Page 37 of Love Unlocked

‘Who follows strangers home. And is afraid of lifts. And being stuck in revolving doors.’

He’d sensed her panic.

‘Hmm. You got me there. But are you really a stranger now? I’ve known you almost twelve whole hours. I’m deeply invested in this friendship. And we’re kind of like colleagues now, seeing as we’re working together on the love lock story.’

He sniffs a weak laugh.

She hands him a tissue. He’s handsome even when he cries. When his nostrils flare and his chin gurns. It’s a strong cry, she senses he fully commits to everything, even shedding tears.

‘Why do you have tissues if you don’t cry?’

‘To help male damsels in distress. Mansels,’ she says, laughing at her own joke.

He smiles, the creases on the corners of his eyes fanning. ‘When your engagement broke up, did you not cry then?’

‘Ooh, someone’s been googling me.’

‘I may have fallen down the Melody Yates rabbit hole after you left.’

He’s nicely lit by the lamppost which to others would be harsh, but for him anything that makes him more visible is flattering. It has so far been a surreal evening and she could have this conversation with him all night. Nonsense mixed with real-life stuff on a street corner on a cold night. His nose is red, from the cold, and snotty tears. His eyes sparkle from the tears about his ex-fiancée and yet he couldn’t be more attractive. Then she realises he’s not just gazing at her adoringly, he’s waiting for an answer.

‘Oh well, I’m the bad guy in that situation,’ she says, and starts strolling again. He walks with her. ‘I broke up with Sam. And I felt extreme guilt that still cripples me to this day and I carry it with me into every relationship, but I did not feel sad.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because, I felt trapped when I was with him. I adored Sam, I was definitely in love with him, he was and is one of the greatest guys on the planet, but I didn’t want to be his wife forever, or at all. That feels so final, like there’s no way out.’

‘Like a lift.’

‘Exactly like being in a lift,’ she says with a smile. ‘Thank you, someone who understands.’

‘But you would have been in the lift with someone else, who could possibly help you out if it got stuck.’

‘Or who couldn’t. And we’d be stuck together, panicking. Fighting to breathe the same air and slowly dying.’

‘Would you have walked up the stairs with him?’

‘What? I think you’re misunderstanding the analogy.’

‘I’m not. Marriage is the lift. You prefer the steps. It’s not that you’re afraid to go up to the fifth floor, you’re afraid of how you get there. If this guy Sam hadn’t proposed—’

‘He didn’t actually propose, that was kind of a misquote. I pre-empted the proposal and said no.’

Al makes a pained expression as if feeling Sam’s hurt. ‘If he hadn’t tried to propose, or shown any interest in marriage at all, if it was just a casual committed thing, would you still be together?’

She narrows her eyes.

‘It’s not a trick question.’

‘It kind of is.’

He smiles as if he’s won.

‘Why did you enter your ex-fiancée’s house?’

‘Technically it’s still my house.’

‘You entered number 11 and came out of number 12.’