Page 37 of Only Fangs

“You don’t really have any idea do you? Do you know when I got my first bank account? When I was able to vote? How long ago do you think no-fault divorce came a thing, so a woman could just choose to leave? Or when it became illegal to rape your wife, because before that it didn’t actually count?”

“I… er… I don’t…” He opens and closes his mouth a few times like a fish.

“Sorry.” I say eventually. “That was probably a bit much and I apologise.”

“No. It’s me who should be apologising. I just… I never knew.”

“I know. And it’s not your fault. It’s just… I lived it. I’ve seen how much things have changed. And the change is brilliant, we’ve come so far and so quickly. But it still isn’t enough.”

“I think I understand a little more why the suffragettes wanted to burn it all to the ground,” he says softly. “I kind of wish I’d been there to help.” He grins.

“You would have been an asset,” I assure him, even though I doubt he would have had the stomach for it. But I think he would’ve made tea and offered gentle words of encouragement and all the ladies would have fallen in love with him. “Anyway, back to business. We have a pitch line to figure out.”

“Can we make a stake pun?” he asks.

“Like steak and chips?”

“No like stake through the heart.”

“Oh. Umm. I guess?” I make a face.

“Because the stakes have never been higher,” he says, a hint of hopefulness in his tone.

“Eternity is too long not to find love?”

“Vamp up your love life?”

“Fuck.” I stare at him for a moment. “That’s genius.”

“Really?” He blushes bright red.

“Really.”

Chapter 20

Brody

I’m in Sangers waiting for a chicken and bacon wrap – for me – and something containing beetroot which sounds vile but is apparently delicious – for Ari, obviously – when I get an email from Squirrel Bank.

I put my thumb over the text as I open it, holding onto the moment before I have to actually read what it says. I want this time to last for ever, just me and Ari working side by side to develop the app, spinning something from nothing in her rundown flat as we drink far too much coffee. I knew it would have to end at some point but I’m not ready to let go.

“Your order’s ready love,” the lady behind the counter says and I take the opportunity to avoid looking at the email, cramming my phone into my pocket before I take the small brown bag she’s holding out for me.

“Thanks,” I call as I scurry from the shop. As soon as I’m outside I stop. Did it really say that? Did I snatch a glimpse of the email before I put my phone away? Or is my brain building a memory on my behalf, something I can’t trust. Something that might have started with the words “we are delighted”. I move round the corner, out of sight of the Sangers staff who probably already think I’m weird enough as it is without adding “standing like a statue in the street” to my roster of anomalies.

I pull my phone from my pocket with a similar level of gingerliness as if it were a small and extremely venomous snake. With my thumb over the text, I open it once more. Deep breath. Then another. On the third I squeeze my eyes shut and count to ten, telling myself that as soon as I get to one I’ll look.

We are delighted to offer you the opportunity to discuss your loan requirements further. Please log into the app and book an online video appointment with one of our team. Best wishes, Gwen. I have no idea who Gwen is but I want to kiss her.

It takes me less than five minutes to get back to Ari’s flat – I might have run part of the way in my excitement – and she opens her door to find a slightly out of breath nerd with coffee sloshed over his hand and the bag of lunch he almost dropped on the way.

“What’s happened?” she asks, leaning out of the door to peer down to the street below. “Is someone chasing you?”

“Err… no. I had an email from the bank. They want to meet us.” The words come out in a breathless rush, all the syllables running together.

“Really?” She pauses for a moment and then pulls me into a hug, the coffee splashing down her back a little. She jumps away.

“Shit. Did I burn you?” I ask.