‘Of course. Has she said something to the contrary?’ He couldn’t think of a moment when he’d upset her. They’d been having fun and he was pretty sure he hadn’t shown how attracted he was to her still, but had she picked up on it and now she was worrying he was going to make a move on her when she didn’t want that? Surely she wouldn’t have invited him in for coffee yesterday morning if that were the case? Or up to her bedroom the other day?
‘No. Definitely not.’ Romesh took a last slurp of his coffee and threw it in the bin nearby. ‘You know our Ash though; she can be…prickly. I love her for it but you’ve been away for a while, so I wondered if she was being welcoming or if she’s holding you at arm’s length?’
‘No. She’s not been prickly. Areyou twookay?’ Olivier frowned thinking of how Ash had been suspicious of Romesh’s twisted ankle the other night and the odd annoyed glance she’d thrown him, but other than that they’d been completely normal with each other. The best friends who knew each other inside out and were utterly comfortable with each other. It had always surprised him how they could have such a tight relationship and let him in to join them so genuinely. Three was never a crowd with them when he’d come to visit.
‘Me and Ash?’ Romesh laughed and put his hand to his chest. ‘That girl is my blood. Of course everything’s okay between us.’
‘Okay, that’s good.’ Olivier raked a hand through his hair and laughed. ‘Sorry, I’m just confused by this conversation. Like I’ve lost something in translation.’
Romesh sighed. ‘Your English is impeccable as always. Look. I’ll lay it out here for you because I am making a car crash of this. I’ve noticed that you like her, Oli. I’m trying to figure out if you’re going to do anything about it.’
‘Oh.’ Olivier’s cheeks flushed. So much for hiding how attracted he was to her. ‘No. I mean, yes, okay. I like Ashleigh, she’s a beautiful woman and she’s a wonderful person, but we’re just friends. She’s not interested in me that way.’
‘Okay.’ Romesh crossed his arms over his chest and nodded quickly. He opened his mouth to say something, shut it again and scrubbed his hand over his dark beard. ‘Okay. So that’s where you stand then. Fair enough. Shall we get some shopping done? Have you got your mum something yet? If not there’s a wonderful stall down here that does absolutely gorgeous pashminas – just Sylvia’s cup of tea.’
Olivier followed Romesh as he talked about the presents he needed to get. Somehow Olivier still felt like he’d missed something. Or maybe that was just because Romesh hadn’t said anything more. He would know what had happened between them surely – Ash told Roeverything. If Romesh wasn’t encouraging him to go for it that was probably because he knew Ashleigh wasn’t interested in return. It was no more than Olivier had already suspected, but it left him disappointed, nonetheless.
