Don’t You Forget About Me(105)

‘Only because he was mixed up about your history. None of that means he isn’t attracted to you, and now you have your history sorted out …’

‘Exactly,’ Clem says.

‘Oh, you two! I know it would be a lovely postscript if Lucas and I got together after all this, but life’s not like that. And he’s going to marry a woman who looks like a member of The Corrs, I’m sure, not an ageing blonde in Yorkshire in fishnets.’

I see both her and Jo looking beadily at me. ‘Let me leave the memory of Lucas McCarthy with that handshake, not making a desperate hopeful arse of myself,’ I say, toasting them with my glass.

‘Yeah, you see,’ Clem says to Jo, ‘push needed.’ I see Jo nodding at her, and suddenly feel something is out of the ordinary.

‘You know we haven’t given you a birthday present? We sort of took a mad risk that will either see you grateful to us for the rest of your life, or …’ Clem trails off.

‘Or …?’ I say, with a hard intonation. Oh. God. If Clem thinks it’s ‘mad’ and a ‘risk’ …?

‘Or it’s a friendship-terminating calamity that will haunt us all ’til our end of days.’

‘Oh well, this is magnificent! Have you bought me an easyJet flight to Dublin and some Ann Summers crotchless pants? I am willing to waste your ￡100.’

‘No. It’s a bit wilder than that.’

‘OK, I’m honestly worried now, what have you done? Jo, you’re pale!’

Jo shows me gritted teeth and then glances up behind me and I go stiff, turn slowly and see Rav, who has a tray of drinks. And with him, Lucas McCarthy.





45


‘Surprise!’ Rav says, and I stare, dumbstruck, and wish I didn’t have a tiara on my head.

Lucas, his hands in the pockets of a dark jacket, eyes on me, says: ‘You know when you said I should definitely turn up for her birthday as a surprise and she’d love it and there was absolutely, without question, no flaw in this plan?’

‘Yes!’ Clem says.

‘Is that Georgina looking pleased to see me?’ He pretends to inspect my expression, and smiles. I am too shocked to smile.

‘She’s speechless with joy!’ Rav says, bustling past, setting his tray down. I feel their tense expectation.

I swallow, and try to collect myself. ‘Hi. Erm, what’s going on?’

‘We were trying to think how we could give you the greatest of birthdays, the birthday you deserve after everything you’ve been through …’ Jo gabbles, ‘And we thought, the best gift would be … that you’d like to see Lucas. And Lucas was up for a visit …’

‘They thought we should talk,’ Lucas says. ‘I was already thinking about getting in touch, then Clem and Jo got in touch with me …’

I look at Clem, full of delight at her own connivance, and a still very nervous Jo, back to Lucas, who has no right to look so at ease. He smiles again.

‘I wouldn’t have come if I didn’t have something to say. But I can go home again if this isn’t welcome, no hard feelings.’

‘No! No. It’s OK,’ I say. I will kill my friends later, slowly.

‘I’m fine to say what I have to say in front of your friends, if it won’t embarrass you.’

‘We would really like that,’ Clem says, before I can reply.

‘Oh you fu—’ I say. ‘How do I know if it’ll embarrass me when I don’t know what it is?’

‘It’s only embarrassing to me, really,’ Lucas says.

‘OK.’ I plant my sweaty hands on my knees, to steady myself.

‘I was wondering. Now we’ve sorted out our past. I was wondering if I could be part of your present again.’

My heart stutters and then stops. I am dead. I open my mouth and then close it again. Then open it.

‘Are you asking me to come back to The Wicker?’

‘No. I’m asking if I could take you out to dinner. Sometime; I can see you’re busy tonight. A date.’

I pause, sunshine spreading inside me. Lucas McCarthy is asking me on a date? ‘Aren’t you living in Dublin?’

‘No, not if you’re here. I’ve applied for a transfer. Hopefully the boss will sign it off but he’s a right wanker.’

I can’t help it. We grin stupidly at each other. He came back for me? He’d do that for me?

‘I’ve practised this with Devlin,’ Lucas says, ‘And I quote, “Come on you surly bastard you can do better than that, you’ve said more to me when you’ve been moping over her for the last few months.”’

I laugh. Moping. I never imagined, for a second, he could want me again the way I want him. I thought that had flown forever.

‘I said, Dev, I’ve got to not pressure her and play it cool, just ask her on a date and leave it at that. He said, Luc, you are so far beyond the point you can play it cool with this broad. You’ve already been such an almighty butthurt dick around her, you made her quit, and she was a really decent hire so thanks for nothing. Tell her how you honestly feel. From what you say, you owe her that.’

‘Yes! This is incredible,’ Jo sighs quietly.

‘So – when I say I wondered if you’d like to go for dinner sometime …’ Lucas draws breath and continues: ‘What I really wonder is, if you, too, hope we have one of those first dates that turns into days and nights, not only due to lust but because we can’t stand to be apart.’