‘Erm… since the end of May.’
‘Tell me about why you and Emily ended?’
Staring at her I wonder how she knows the name of my ex-girlfriend. Emily won’t leave my head as it is. Once I start talking about her it will ruin this date. I turn to Beth. ‘Let’s talk about something else.’
She smiles. ‘Tell me about your family? Do you have any brothers or sisters?’
I flinch. This is also a conversational path I don’t want to venture down. ‘I have five sisters,’ she gushes, not waiting for me to lie to her. She launches into a detailed account of each one. After a while she senses I’m struggling to remain interested in why her third sister didn’t want to study medicine at university and the many reasons why her fourth sister chose to take a gap year. Placing her glass down on the coffee table she takes mine from me too. ‘How about we have a kiss, Rory,’ she whispers, then leans in for a kiss.
Her mouth is warm and soft. I close my eyes as she kisses me. She’s a good kisser but doesn’t come close to Emily. What I love about Emily is that her kisses are tender at first and build up to a passionate climax. Beth’s kiss remains at a steady chew on my lips. Shit – Rory, concentrate on Beth.
Her manicured hands find their way under my shirt. I yelp as one of her long, pink talons gets stuck in a patch of my chest hair. That irritates me.
Just then, my phone comes to life and starts buzzing with notifications. Are they text messages? Is someone trying to get hold of me? Maybe it’s that job recruiter? One of them could be Emily. I break away from our kiss, reach over and check my phone. Beth pauses and takes a sip of Prosecco. Amongst a lot of notifications from Beth on Facebook which I have been trying to avoid as I don’t see why she must broadcast to the world we are having a third date; I spot Emily has sent me a message. My heart goes berserk.
‘You okay, Rory?’
I nod. ‘Sorry, I was expecting a message from someone.’ With a trembling hand I log on to Facebook Messenger. It reads –I love u Rory.
What the hell? Emily now loves me. This is a massive turnaround from two weeks ago.
‘Shall I continue?’ Beth leans over, takes my phone out of my hand, and kisses me again. I need time to sit and think.
I pull away and break for air. ‘Let’s take it slowly – eh?’
She giggles and goes back to her Prosecco. ‘I always get carried away on date three.’
Blimey, Beth is Tom’s ideal date. He would love the speed at which this is going. In a few hours I will on my way to forgetting Emily. A sinking feeling has taken hold of me. Why do I not seem sure about the forgetting Emily part? Emily still loves me so that must mean I am still in with a chance. Is that what I want? Getting back with Emily means a complete life change as there will be Felix to think about. I know Emily thinks I’m not father material and she might be right; I mean I don’t have a job right now and I am blowing holes in my savings, but I constantly think about Felix. Somehow, I don’t think love is enough in this world.
‘Something on your mind?’ Beth asks.
I shake my head and switch on the TV. ‘Fancy a movie?’
We begin to watch the latest James Bond. My mind is frantically trying to plot a course through these troubled waters I now find myself submerged in.
Beth’s hand starts to wander over my chest again. She lifts her leg and drapes it over my thigh.
Oh, God, Beth wants more from me and all I want to do is sit and stare at Emily’s message.
Stroking my leg, she pulls away for air and starts to unbutton her tiny black cardigan, revealing a lacy black bra. To my amazement she removes her cardigan and throws it across the room. I help her remove my shirt. Once I’m bare chested she laughs and chucks my shirt across the floor. Vivi’s golden locket shoots out of my shirt pocket and skitters over the coffee table. Beth is straddling me and hasn’t noticed the gold locket.
My eyes have become glued to the bloody locket behind her. It’s staring back at me from the coffee table. In my head I can hear Cassie telling me I should give it to Emily and Tom laughing at me for missing the Christmas post. Emily would be made up to see the locket Vivi wanted her to have. Vivi’s death has broken poor Emily and I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for her to become Felix’s guardian.
I need to block out the locket. ‘Excuse me,’ I say, lifting Beth off me and picking up the locket. In the act I accidentally knock over the bottle of Prosecco and Beth yelps. Fizzy wine goes everywhere, all over Tom’s carpet and sofa. Racing into the kitchen, still holding the locket, I grab a kitchen roll. When I return, I try to clean up as much as I can while Beth sits and watches me. This morning I’ve done more cleaning up than I have done in weeks.
Carefully I place the locket near where my phone is charging.
Beth gasps. ‘What a beautiful locket, Rory. Whose is it?’
I look at it next to my phone. Beth is tapping me on the arm. ‘Who does the locket belong to?’
‘Oh, no one important. Where were we?’ I run my hand over her thigh.
Something flickers across her face. She pulls away. ‘Are you seeing other women?’
‘What?’
She’s stood up. ‘Why won’t you tell me whom the locket belongs to?’
