk about it. I’m just not sure where to start!” Amy smiled awkwardly. “It’s… tricky.”
“You can start anywhere and we’ll go from there.”
“Ok… I really don’t know where to start. Let’s start with you. What did you do after you left my flat on Saturday?”
“Immediately after, not a lot… I spent some time gathering my thoughts, went home for a bit. Look, my Saturday isn’t important. Were you ok after I left?”
“Yes, I was fine. But look, did you still go out on Saturday night?”
Sarah looked away. “That isn’t important.”
Amy replied with a hint of frustration in her voice, “It is to me. What were you doing? You never told me.”
“I’d rather not say.”
“I’d rather you did. Humour me. It’s been a hell of a last few days.”
“I did nothing on Saturday night. Sunday I met up with a friend.”
“And… what did you do with that friend?”
