Page 41 of I’m Dreaming of a New York Christmas

‘Thanks for clarifying that. Right, let me get our stuff and pay for these drinks and I’ll be right back.’

He returned within a couple of minutes, with both backpacks, both coats and my two precious notebooks.

‘Hot chocolates were on the house!’ He seemed genuinely delighted by this.

‘Nice, the panic attack really paid off.’

‘That sense of humour of yours really is a survival thing, isn’t it?’

‘Yup. Right, let’s pick up where we left off and see if we can find a narrative thread for the speech. Things will get easier after that, trust me. So, we were talking about…’

Ah, shit, we’d been talking about that weird dinner when he was asked to be best man. I switched tracks to one of my trusted tactics.

‘Actually, let’s try something else for a second. I’ve got this app I use when I need to think of an unexpected way into a story.’

I unlocked my phone and navigated to the what3words app, still grateful for the restaurant’s Wi-Fi connection.

‘Right. Whenever I need to redirect my thinking, I need a random word. And my favourite way to find one is by using this app, which identifies every single three-metre square on the planet with a combination of three words. For example, earlier in Cory’s coffee shop I reckon we were roughly in… this square here, which is represented by the words… ha… “giving, alive, artist”. Sounds like a pretty accurate description of you – from the little I know, anyway.’

‘Let me see. Oh yeah, I know this app. And I’m definitely alive.’ He handed my phone back.

‘You’re a pretty generous artist from what I know, too. Cory told me you don’t charge him for any of your illustrations?’

Ethan shrugged. ‘He’s been good to me. Caffeine is payment enough.’

‘I’m not sure Cory agrees.’

‘I do okay, financially. Corner Brew’s been on the verge of closure since the Covid years, so I’m happy to do what I can to help them out.’

Without even realising what I was doing, my hand was resting on one of his, my thumb rubbing the soft hair below his knuckles with care. It was something I used to do with Will when we watched telly together on the sofa. I quickly withdrew my hand, using it to tuck an imaginary loose strand of hair behind my ear. I refocused on my phone and very deliberately didn’t look at how Ethan had reacted to my skin on his.

‘Umm, so, think of somewhere that means something to you and your brother.’ I was still staring at the app, my face burning with embarrassment.

Ethan thought for a couple of moments before replying. ‘The Space Needle in Seattle. One of our best childhood holidays was a road trip across the States, mainly so we could ride the monorail.’

‘Ooh, I love a monorail, although the only one I’ve ever been on is at a British theme park called Alton Towers.’

‘It’s like being in the future, right?’

‘Yeah, even though most of the world is actually way more futuristic than monorails these days.’

‘Self-driving cars need to get in the bin.’

‘Agreed. Anyway… the Space Needle,’ I said, getting back on topic and navigating to the location on the app. ‘Here we go. Tap a few squares and see if any of the words jump out at you.’

I passed him my phone, and watched his face focus on the task in hand, his brow gently furrowed as he tapped the screen. Suddenly, his face lit up.

‘This one! “Paint, shark, flying”.’

‘Tell me why.’ I clicked open my pen, ready to take notes.

‘Well, me and Rick were both pretty creative when we were growing up. I always preferred working neatly and carefully. Whereas Rick used to chuck paint at a canvas and make as much mess as possible.’

‘Nice. Is he still an artist?’

‘No, he works in media sales here in the city, for The Helix.’

I took down a couple of notes. ‘“Shark”?’