‘Although, I did meet one of his neighbours, Elaine. Boy, she’s something!’
‘Is that good or bad?’
‘I think that depends on who you are. She’s quite the bombshell, a real siren!’
‘Wow. I’m guessing Charlie was just standing there with his tongue out, drooling?’
‘That’s the funny thing. He wasn’t. Not at all.’
‘Huh.’
‘She’s definitely interested in him though. And that’s putting it mildly!’
Silence settled between us. I could tell Tilly was building up to something, though, because she kept fidgeting.
‘What is it?’ I said, eventually.
She looked at me, as if to say, ‘What?’ but saw immediately that I wasn’t fooled.
‘I just wondered if Charlie was gay.’
‘He’s not.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Because he told me the first time I met him.’
‘You really do have boundary issues, Libs.’
I laughed. ‘No, it wasn’t like that. The subject came up.’
‘OK. And you think he was being honest?’
‘Absolutely. I’m not sure that Charlie knows how to be anything much but honest.’
‘I’ve not met him a lot but, from what I’ve seen, yes, I know what you mean. It’s just a little surprising that he’s not with anyone. I mean, he’s gorgeous! And especially when he’s getting offers like that.’
‘He’s looking for something a bit more serious than that, apparently.’
‘A man who turns down no-strings sex? Blimey.’
‘Yeah. I know.’
‘And you’re not… you know…’
I tilted my head a little. ‘I’m not what?’
‘You know, interested in him.’
‘No. And he’s not interested in me,’ I continued. ‘We’re friends. Good friends. But we’re not for each other in that way. I’m pretty sure I’d drive him insane within a week. He already thinks I talk too much.’
‘I’m sure he doesn’t.’
I wasn’t so sure but, as we weren’t dating, it didn’t really matter. Without the pressure of a relationship, Charlie seemed happy for me to rattle on without it causing him too much of a headache, despite his teasing.
‘So, what did you do on Sunday? Just recover from the night before?’
‘Pretty much. Charlie insisted that a humongous fried breakfast was the quickest way to do that, so insisted on us going somewhere to get something.’
