Sitting back in my seat I let Baxter hop onto my lap for his second cuddling session of the journey. ‘So, that’s the link to Anna then.’
Felix nods. ‘I was at ballet once and Anna turned up to see her mum. Rory told her mum that he and Anna were just friends and you were the one he loves.’
All this new information is overwhelming. I hungrily take a huge bite of a Twix. Vivi always swore that scoffing a Twix in stressful situations was one of the best things you could do to calm down. I recall looking inside Rory’s drawer and seeing the photos of a young Rory holding the hand of a small, blond-haired boy. That must be his brother. Why did Rory not tell me about his brother?
‘Maybe Rory’s gone to visit his brother?’
Felix hands me the iPad. ‘We should FaceTime your phone to see if Tom or, even better, Rory picks up.’
‘Really?’
Felix nods. ‘Even if Rory is not there we can see if Tom picks up. We need him to send it back to you.’
‘I do need my phone.’
Felix touches on the FaceTime icon. ‘Go on, do it.’ He peers over my shoulder.
I wait for the FaceTime to connect with my phone all the way back in Leeds.
We both gasp as an attractive woman with curly, long brown hair answers.
Her perfectly sculptured eyebrows travel up her make-up clad forehead. ‘Who the hell are you?’ she snaps.
‘Is Tom there?’ My voice is crackly.
She lets out a heavy sigh and rolling her mascara-clad eyes. ‘Tom – there’s ANOTHER woman on FaceTime for you. I’m out of here. There’s no chance of us getting back together.’
I can hear Tom in the background. ‘Suzie, stop, you don’t understand. That’s not my phone. I have told you this.’
‘Forget it,’ she says, rising from the sofa. ‘Too many women calling. It’s like managing a dating hotline here. Goodbye, Tom.’
The door slams and Tom’s groan drifts across the wifi airwaves.
Felix nudges me and whispers. ‘Wasn’t Suzie the woman of Tom’s dreams?’
I nod and rub my aching chest. How I wished Rory had come home and had answered my phone instead.
‘Tom’s sad isn’t he, Emily?’
I nod and let Felix rest his head against my shoulder. ‘Suzie thought I was another of his girlfriends.’
‘Did she think you were one of his four crosses on his chart?’
Placing my hands over his ears I make the ‘shhhhh’ sound. ‘Let’s not talk about that chart and those crosses.’
Felix removes my hands and smirks. ‘Was it a chart to see who had kissed the most girls?’
‘No,’ I say, with a nervous laugh. In my head I say silently, ‘If only it was just a kissing contest.’
Felix shakes his head. ‘I didn’t believe the afternoon tea bit. Why do adults try to trick children?’
‘The crosses meant meeting up for afternoon tea.’
Felix rolls his eyes. ‘It was a kissing contest. Rory was losing because he kept calling the girls he had to kiss your name.’
‘Can we change the subject?’
Felix giggles, placing his hand over his mouth. ‘Brett at school tried to kiss Amelie at school and she hit him.’
