‘I know I’m overstepping, Hannah,’ Marc said, ‘but when I was asked to come along today it felt like fate. And love makes a sensitive soul do desperate things.’ He performed awhat are you gonna doshrug for the benefit of the crowd, all of whom were now watching with rapt attention. Hannah heard one or two scornful sighs, and her courage rose.
‘It isn’tsensitiveto harass a woman who no longer wishes to see you,’ Hannah said crisply, hoping that every microphone in the room was picking this up. ‘And this is the third time you’ve done it. Nor is it a sign of affection to write thinly disguised songs about someone thatdeliberately misrepresentthem, and their behaviour, then share them online.’ Hannah thought back to what Charlie had said on the morning Livi shut down the Eventurous social media accounts. ‘Taking aim at my business through your music is no less vindictive than review-bombing it,’ she said. ‘You don’t get to describe the attack as “romantic” just because you’re strumming a guitar while you do it.’
People actually laughed at this, and Hannah smelled victory.
‘But .?.?. but we’re meant to be,’ Marc said, putting all the feeling he could into this last, desperate attempt to garner sympathy. ‘You’re the one for me, and I’m the one for you. I’ve known it from the first second we laid eyes on one another. You’re frightened of opening your heart, but with the right person you don’t have to be afraid. And I’m the right person, Hannah. We both know it.’
‘But you’renot,’ she told him, finally exasperated and feeling the influence of all the wine she’d drunk at dinner. ‘Him, over there –he’sthe right person.’ Hannah pointed at Jude, who’d obeyed her strict instructions to stay with Ash at the bar while she handled this. ‘He’s been my best friend since I was thirteen years old, and my heart – every single cell of it, every microscopic atom – has belonged to him since we were children. I was never going to fall in love with you because I willalwayslove someone else. That’s why I said no the first five times you asked me out. It’s why I told you I wasn’t looking for a serious relationship. You didn’t hear me because you weren’t listening. That’s on you, not me.’
There was a whoop from somewhere near the back of the room, and a ripple of applause.
The glower on Marc’s face warned Hannah this was about to turn ugly just seconds before he said, ‘You’re a stone-hearted bitch. I don’t know what I saw in you, anyway.’
A voice from behind Hannah said, ‘You’re not going to be seeing much through the black eyes you’re headed for if you don’t leave now, mate.’ It was Ed, his good nature finally roused to rage somewhere other than on a sports field.
Jude was suddenly beside her, too, and shouldering his way past Ed as though he wanted to be the one who took Marc down. The use of the word ‘bitch’ seemed to have flipped some switch inside him that Hannah hadn’t been sure existed.
There was a flurry of activity, the sound of male bodies coming together and a lot of pushing and shoving. Some of the more inebriated wedding guests began chanting, ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’ and for a moment it was like being back in the Hassop Hill playground. As quickly as it had started, Brett and one of his colleagues – teachers to the core, it seemed – were helping Jude escort Marc from the premises.
‘Sorry, Hannah,’ Jude said immediately when she reached him. ‘I know I shouldn’t have done that, but—’
She kissed him before he could finish apologising. ‘Marc had it coming. And honestly .?.?. it was pretty hot.’
Epilogue
Within a day or two of Ed and Joe’s wedding, various permutations of the phrase ‘Marc Mills VS Hot Mathematician’ were trending as hashtags on TikTok, Instagram and a host of other platforms. The clearest and most widely shared footage, in Hannah’s view, appeared to have been shot from where Claire had been standing – but all her sister would say under questioning was, ‘You know how much I hate bullies.’
Edits of the brief scuffle had been soundtracked to various songs including the theme from Rocky, ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ by Carl Douglas, and – to Hannah’s endless amusement – ‘It’s Raining Men’ from theBridget Jones’s Diarysoundtrack. These had spawned Jude an army of fans, which Joe had relentlessly teased him about.
Three months on from their marriage, he and Ed were happier than ever, living in much the same way as before. Though Ed wasn’t averse to occasional appearances on Joe’s Instagram, and had even done a guest slot on his podcast to discuss the impact of exercise on mental health, their relationship remained private in all the ways he needed.
Clips of Hannah’s passionate words about Jude, and her takedown of Marc, had travelled the internet, too. It was confronting to watch herself confessing her feelings like that, so Hannah avoided it after the first few viewings – but she felt proud of herself for speaking up. She still wished, however, that there’d been time for Cheryl to construct the fancy updo they’d envisaged on the morning of the wedding.
Aside from his hardcore fans and a faction of mad misogynists, many of Marc’s followers soon came round to the idea that he was an entitled idiot who’d lied about his relationship with Hannah, exaggerated his feelings for her and spun a toxic story for the sake of relaunching his music career. To her satisfaction, ‘Never The Bride’ peaked at number 243 in the UK singles chart and then rapidly slipped from the Top 1000. Six months on, Marc was yet to release the new album he’d threatened, and had returned to intermittently sharing stripped-back, acoustic versions of tracks from his heyday.
Hannah, in the spirit of owning her feelings and asking for what she needed, offered Livi a permanent position as a junior partner in Eventurous the day after Ed and Joe’s wedding. On her advice, the firm’s social media accounts were reopened the following week. When the channels went live again, Hannah posted a brief, restrained account of her experience with Marc and implored readers to think carefully before blindly trusting everything they saw online. This, combined with the coverage of Marc’s antics and the gorgeousHELLO!photos of Ed and Joe’s big day, saw the Eventurous enquiry rate reach new heights. Both next summer and the summer beyond were now fully booked for weddings.
‘She’s going to be fine, Hannah,’ Jude said as they wandered through Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport.
‘I know she is,’ Hannah grumbled, narrowing her eyes at him playfully. He was too good at reading her thoughts. ‘It’s not easy, though, no longer being needed.’
‘Youareneeded. By me, more than anyone,’ he told her, pulling her into a kiss as they joined the queue to check their bags onto their flight.
‘I can’t believe we’re finally doing this,’ Hannah said, nervous excitement bubbling in her stomach. ‘Six weeks, travelling around Australia. It’s like a dream.’
‘It’s going to be wonderful,’ Jude agreed. ‘I barely went anywhere while I was over there. I’ll be a tourist, too, aside from some parts of Sydney. I’ve promised to send Suni lots of photos – he and Georgie are planning to come out here on honeymoon next year.’
‘Now, you’ve nothing major you need to share with me before I hand this bag over to that lady, have you?’ Hannah asked, pointing ahead of them. ‘Nothing important to say? Because as badly as our last airport experience went, I must say that, on reflection, I was pretty glad I didn’t have to go home to Beckford without all my stuff.’
‘Every cloud, I suppose,’ Jude said, rolling his eyes.
‘You haven’t answered my question,’ Hannah pouted.
‘For god’s sake, is nothing sacred? Thereissomething I intend to run past you when we get there, but it’s nothing to be concerned about – and now isn’t the time.’
‘Well, that’s got me worried, so you’d best come out with it,’ Hannah insisted, feeling her eyebrows pull together and her heart rate tick up.
Jude said nothing, but he’d turned a little pale.
