‘I’m kind of on a sabbatical from men too.’
‘I see.’ A little impulse moved the corners of his lips. He wanted to smile but was holding back. ‘I wouldn’t want you to break your rules. I mean, they’re obviously working; you lookedsohappy when I came in.’ He nodded his head back to the inglenook table, which was now, Mirren noticed, occupied by a vacationing family studying their menus.
‘I haven’t given my rules much time to take effect yet. I’ll start feeling the benefit of them any day now.’
Now he did laugh and it sounded hearty. ‘You don’t even know if I have a partner. Who says I was chatting you up?’
‘True.’
‘Well then.’ He nodded self-righteously and drank his pint again, his eyes narrowed and bright with good humour.
‘So, do you?’ Mirren rewarded her curiosity with a mental kick at her own shins.
‘Have a girlfriend? Nope. Not that you care, right?’
‘Obviously.’
‘So why the no men rule?’
‘You really want to know?’
He’d left his notebook on the bar now and turned his body a little more towards her on his stool. ‘I’m a reporter, aren’t I? This sounds like a human interest story to me.’
‘Well, it’s hardly front page news. It’s the usual story, I’m sure you can guess.’ She shrugged and took a quick drink. There was no way she was about to confess what a bad girlfriend she’d been, or how even hervirtualdating life had gone belly up. ‘I just needed a break from it all. I’m going to put myself first, do some personal growth stuff.’ She quirked her lips now, letting him know she wasn’t moping and that she could at least keep her sense of humour about her disastrous personal life.
‘LikeLove’s Labour’s Lostbut gender-reversed?’
‘Huh?’
‘The Shakespeare play? Where the king and his retinue swear off the company of women for three years in the name of their studies and self-improvement.’
‘In that case, yes, just like that, but less regal.’
‘They fail, you know? They can’t help falling in love.’
‘They’re alsofictional. And who said anything about love? As if that’s an option these days.’
‘Wow.’ He pulled his neck back, raising his brows. ‘That’s really…’ He hesitated.
‘What? You can say it.’
‘Bitter.’
‘Pfft! OK, youcan’tsay it, I’ve changed my mind. That was just mean.’
‘You’re the one sitting here telling me you won’t so much as talk with a guy in case he turns out to be a rotten apple.That’smean. And you say you’re a journalist.’
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘All I’m saying is a journalist would investigate any new potential dates properly, evaluate the evidence, carefully consider their response before…’
‘But you didn’t ask me on a date. There was nothing to scrutinise.’
‘I might have offered you my number eventually… if I hadn’t made a similar promise to myself.’
Mirren’s mouth opened then closed with an exasperated huff. She was still smiling, but her eyes were wary. ‘OK, it was nice to meet you, Adrian. I’ll take my drink over…’ She cast her eyes around the packed room. No empty seats to be had. Why had she let herself get caught up in this conversation? She shook her head, not minding if he saw.
As she looked around for an escape route a handwritten poster at the end of the bar caught her eye.
