Our Stop(53)

‘Yeah,’ said Daniel.

‘Gimme your phone.’

Daniel handed over his phone. Romeo typed for a few seconds before passing it back to Daniel, who stared at the screen. In the notes app he’d written:

I screwed up, Coffee Spill Girl. I left, and I shouldn’t have, and now I’m worried I blew it. I know you don’t get a second chance at a first impression, but how’s about a first meeting on the second try?

‘That’s good,’ said Daniel, sadly. He stared at his phone. He really did want to apologize to her. ‘I might actually send that, you know. If she’d been alone today I would have said almost exactly that.’

‘Go for it then, if that feels right. But I have a feeling you might see her sooner than you think.’

‘Maybe,’ said Daniel. ‘I might send it just in case. It will make me feel better.’

The pair talked about their weekend plans for a little bit, both agreeing that another pint was too much but they’d go in for a half and then part ways. Daniel was exhausted, his shoulders tight and eyes aching. He could feel his breathing getting deeper for having had a drink, and told himself he’d go for a really long run in the morning to truly shake off his week. He’d download Guardian Soulmates, thinking that maybe he was too old for apps and needed something with a monthly payment plan, so he knew the women on there were serious. He needed to get out there and connect with a woman who was actually real, and genuinely wanted to meet him, before he spooked himself into thinking it would never happen for him. Jesus. Is that what it had come to? Genuinely considering Guardian bloody Soulmates?

‘Hey, you know what you should do?’ Romeo said, when Daniel got back to the table. ‘You should text that woman who was doing the set-up for you. When you went to the Sky Garden.’

Daniel groaned. ‘Are you kidding me? Technically, I was stood up that night too! I turned up expecting to meet a woman who never bloody came! And the woman supposed to be doing the introductions disappeared as well!’

Romeo laughed. ‘Okay, okay, mea culpa – bad idea. Hinge it is then.’

‘Hey, how’s your love life going? Aren’t you seeing somebody?’

Romeo smiled. ‘Yes boss, I am. Date number four on Sunday.’

‘Date number four,’ Daniel said, raising his glass to him. ‘Imagine that.’

Romeo caught his eye. ‘There’s plenty to go around,’ he said. ‘You’ll get a fourth date with somebody too.’

Daniel sighed deeply. ‘I believe you,’ he said.

‘Want me to see if Erika has got any friends? We could double-date!’

Daniel considered it. ‘I mean, fucking maybe, man. I’ll let you know.’





31


Nadia


Nadia got home that night exhausted, battling a hangover, and to a bundle of HB pencils on her front step. What the hell … she thought, crouching to pick them up, and then admonishing how difficult her headache made even that. All day she’d been fantasizing about getting home, taking off her bra, opening all the windows (but closing all the blinds), and ordering in truffled Mac ’n’ Cheese and New York cheesecake from her favourite restaurant on Newington Green. She was nearly there. Freedom was almost hers.

The pencils really were arranged like a bouquet, and on a more energetic day she’d have whipped out her phone to Instagram them immediately. As it happened, the note caught her eye and any notion of photography was instantly forgotten.

You’ve Got Mail, and it’s a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils, it said. (I look forward to finding out what that means). Last night was lovely. See you soon, I hope, Eddie.

Nadia rubbed her temples. This was a lot to process. Eddie, as in last night Eddie. Eddie, as in had kissed her goodbye in front of her work with an open mouth Eddie. Eddie, as in … must have come back to where she lived during the day or at the very least taken note of her address to get somebody to deliver this gift Eddie.

She’d mentioned that scene from You’ve Got Mail only in passing, right before he’d even asked her name. And he’d remembered? Intellectually, Nadia knew this made him what Emma and Gaby would call A Good Guy. He’d made her bed after making her come, and sent a variation of flowers the next day to boot.

So why didn’t that make her instantly swoon?

Nadia thought of her second favourite part of that movie, after the pencil line, when Meg Ryan is asked by the man who just broke up with her if she has anyone else. They’d both known the relationship was over, and he has already moved on.

‘No, no …’ Meg Ryan tells him, dreamily ‘… but there’s the dream of someone else.’

Nadia hadn’t thought about Train Guy all day, really – aside from being furious at him, and cursing him with a lifetime of singledom for having dared to stand her up. But standing on her doorstep with a gesture of kindness from one man, it was the other one who flooded her mind.

‘Absolutely not,’ said Emma down the phone five minutes later. ‘No way. Train Guy bolted! He’s done! He’s finished. He blew it!’

Nadia was lying on her bed, on her stomach, the right side of her face pressed against the bedsheets. She’d found an old pack of Milk Tray in the drawer of her desk she kept emergency cards and stuff for re-gifting in: Sanctuary Spa body lotions and candles not made of soy wax. She’d been thrilled to find a selection box in there that was only a month out of date. She hadn’t even ordered her Mac ’n’ Cheese yet. The Milk Tray was her starter.