Our Stop(70)

‘Thanks, Nadia,’ he said. And then: ‘Anyway, we should probably get going. I think the movie is about to start.’

Nadia nodded.

‘Nice to meet you,’ Naomi said. As Eddie and Alya walked away, she asked, ‘The not-quite-enough guy?’

Nadia nodded. ‘Yup.’

She turned to locate Waistcoat Guy again, but when she searched for him by the food stand, where he’d been seconds ago, he wasn’t there.

‘Ah!’ she said to Naomi. ‘That guy! Where did he go?’

Naomi followed Nadia’s line of sight and shrugged. ‘Oh shit, I don’t know!’ she said. ‘He was so into you!’

‘I was so into him!’

‘I could tell. It was like you were having sex with him with your eyes.’

Nadia hit her friend’s arm.

‘We’ll find him. It’s not that big here. Maybe he’ll come back.’

Nadia looked around the area again.

‘I hope so,’ she said, and Naomi pulled on her arm so that she’d step forward to the food counter. ‘He was … wow.’





42


Daniel


‘Well,’ Romeo was saying. ‘You’ve got absolutely no choice. You’ve got to write to her again. You’ve used up your nine lives, man – if you were to see her by chance ever again, I’d be shocked. Like, seeing her last night was your last chance. You’ve got to write to her again! It’s not like another chance meeting will ever, ever happen.’

Romeo had come upstairs to Daniel’s desk on his break, after Daniel had sent him a series of texts telling him what happened at the screening the night before.

‘You can’t send me a text like that and not have me stage an intervention, friend,’ he’d said, appearing by his side. ‘What do you mean you lost her? How many opportunities are you willing to blow?!’

‘You weren’t in the lobby when I needed you!’ Daniel said, by way of response.

‘I had to go pee! Even security men get bathroom breaks!’ Romeo had said, exasperated. Then: ‘I can’t believe you wandered off because her ex-boyfriend was there. You coward! You’re better than that, man! You said yourself he was with somebody else.’

‘Nah man, she didn’t need an audience for that, did she?’ Daniel said, still trying to unravel why he’d bolted that way. Romeo was right, though: how many chances did he want to blow? Maybe it was panic. He’d once heard that the only thing worse than harbouring a dream was having that dream come true, because then, what was left to want?

He simply couldn’t explain why he hadn’t loitered and waited for the guy to leave. Nadia was interested. He could tell. They hadn’t been able to look away from each other – at least not until they were interrupted. His heart had quickened, his brain had gone blank, he’d not done much other than grin like an idiot at her, but she had grinned back, letting whatever energy between them exist to do just that. Exist. He hadn’t held his breath in front of her, he’d exhaled. It was what he had been looking for. Inexplicably, he’d willingly walked away.

Daniel’s face was serious. ‘I agree. I think you’re right. I think I should write to her. I just – I needed you to tell me it was a good idea, that’s all. And you’re telling me it is, so. That’s decided then. I will write, and this time won’t leave her waiting for me. We just have to hope she understands it’s meant for her, is all.’

Romeo offered him a hand to shake.

‘My man. Tell her straight up: We spoke at Secret Cinema the other night, me in a waistcoat and you looking beautiful. I knocked your phone out of your hand, and I’m an idiot for not putting my phone number in it first. You get my train – the 7.30, at Angel. I think we might have written to each other before …’

Daniel nodded along with every word Romeo said.

‘Great,’ he said, still nodding, amazed at how right Romeo seemed to get everything. ‘Yes! Perfect.’

He moved the mouse to his computer and typed in the URL for Missed Connections submissions.

‘Now,’ Daniel said, fingers poised over the keys, ‘repeat what you just said?’

Romeo pulled up a chair and cracked his knuckles. ‘Okay, boss,’ he said. ‘Start with this: We spoke at Secret Cinema …’





43


Nadia


Nadia held her phone in her hand as the bus trundled down to Angel, where she would hop off and get the tube, like she did every day. Her instinct was to text Emma, but Emma was so absent that she didn’t think she could stomach the three-day wait that had eased itself into all communication with her. Instead, she pulled up Instagram to look at the photo Naomi had posted from the night before, ‘liking’ it and leaving three flame emojis underneath as a comment. Nadia screenshotted it, thinking she might post it too. It was right after she’d talked with that gorgeous guy in the waistcoat, and she had the look of trouble in her eye. Good trouble. She looked bright and fresh-faced and fun.

Nadia scrolled through the other photos that had loaded: a friend from school was on vacation with her husband in Sri Lanka. Her cousin’s baby had crawled for the first time. Several Instagrammers had new skirts and shirts and boots and were reminding her that it would soon be Black Friday, so click the link in bio for the full collection and don’t forget to use the discount code!!! She scrolled past them all.