I froze with a piece of nigiri halfway to my mouth. It fell out from between my chopsticks as I stared back at Fatima.
“I hate having elephants in the room,” she said, then turned to me. “We don’t have to tiptoe around it, right?”
“Uh, sure?” I said, bracing myself for the “something” Fatima clearly had prepared. Chloe cleared her throat, finally having swallowed.
“I mean, I was talking aboutmybreakup,” she said. “But sure, let’s get into it.”
“Great,” Fatima said, sitting forward and setting her tray down, then rubbing her hands together as if brushing off crumbs, though there weren’t any, of course. If any of us could actually be described as dainty, it was probably her.
“Hit me,” I said, sitting up straighter, trying to sound as casual as I could.
“Right,” Fatima said, nodding. “Amy, I just have to say, I think you can doso muchbetter than Phil. I love the guy, but you are a literal goddess. What the hell did you see in him?”
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Chloe said, jumping to Phil’s defence. “Not about you being a goddess, Amy. That’s absolutely valid. But Phil’s a good guy.”
“Right, but that’s exactly what I’m saying,” Fatima said, speaking more to Chloe now than to me. “He’s agoodguy. And listen, god knows I’d take a bullet for him. But I’ve known Amy for all of five seconds, and she’s so far out of his league it’s not even funny.”
“Okay, that’s true,” Chloe admitted, shrugging at me.
I felt my cheeks burn with self-consciousness, but I was determined to play it off. I flipped my hair over my shoulder dramatically. “Thank you.”
“Now, I’m still happy to set you up with my new colleague,” Fatima said. “We start work next week, and I can put in a good word.”
“Oooh, yes,” Morgan said, “date Hot Teacher!”
“He iswayhotter than Phil,” Chloe said.
“Your opinion there means very little.” I squinted at her. “I couldn’t pay you to lock lips with any man.”And plus, I didn’t add,you’re also wrong.
She pulled a face. “That’s true.”
“Or that guy from the fantasy festival?” Fatima asked, looking at Chloe for confirmation.
“I mean, he did almost get her killed,” Morgan said, “but yeah, he was pretty hot.”
Dan had texted me, actually, but only to apologise again. And I’d been with Phil at the time, so I’d just said thank you and let it taper off. If I forced myself to remember sitting next to him, I wasn’t opposed to the idea of seeing him. But try as I might to banish Phil, he still plagued my every waking moment, and I didn’t see that changing any time soon.
“Thank you,” I said earnestly, “but I think it’s a bit soon.”
“Of course.” Fatima held her hands up. “But the offer stands.”
I stood up to go pour myself another glass of wine– I was staying the night, so I figured I could drown my sorrows in bottom-shelf Savvy B if I needed to. But as I headed towards the kitchen, Morgan came with me.
“Hey, I’m sorry about that,” she said. “I did ask them not to bring it up. But I feel I should warn you, Chloe’s pickedWhen Harry Met Sallyas the film. So I don’t think they really got the memo.”
I sighed, immediately thinking of the lore drop about watching it with Phil. Of course Chloe had chosen that exact film. I would have almost certainly teared up at the best of times, but tonight was almost guaranteed to be full of waterworks if the ultimate friends-to-lovers film was on the docket.
I unscrewed the wine and poured myself a generous amount, finishing the last few sips directly out of the bottle once my glass was full.
“But I also wanted to say,” Morgan continued, “that I get it. I was kidding about Hot Teacher. I know the kinds of feelings you had for Phil don’t go anywhere overnight.”
I pressed my mouth into a thin smile. I didn’t want to think about what had happened to all the feelings I had for Phil. I was pretty sure I’d successfully smushed them down somewhere inside me, and I was worried that identifying where would compromise the structural integrity of whatever was holding them there.
“It’s been almost a year since your brother and I broke up,” Morgan said, and I couldn’t stop a laugh escaping me, causing me to blow bubbles in my wine as I took a sip.
“Don’t I know it,” I said when I surfaced. I’d had to help him through that particular gauntlet. “Jack’s always been a drama queen, but god was he miserable when you guys split. But at least things worked out there.”
Morgan shrugged, quirking her eyebrow in a way that implied she was trying to draw a parallel. I frowned and set my glass down.
