12
JONAH
As it turned out, Saturday was too far away, and when life provided me with an opportunity to see her before then, I grabbed it.
Jonah
Change of plans. Still on for Saturday, but there’s something else I want you to see before then. What time does your shift finish today?
An hour later she messaged back.
Mae
Sorry, I was with a patient. Shift finishes at… not telling. Depends entirely on what you want to show me and whether I want to see it.
I chuckled.
Jonah
Is that another one of your sexual innuendos? It’s hard to judge context in a text.
Mae
It wasn’t when I wrote it, but it is now that you’ve pointed it out. Thanks for that.
Jonah
You’re welcome. So…?
Mae
Shift finishes at 4.
Jonah
Excellent. I’ll pick you up at 4.30p.m. Dress warm. And don’t eat.
* * *
‘I’m hungry,’ she said grumpily, opening the door to me at 4.30p.m. on the dot. She had taken my advice seriously, I was happy to see, and was wearing jeans, boots and a warm Patagonia jacket. ‘Which is weird,’ she continued. ‘Because I wouldn’t normally have eaten anything since lunch anyway, but because youtoldme not to eat, all I can think about is eating.’
‘It’s the red-button theory.’
‘The what?’
‘You know, when someone tells you not to push the big red button. All you can think about doing is pushing the big red button, even if you’ve been warned that it’s probably going to end badly. It’s temptation.’ I shrugged.
She thought about it. ‘If someone toldmenot to press the button, I wouldn’t push the button. Would you?’
‘Probably before they’d even left the room,’ I admitted.
‘Good to know. Here’s hoping I never find myself in a hostage situation in a nuclear power station with you.’
I laughed. ‘Ready to go?’
‘Almost.’ She disappeared inside, reappearing a few moments later with her woolly hat and scarf on. ‘OK. I’m ready.’ She pulled the door closed and checked it was locked. ‘Where are we going?’
‘You’ll see.’
