‘Kate?’ Graham asks on approach. ‘Wow! Didn’t expect to see you here. I thought you were on some spa break with your friend?’
Initially confused, I glance momentarily at Ed and his rapidly greying face before it all makes sense. He hasn’t told Graham yet.
‘I was,’ I reply. ‘But the place had to close. Burst pipes or something.’
He still looks confused. ‘And you didn’t tell Ed you were still in London?’
Oh, screw you and your perfectly logical question, Graham. ‘Didn’t I? Sorry, Ed. I thought I had.’
‘It’s fine,’ he replies, quickly. ‘I mean, burst pipes are commonat this time of year.’
‘It is common,’ Graham agrees, his eyes darting between the pair of us. ‘And so is spending New Year with your partner when you’re in the same city.’
‘Graham– come and meet Tara,’ Dolly suggests. ‘You can give her your bottle of whatever the hell that is.’
Dolly leads Graham away, leaving Ed and me alone– well, as alone as you can be in a living room jam-packed with party guests. He looks good. Better than I’d hoped he would.
‘Well, isn’t this awkward?’ I say, trying to keep my voice down. Ed grabs a glass of Prosecco and downs it in one. ‘If I’d known that your mate Graham shared an agent with Tara. . .’
‘Tara? Oh, the Geordie divorce case,’ he mutters. ‘Of course. Look, I had no idea either, I was just helping Graham out by coming here.’
‘But why haven’t you told him?’ I ask. ‘Lauren’s here and she knows we’ve split.’
‘You tell Lauren when you sneeze, Kate. Graham and I aren’t like that. I’ll tell people when I’m ready.’
‘Well, you’d better tell him something because now I look like a weirdo. He probably thinks that I made up the spa thing to cheat on you. I refuse to look like the bad guy here, Ed.’
‘I knew I should have stayed in tonight,’ he replies. ‘What a shitshow.’
‘Same,’ I reply. ‘I didn’t want to come here either. Look, I’ve been here for a while. Maybe I should just make my excuses and leave.’
‘No, I should,’ he replies. ‘Enjoy your—’
‘Ed? What the hell are you doing here?’
‘Lauren,’ he says, spinning around to face her. ‘Hey. Yeah, weird coincidence, eh? Turns out my friend Graham shares an agent with Tara.’
‘Graham’s here?’
‘He is and he doesn’t know that Ed and I are taking some time apart, so—’
‘Well, now I do.’
‘Graham!’ I yelp in surprise. Jesus, where did he appear from? ‘Graham, you remember Lauren, right?’
They say hi to each other before turning their attention back to us. Ed rubs the back of his neck, looking like he just wants to disappear.
‘Graham,’ I begin, ‘Ed and I. . . had a little falling out. I decided to spend a few days with Lauren to let us both cool off.’
I swear if Lauren says anything to the contrary, I’ll rugby tackle her. Thankfully, she plays along.
‘Obviously, Ed was too embarrassed to tell you the reason why, but I’m sure he’ll fill you in.’
Ed’s eyes narrow ever so slightly. I can tell he’s inwardly cursing me.
Graham laughs. ‘And you both ended up at the same party? How unfortunate is that!’
Lauren laughs and Graham looks rather pleased with himself. Wait, are they making flirty eyes at each other? I’ve seen that look on Lauren’s face and it usually ends up with me getting a taxi home alone.
