‘I’m very good at board games.’
‘Oh you just wait, sucker!’
It feels strange not reaching for my phone every ten minutes. I’ll pick it up with no purpose, lighting up the screen to check the time and then getting lost down a social media rabbit hole. Or constantly checking messages to make sure I’ve replied to clients and feel totally on top of work at the flower shop. Plus I’ve been so excited about the new venture with Nat that I feel like I’m on my phone even more than usual at the moment.
Ordinarily my fingers would automatically have grabbed for my phone while Zach sets our first game up, seeing it as downtime I could mindlessly fill with something unnecessary like a time lapse video of someone having their eyelashes tinted, but I’d have missed this very cute scene if my phone was on. We’re playing Jamaica first and while Zach lines up a row of miniature pirate ships and stacks up piles of bounty, he’s also muttering pirate phrases to himself.
‘Fire in the hole!’
A smile spreads across my face as I settle into a spot opposite him on the living room floor, pouring red wine into glasses and feeling hella cosy.
It gets very competitive very quickly and when I realise that Zach is on course to win the game, I default to trash-talking.
‘You scallywag!’
‘Very pirate appropriate. You scurvy dog,’ Zach grins.
Quick, think of more nautical curses Alice! ‘You … poop deck.’
Hmm.
Zach’s laughing now. ‘You landlubber.’
‘What’s that mean? I can’t even google it because our phones are banned.’
‘It means you’re a lily-livered land-dweller who can’t cope with the seas.’
‘Oh now you’re for it. Just because you’re winning doesn’t mean you have to gloat!’
‘You started this! I’m going to the loo, please try not to cheat while I’m gone.’
I consider cheating for the entire time Zach’s away but manage to have a word with myself. When he walks back in the first thing I notice is that he’s fashioned an eye patch out of loo roll over one of his glasses lenses and I almost spit my wine out from laughing so hard.
‘Oh. My. Days,’ I say between gulps of laughter.
‘Ahoy me hearty,’ he says with a flourish. ‘Did you cheat?’
‘No I did not! Like your eye patch.’
‘Thanks,’ Zach grins, rubbing his hands together. ‘Prepare to lose, Alice!’
As we get back into the game, uninterrupted by the world, I realise that in spite of my attempts to thwart his winning streak, I’d actually be happy not to win right now. With Zach, it feels like taking part is the most fun. So when I do lose, and when Zach spends an unacceptable time gloating, I pour us both an on-theme rum and immerse myself in the feeling that I’m extremely happy in his company.
‘Shall I cook?’ I ask, realising that it’s getting late and we’ve only consumed alcohol on our U date so far.
Zach fails to disguise a nervous frown.
‘OMG it wasone oyster,’ I laugh, pretending to be affronted. ‘Besides, I brought food.’
‘Well then why don’t I cook it while you clear the game away?’
‘Fine,’ I say. ‘I was going to make a mushroom stroganoff and I’ve put all the ingredients in your fridge already.’
I linger in Zach’s living room while he cooks, absorbing all the things in his house which I so rarely get to see. The patches of sample paint colours he’s painted above the radiator. The framed poster above his sofa which looks like a picture of Mount Fuji. We spend most of the time at mine but I enjoy being in his space, and finding out more about him from the trinkets scattered around the house.
‘Dinner’s up,’ he shouts, calling me into the kitchen where he’s lit candles on the table and pulled up a couple of mismatched dining chairs. ‘I have big plans for this place,’ he says, watching me take it in. ‘It’s just a matter of getting it all done.’
‘Well, you know who to call when you need some more DIY doing,’ I grin.
