‘I did, thanks.’
‘OK, Well, I’ll let you get back to it. Have a nice evening and we’ll catch up tomorrow or something.’
I glanced at my watch. ‘Oh my god, is that the time?’
‘Yeah. I was… just a bit worried about you.’
‘Sorry. I know I said I’d call.’
‘It’s fine. I’m happy you’re OK and having fun. I’ll let you get back to your friends. Take care.’
‘Bye, Seb.’
And he was gone. Turning back to the bar, four faces were watching me.
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake! We’re just friends!’ I laughed, exasperation in my words.
Mario gave me a look. ‘Sweetheart,’ he said, his Italian accent infusing the word with meaning. ‘Friends is great. We are friends now. It is wonderful! But—’ he took my phone from me and tapped at a couple of things on the screen before turning it back towards me. Seb’s picture was back up on the screen, along with his contact details. ‘If he looks like this, is straight, solvent and single, then you reaaaaally need to do something about the whole “just friends” thing!’
‘Here, here!’ Jess added, raising her glass.
‘Oh… shush!’ I said, grabbing my phone back and shoving it in my bag. ‘I’m more than happy just as I am, and so is he. I’m not about to go ruining it.’
Mario crossed his arms and shook his head at me.
I looked to Andy for support.
‘Sorry, kid. I’m kind of with them.’
I tipped my head back on my shoulders for a moment and let out a sigh. ‘Ugh, Andy! I was relying on you for sensible back-up!’
He let that unexpected smile loose again and shrugged.
Shortly after, we gathered our coats and headed back out into the sharp wintry night air. There were, as always from the newspapers, rumours of blizzards, but the sky was clear and, away from the street lights, pinpricks of bright starlight shimmered in the blackness. We shared hugs and number exchanges with Mario and Andy, before Jess, Harry and I walked to the car park where we’d left our cars. After more hugs, we got in our respective vehicles, and Harry, who’d also been relegated to mocktails this evening, pulled away quickly, the tail lights of his Jag soon disappearing into the stream of cars along the road before turning off.
My breath steamed in the cold air and I rubbed my hands together quickly after putting them briefly on the freezing steering wheel, ruing the fact I’d left my leather gloves in my other coat. I gritted my teeth and laid my hands back on the wheel, turning the key as I did so. Nothing. No! Not now!
7
‘Come on, little car, please! I’m freezing! Please start. Please, please, please. I’ve taken you to the garage and they’ve said you’re fine, so please just let me get home and warm up!’
I tried again. Nothing.
One more time. This time, the engine started quietly and ran smoothly. No drama, no fuss. This was the pattern and had been for months. Of course, every time I took it to the garage, the problem never showed itself and I ended paying to take my car back, knowing something was lurking. I’d now given up on trying to get it fixed and had begun looking around at replacing the car instead. It had served me well, but I’d had a lot of years out of it and moments like tonight were not great for my peace of mind. I needed a car I could just get in and not worry about. Add it to the to-do list.
The rest of the journey home was, thankfully, drama free and I scooped up Humph as I came through the door and snuggled him against me, absorbing his joy at my return, as well some of his warmth. Changing into my jammies and big cuddly dressing gown, I then headed back into the kitchen to make a hot drink to try and warm up from the inside.
I snuggled into my favourite spot on the sofa, and Humphrey clambered up and over me, before flopping down on my lap. The TV was on low and I flicked aimlessly for a moment before glancing over at my phone. I felt bad that I’d forgotten to call Seb earlier and unintentionally worried him. When we’d talked in the past, he admitted that he knew he could be overprotective about people. He’d always been that way to an extent, but his deployment had sent ripples throughout his life, and although he’d dealt with a lot, and dealt with it brilliantly, it was naive to think that such an experience wouldn’t change a person. I snagged the phone and rested my hand on Humphrey’s sleeping back. Opening up the chat thread, I typed a message.
Hi. Sorry I worried you earlier. Hope you had a good evening
The message showed delivered but remained unread by the time I went to bed shortly after. It was pretty late, so I wasn’t surprised, but something inside me felt a little strange that we hadn’t said goodnight. It was a habit we’d fallen into quite a while ago now and it had stuck. I’d expected that to be the first thing to go when Seb had dates, but it didn’t. He always said hi, checked I was doing OK and always said goodnight. Until tonight.
I shook it out of my mind. He probably assumed that our brief call earlier served the same purpose, which it may well have done.
* * *
The following morning was Saturday and I had plans to meet my parents for a food fayre in one of their local villages. Humphrey was even allowed to come, although I wasn’t sure how fair it was to subject his nose to all those delicious smells and then him not be allowed anything. I dipped my hand back into the treat jar on the kitchen counter and added a couple more to my pocket, before grabbing his travel rug, a portion of dog food, and a couple of toys, as well as his lead and my handbag.
