‘I’ll take my chances. And if we do get to C then you have to choose a date, so the pressure will be on you.’ One side of his mouth is curving into a sexy-as-hell smile.
Right then my phone beeps, forcing me to break eye contact.
Back at yours. Jake’s seeing someone else. I hate everything.
I frown. ‘It’s Natalie. She needs me. I’m going to have to go.’
‘I hope she’s okay,’ he says, the genuine concern in his voice drawing me to him even more.
‘Well, it’s been a pleasure to meet you, Zach.’
‘You too,’ he replies, pressing a business card into my hand. Now that we’re both standing, I notice that Zach is a good foot taller than me. He leans down, stubble brushing my skin as he drops a goodbye kiss on my cheek.
‘See you at B,’ he says, voice low, breath hot against my face.
As I walk towards the bus stop, I turn the business card over in my hand.
He’s scribbled on the back.
‘A-Z. Call me.’
Bookshop
Zach
One wrong move can make the difference between a piece of art I’m proud of and something that gets booted over towards the bin in my studio. One bad stroke of the paintbrush can write off a week or a month’s hard work. It’s as simple as that. And then there’s the opposite, when everything seems to turn on a pinpoint because of onerightmove.
That’s exactly how I feel about the day Alice danced into my life.
I’d been incredibly anxious before the exhibition that night, battling imposter syndrome and a whole load of other crap too. And then right when I’d least expected it, along came this beautiful woman dressed in bright yellow. Alice was like a sunbeam breaking through the clouds and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her since.
Now she’s walking towards me, the fabric of her blue dress blowing in the light summer breeze. A confident smile spreads across her face and she peers up at the bookshop I’m standing outside.
‘So you didn’t go for bondage then?’ Alice jokes, disarming me with a sentence just like last time.
‘Bondage?’ I cough, looking apologetically at a couple of shoppers walking past us.
‘Our A to Z theme! B for bondage?’
‘Thought it might be abitmuch for a second date? Though we can always change our minds?’ I suggest, recovering myself with what I hope is a playful wink.
‘You’ve missed your chance now,’ she teases, her cheeks going a pretty shade of pink.
‘You look really nice,’ I say.
Nice?Come on, Zach! You could have chosen something better thannice.
‘Thank you. It’s good to see you again,’ Alice stands on her tiptoes to kiss me on the cheek. Her hair’s tucked behind a pink hairband and she smells like green apples. ‘So, whatarewe doing at a bookshop?’
‘I was in here the day after you and I met,’ I explain. ‘I’d come in to pick up a book on pop art and decided to stop at the bookshop’s café to read it. But about half an hour later I realised I spent most of the time ignoring the book and thinking about you.’
‘You smooth-talker!’
‘I promise it’s true. I had a lot of fun that night.’ I sneak a look at her and see that she’s smiling at me. ‘And … you said something about fresh chapters which really resonated with me.’
‘Oh? You mean when I was telling you about Natalie and her ex-boyfriend issues?’
‘It reminded me that even when things aren’t necessarily going to plan, you can always turn the page and start a new chapter. So here I was, trying to get some research done and failing spectacularly because I couldn’t stop thinking about you, when it dawned on me that this bookshop could be perfect for our first proper date. We could browse the books, pick one for each other to read and … maybe start our own new story?’
