‘Name?’ she asks.
‘Oh.’ I pause, remind myself of the stupidity of the whole situation, that in all the conversations we have had, how she is the closest thing I have to a friend and I don’t even know her name. It feels strange to ask now, that if I do she’ll realise how fragile this whole relationship is and I can’t lose any more of the limited friendships I have. ‘I… I don’t know.’
‘You don’t know their name?’ The receptionist looks up at me then, one eyebrow raised, her mouth working overtime on some gum.
‘Hername and no, I don’t. She’s American, about this high.’ I gesture to my chin. ‘Old, a bit… mad looking?’
‘Ava?’ I turn to see The American, this time wearing a cerise-pink trouser suit, sitting in an armchair by the window.
‘Found her.’ I manage to flash the receptionist a smile before making my way to the other armchair and slump myself down with an exasperated sigh.
‘Well, I hope the police never ask you to write my description for the paper,’ The American chuckles.
‘Sorry.’ I cringe a little. ‘I’ve had a day of it.’
‘Here, you better take this.’ She hands over a tumbler and I receive it without asking its contents. ‘You look like you might need it more than I do.’
‘I fucked up,’ I say into the glass and then take half of the liquid into my mouth. Brandy. I want to spit it out but I’m committed now and gulp it back against my better judgement.
‘What now?’
‘You’re going to think I’m mad.Ithink I’m mad.’
‘It takes a lot for me to call someone else mad, my dear.’
‘Last night I… God I don’t think I can even say it out loud.’
‘That bad eh?’
‘It’s worse than bad.’
‘Well, now I’m intrigued.’
‘I…’ I look around for signs of him or any familiar face that might be lurking in the foyer. When I’m satisfied that we are clear, I lean forward so that there’s barely a foot between us. ‘I kissed Florian.’
Her cackling laughter is so loud that all the other guests turn to look at what could possibly be that funny. She is laughing so hard the exertion looks like it’s physically painful.
‘That’s the best thing I’ve heard all year.’
‘The best?’ I wonder for a moment if she has actually heard me. I had expected to be berated, chastised; I hadn’t expected her to find this all quite so hilarious.
‘Honey, gossip is in short supply here, we’ve got to take a win when we can get some.’
‘This is not awin,’I hiss at her and wait as the other guests start to lose interest, their heads turning back to their own business. ‘Not in the slightest, this is the worst thing I could have ever done.’
‘Oh, Ava darling.’ She reaches out, her hand stroking my knee. ‘It really isn’t that bad. So what, you kissed him. It’s hardly nuclear war.’
I shake my head at her. ‘He’s my brother-in-law.’
She straightens up a napkin on the table. ‘You said yourself you don’t know what you two are to each other now that the in-law bit is slightly redundant.’
‘Semantics don’t matter.’
‘Semantics are all that matters.’ She leans back in her chair, surveying me; when she’s satisfied she inspects a bangle on her wrist. ‘Did he kiss you back?’ My mouth goes dry remembering how his lips felt, how humiliating it had been being rejected like that.
‘No.’ I shake my head. ‘No, he didn’t.’
‘Ah, so that’s why you’re so mortified.’
