“Sure, put us down for a boat,” Chloe said, feeling herself thawing.
“Excellent,” said Elaine. “Now, Sean, will you come and settle an argument with us about the Hollywood Walk of Fame?”
Sean looked back at Chloe, perhaps searching for an excuse to stay, but Chloe waved him away. “Go. We’ll talk on the river.”
As she spooned cornflakes into a bowl, a flicker of hope stirred inside her. Whatever warmth had faded between them, it wasn’t gone. A couple of hours in a boat, just the two of them, might be exactly what they needed to clear the air, maybe even begin again.
When she sat back down at the trestle table opposite Rob,she said, “I think I might go punting after all, with Sean. Do you mind if we rain-check the Ashmolean?”
“Of course not,” he said. That was another good thing about Rob, he was always so accommodating.
“I do want to show you the museum though,” she said. “They’ve got the lantern Guy Fawkes was carrying when he was arrested, and this beautiful Chinese art, I’d love you to see it. Maybe we can go tomorrow instead?”
“I can take a virtual tour if that saves time,” Rob suggested, his tone light, helpful. She took a bite of her croissant, and it felt dry in her throat.
“What, you could see it all virtually? Right now?” she asked, lowering her voice, in case anyone was listening.
“Yes,” he said. “If you wanted to discuss the art over breakfast.”
She shook her head and took a long, slow sip of coffee. The idea of seeing art virtually made her feel sad. It would be like listening to a symphony through a phone: you’d get the gist, maybe even enjoy it, but it wasn’t how the music was supposed to be heard. “No, it’s okay. We’ll go another time,” she said quietly.
Colin Layton and Rocco Falconi came over to sit down at the end of their table. Of everyone at the reunion, these two might have been the last people Chloe wanted to have breakfast with, but she gave them both a polite smile.
“Hey, Chloe,” Colin said, shooting her with a finger gun. He had slicked-back blond hair and was wearing a pink Ralph Lauren polo with the collar up. Rocco was sporting a mullet, heavily texturized on the top, so it stood almost vertical.
“Dude, your dancing last night absolutely slapped!” Rocco said, turning to Rob and holding out a fist for a fist bump. Rob, apparently unfamiliar with the gesture, put his whole handaround Rob’s fist and gave it a firm push, almost dislodging Rocco from the bench.
“Whoa there, muscles!” Rocco said, rubbing his shoulder.
“He was just trying to do a fist bump,” Chloe quickly explained to Rob, eyes wide.
“Oh, I thought he was trying to hit me in slow motion,” Rob said. “My apologies.”
Luckily Rocco and Colin laughed, as though Rob had made a great joke.
“So, Chloe, where you living now? In town?” Rocco asked.
“Yes, I’m in London.”
“You guys live together?” Colin asked, moving a cereal spoon back and forth in the air between them.
“No,” she said, picking up her coffee and taking another long, slow sip.
“Still house sharing?” Rocco asked. “You need to get on the housing ladder, even if you start small. Renting is a huge waste of money.”
“I actually live at home,” she said.
“What, like home-home?” Colin snorted. “Do you have a curfew? Are you allowed to have boys over?”
“What are you talking about, Col, I would love to still live at home,” Rocco said. “All that pocket money, getting tucked in every night, packed lunches.” He let out a cackle.
Chloe rolled her eyes at their teasing.
“Given the current housing crisis and inflated rental market, a multigenerational household makes sound financial sense,” Rob said. Chloe cringed. Sometimes, when it came to humor, Rob managed to misjudge the tone of a conversation. He was better when it was just the two of them, but something about a group dynamic seemed harder for him to compute.
Rocco and Colin both turned to look at Rob. “All right, mate. Where did you graduate from then, the University of Stating the Obvious?” Rocco asked.
“No, I did not go there,” Rob said, shooting him a smile. This didn’t feel like the right response, given they were teasing him. Chloe put her cup down and looked Colin square in the eyes.
