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I can’t believe she’s left it this long to tell me. Something has got to be up.
Poppy sighs dramatically. ‘Fine. We went for drinks down on Welsh Back and he was very charming but I just didn’t get the right vibe.’
‘You mean there was no physical connection?’
‘Oh no, there was plenty of that. I mean, he’s hot and I’m hot, it’s a match made in heaven, right? But after a while I realised that was all there was between us. Just a physical thing. The conversation didn’t flow and I felt like we didn’t bond on any other level. We called it a night after a couple of drinks.’
‘Hmm. So what you’re saying is you’re looking for someone who offers you more than just a physical thing?”
‘I guess so,’ she muses. ‘Who’d have thought it? I mean, obviously he needs to be smoking hot still. But I wouldn’t mind a bit of depth too.’
IT’S ADAM, shouts my brain. Thankfully not aloud. Instead I take my chance to drop some subtle hints.
‘Maybe someone who knows what your favourite drink is and buys it for you on the way home?’ I suggest.
‘That would be sweet.’
‘Or someone who knows you inside out and loves every last bit of you?’
‘Well, I mean, obviously.’
‘Or, say, someone who hosts a Romantic Poetry Appreciation Society for you, in his own home, because he knows how important it is to you?’ Maybe that last one wasn’t quite so subtle.
Poppy scowls at me.
‘Adam?’ she says, like it’s the strangest idea in the world.
‘Just saying, Pop. He’s a catch and he adores you. What’s he up to tonight?’
‘Volunteering.’
‘Oh wow, doing what?’
‘Something to do with inner city wildlife conservation? I don’t know, Soph, he’s always doing something or other to help out. I lose track.’
‘Your philanthropy knows no bounds.’
‘Oh piss off. I do go and help him out sometimes but I didn’t fancy it tonight, mostly because I wanted to see you and Lila.’
‘Are you seriously considering a proper relationship then, Pop?’
‘I think I’m ready for it. I feel like this is my time. I’ve been back in Bristol for a while and I’ve worked my way through my Rolodex of hot available Bristolians.’
I snort. ‘I would love to see that Rolodex.’
‘Here,’ she says, pulling up her phone and scrolling through her contacts. ‘The ones marked with HAB are the Hot Available Bristolians.’
‘Oh my god, Poppy.’ I laugh. ‘I thought you were joking.’
‘I never joke about my love life. Anyway, it’s your fault I’m feeling like this.’
‘How so?’
‘Seeing you and Joe together,’ she explains. ‘You two are really close. Shared jokes, knowing looks, sometimes you seem to get what the other one is thinking without even having to say a word. So yeah, it’s your fault that I’m ending my sexual exploration phase and moving towards a proper relationship.’
‘A proper relationship,’ I repeat. What a joke, I think, considering I haven’t heard from him in weeks, ever since our dinner date. But now is not about me and Joe. I want to press her on the Adam thing. How he is so literally ideal for her. But I’ve already said a fair bit on that subject and it might not be pretty if I push too hard.
‘Let the idea percolate.’ I grin, smiling at the sight of my little sister now just starting to notice the dots that the rest of us connected a long time ago. ‘Okay, let’s decide on food and talk outfits for Alexis’s wedding. I think I might buy something new.’
