* * *
Evie decided to skip Boxing Day breakfast. She was still full from all the Christmas Day food plus she didn’t fancy possibly bumping into Dan in the dining room. Each time she’d seen him yesterday she’d felt too emotional for comfort. It would be better not to be looking over her shoulder the whole time. Probably best to stay in her room until lunchtime and relax.
She got a text from him mid-morning saying he hoped she enjoyed the rest of the stay and he’d be in touch ASAP about the annulment, which made her feel tearful again, so she switched the TV on and found an episode ofSchitt’s Creekto watch.
By lunchtime, she was really bored and very pleased to be meeting the rest of the group. And, really, it was lovely for it to be calm and relaxed with no awkwardness around Dan, or being constantly aware of him. Yes, it felt atinybit flat, but overall itwaslovely, especially with the ongoing excitement about Sasha and Angus. It was a little bit annoying that she kept wondering what Dan would say about things, but, really, it was way better without him.
‘There’s nothing actually going on between you and Dan, is there?’ Millie asked over their pre-sightseeing salads.
Evie chewed her lettuce very thoroughly to give herself time to think of a good reply, and then ended up saying, ‘No, nothing.’
‘Great,’ said Millie, with a suggestive pout.
Evie shoved some more lettuce in her mouth and chewed hard again. It felt like Millie had changed since they were at school, and not for the better.
* * *
‘Evie, over here,’ Sasha hollered across the main room of the Duck and Grapes, the pub in Melting Bishop, as Evie made her way across to her on New Year’s Eve.
Evie said hello to everyone she recognised and tried hard to keep her attention on the people she was speaking to rather than combing the room with her eyes for any sight of Dan. She’d spent the whole week fantasising slightly – okay a lot – that maybe something might happen between themsober.Given that he’d been away for Christmas, there had to be a good chance that he’d come home for New Year to see his mum. He’d said he didn’t know whether or not he’d be working. She’d beensotempted to ask Sasha whether or not he’d be there. It was actually really hard to decide whether or not she wanted to see him.
‘Evening,’ she said to Sasha when she’d finally made it over to where she was sitting with Angus and several local friends and Max. And not Dan. So maybe he wasn’t coming. Or maybe he was late.
‘I love your top,’ Sasha said. ‘Is it new?’ It was new. Just in case she saw Dan. ‘Should we look at my ring just one more time?’ She waggled her engagement finger and Evie laughed. ‘Oh, look, there’s Millie.’
Millie, looking remarkably glammed up, was standing in the doorway.
‘Hello,’ she said when she got to their table. ‘Thought I’d come after all.’
‘Let me buy you a drink,’ Angus said.
Millie sat herself down in his place next to Sasha, and said, ‘So when’s Dan coming?’
Really, Evie should be pleased that she’d asked that question, so that she could hear the answer too, rather than having an urge to slap her.
‘He isn’t,’ Sasha said. ‘He’s working tonight. I think it’s often a busy one in A&E and he had to swap shifts with someone apparently.’
‘Right,’ said Millie. She laced her fingers together and tapped her forefingers against each other a few times and then said, ‘I’m not going to be able to stay long. I have a party in Cheltenham as well this evening.’
Angus put her glass of white wine down in front of her, and she said, ‘Thank you so much.’
About three sips of her wine later, and while Evie was right in the middle of telling them about the Year Eight ski trip she was going on at February half-term, Millie stood up abruptly and said, ‘So it’s been great to see you. Happy New Year.’ And off she went.
‘She asked for a large glass,’ said Evie, indignant on behalf of Angus and generally furious with Millie. ‘She could have had a small one and saved you a good fiver.’
‘It actually really annoys me that she’s so blatantly got her eye on Dan,’ Sasha said. ‘I mean, I know you don’t want to talk about it and I know that what happened in Vegas was just a one-off and everything, but it still feels rude to you.’
‘It really does.’ Evie nodded, delighted that Sasha wanted to bitch about Millie, because shereallywanted to.
‘I don’t think Dan’s at all interested in her,’ Sasha said.
‘Yeah, no, I mean, it’s just the principle. It doesn’t actually matter to me at all,’ Evie lied. It did matter, though. It was one thing him not having been in touch with her after their doorstep snog many years ago, but it would be another him dating one of her school friends right now. If she was honest, she wouldn’t like to think of him dating anyone at the moment, even though there was no reason whatsoever that he shouldn’t. They were both clearly free to do whatever they liked with whomever they liked.
Eight
Then – December 2014
Evie
