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‘This was just after Christmas?’
‘Uh-huh.’
She clutched her chest dramatically. ‘I can’t believe you’ve left it this long to tell me.’
I groaned. ‘I know, I know. But I’ve only just got my head round it myself. Plus I asked him not to mention it to anyone because I don’t want people in the office to find out. And then I thought I could hardly ask him to keep it quiet if I wasn’t going to do the same.’
‘I suppose,’ said Val, who still looked shocked.
I pushed my baguette aside. ‘Anyway, I’ve only seen him a couple of times. He came to mine on Tuesday and stayed the night. We’re supposed to be going out again, but then presumably he’s back in New York for the long haul so that will be that.’
Val pulled her chair back in and put her elbows on the table, resting her chin on the back of her hands. ‘He flies back and forth a lot, doesn’t he? So why can’t you carry on seeing him?’
The thought of it made me feel panicky. That was never what this was about. ‘He’s probably got loads of women on the go in New York, hasn’t he?’ I said. ‘That’s what they do over there. I’ll be one of many.’
I waited to see if I felt even a twinge of jealousy at the thought of it. Nope. Nothing.
‘You like him?’ asked Val.
Did I?
‘He says all the right things,’ I replied. ‘And he’s very cultured and all that.’
‘What about the sex?’
‘What about it?’
‘Any good?’
I hesitated. ‘Yes?’
Val frowned. ‘I’ve seen you more enthusiastic about a large glass of wine.’
I thought it might take me some time to get used to having sex with someone other than Dan, that was all. They were very different, after all. And then, for some reason, I thought about Jack and his jersey top; the way the fabric had been stretched taut across his chest, all tight and smooth. I shook my head, wanting to remove the image from my mind as soon as possible. What was I thinking about him for? I hadn’t seen him since we bumped into each other outside M&S the other day, which had been only marginally less uncomfortable than our previous two encounters.
‘So where do you go from here?’ asked Val. ‘It could get very interesting if everyone finds out. You know what they’ll say when you get the promotion.’
‘If I get it.’
She waved her hand as if to indicate that it was a done deal.
‘Has he asked you to visit him in New York?’ asked Val.
I laughed. ‘God, no.’
Val went all dramatic again, staring dreamily into space. ‘I can see it now, the two of you dining out at The Four Seasons. Running together in Central Park at dawn, watching the sun rise across the Hudson River.’
‘OK, don’t get carried away,’ I warned her.
Val looked at me earnestly. ‘Just be careful, OK?’
‘That’s exactly what I’m being.’
‘You deserve to have a good time,’ said Val. ‘But mixing work with pleasure … I dunno. It rarely ends well, does it?’
‘It’s not going to get that complicated, Val,’ I assured her.
I couldn’t quite bring myself to tell her that I was only with him precisely because I knew it couldn’t go anywhere. That conversation would be best saved for another time. I thought one bombshell of information was all Val could take for one lunch hour.
