This Could Change Everything(77)

Laughing, Scarlett duly took a photo on her phone. Whilst she was busy sending it to Conor, Jerry caught Zillah’s eye and winked. And that was the moment Zillah realised she hadn’t been the only one to notice the earlier flush in Scarlett’s cheeks.

Conor was lying across his sofa half watching The Great Escape on TV but mainly wondering what the bloody hell was happening to him. When his phone beeped again, he opened the latest message from Scarlett and saw the photo she’d sent him. It was a selfie this time, of her and Jerry. Beneath it, she’d written:

Jerry says he’s glad you were ill so he could meet me instead. PS He’s wonderful. Thanks so much for trusting me to do this today. PPS I still promise.

Conor studied the photo, an impromptu unedited snap of a desperately ill man in his sixties and a sparky, vivacious girl in her twenties with purple hair and an infectious smile. For once, she wasn’t doing that annoying pout.

What was going on, though? Why had Scarlett’s story about having been offered no-strings sex by an ex-boyfriend bothered him so much, to the extent that he’d needed to tell her again not to do it? Had felt compelled to say it, in fact . . . God knows what kind of a lunatic she must think he was, seeing as it was precisely none of his business in the first place.

OK, stop this. He put the phone down.

At least he could pretend it was simply good old-fashioned advice on the basis of taking the moral high ground.

Even if, deep down, he knew that wasn’t the real reason at all.

As he exhaled and shifted position in an effort to ease the ache in his shoulders, he felt the phone slide off the sofa cushion onto the floor. On the TV screen, Charles Bronson was grimly digging away at the escape tunnel, living in terror of the roof collapsing on top of him. Down on the rug, Conor’s phone beeped to signal the arrival of yet another text.

More photos from Scarlett, sent to playfully taunt him about the brilliant job she’d done this afternoon? He rolled over to retrieve the phone and saw that this one wasn’t from her. It was a message from Evie:

OMG, have you seen what Caz has put up on Facebook now? She’s outrageous! Brace yourself!

Conor’s heart sank. Caz was an enthusiastic user of Facebook. He’d never been a great one for it himself; it was handy for keeping up with old school friends and seeing photos of their families, but that was enough as far as he was concerned.

Whereas Caz liked to post stuff every day. Quite often, more stuff than any normal person needed to post. He knew this because she’d persuaded him in a moment of weakness a fortnight ago to accept her friend request, and now every time he ventured onto the site he saw all the rubbish she’d put up there, an endless stream of jokes, cartoons, memes and typically outspoken comments about any subject that happened to enter her head.

Dreading what he was about to unveil, Conor opened Facebook and saw that he’d been tagged in one of Caz’s status updates. Clicking on it, he saw that she’d posted a video of a bride and groom making their way up the aisle of a church. The music playing was the Wedding March and the faces of the couple had been digitally altered, replaced by those of Belinda and himself. Similarly, the two bridesmaids in turquoise taffeta were now Evie and Caz. And Caz had written: Here’s something that needs to happen! Come on, Conor, we all know you two are a match made in heaven, so when are you going to make an honest woman of Belinda and pop the question?? You know you want to! And guess what, I bumped into our local vicar this morning and he told me they’ve had a cancellation at the church, which means the first Saturday in July is now FREE! So what are you waiting for? You need to book it now! What does everyone think? Should he do it??? Let’s make this a wedding to remember!!!

Predictably, in the comments below, dozens of people had left messages to the effect that yes, he should definitely do it, and they couldn’t wait to receive their invitations to the wedding of the year.

Conor heaved a sigh of irritation. To think that everyone had assured him Caz was a good person who meant well and he’d grow to like her over time.

Seriously, that was never going to happen. And yes, this Facebook malarkey might only be a joke, but it was a passive-aggressive kind of joke. If he complained about it, he would be accused of sense-of-humour failure. If, on the other hand, he let it go, the teasing comments and heavy hints would keep on coming.

It was a lose-lose situation.

His phone rang and he answered it.

‘Have you seen what Caz did?’ said Evie.

‘I have.’

‘Look, I know she can be embarrassing sometimes, but it’s only a bit of fun. Are you cross with her?’

‘Could you ask her to delete it?’ See? He already felt like a miserable killjoy. ‘I know it’s only a joke, but it feels a tad . . . inappropriate.’

‘OK.’

‘Belinda and I met each other in January. It’s only been two months.’ He felt the need to explain.

‘I know. But I thought everything was going really well between the two of you.’

‘It is,’ Conor protested. ‘The thing is, most people like to leave it a bit longer before they make that kind of decision.’

‘Yes, but Caz reckons Belinda deserves to be happy and when you meet the right person there’s no need to wait.’ Evie sounded frustrated. ‘All I’m saying is, everyone wants you and Belinda to be happy.’

‘I know they do. It’s too soon, that’s all.’