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‘Didn’t you?’
Freya folded her arms and looked at him for a long moment. ‘Oh, my god. Do you think I … we …?’ Freya burst out laughing.
Theo frowned. ‘What’s so funny?’
‘Didn’t you listen to anything I said last night?’ She’d told him all about the meeting with the dean and about her disappointment that she wouldn’t get to go to Alexandria and that Tarek had joined them instead.
The look on Theo’s face suggested he hadn’t been listening the previous night. She stared at him. She knew why he hadn’t taken in what she’d said. After she’d told him the secondment was no longer happening, he hadn’t been interested in listening to anything else about her job. She knew Theo didn’t want her to go.
‘Oh, I kind of saw him and jumped to conclusions. Sorry. I know you’re fascinated with the Middle East.’
‘So, you thought I’d be interested in him just because he’s from the Middle East?’ She burst out laughing. ‘Really, Theo, that is dumb.’
He smiled. ‘Yes, it is rather, isn’t it? I mean, he is kind of good-looking. He’s got a sort of Omar Sharif thing going on there. That’s what got me worried. But wouldn’t it be boring, you two talking shop all day and night?’ He laughed.
Freya pursed her lips and turned around to fill two mugs with boiling water. Despite having taken an immediate dislike to Tarek, for obvious reasons, lunch hadn’t been as awkward as she’d thought it would be.
Spending the previous day with Tarek and finding out about his life back in Alexandria had made her want to go there even more – but it had made a refreshing change from Theo and his football, his job applications, and the house move.
Of course, Freya wasn’t about to tell Theo that. She rather fancied taking Tarek on a walking tour of Cambridge during one of their lunch breaks the next week. She wasn’t going to tell Theo that either – the fact that she was looking forward to it.
‘So, what did you guys do at lunchtime, anyway?’
Freya was just pouring the coffee and about to tell him, hoping she wouldn’t sound too enthusiastic, when her phone rang, surprising her. No one phoned her mobile much anymore; it was mostly texting and WhatsApp, unless it was a wrong number – or her mum. Freya grabbed her phone from the worktop and answered it without even checking the number. ‘Mum?’
Chapter 21
‘Freya, it’s me, Jolene.’
‘Oh, hi.’ She glanced at Theo who was mouthing,Who is it?
Freya mouthed back,Jolene.
Theo nodded and walked over to finish making the coffee.
‘Is everything okay, Jolene?’ Freya asked, wondering why she’d called so early on a Saturday morning.
‘Oh, did I wake you?’
‘No, I was up just making coffee.’
‘Great. Fancy some overtime?’
Freya would never say no to some extra money, especially working in a job she loved. ‘When?’
‘Today.’
‘What – like now today?’
‘Uh-huh. Did you check your emails?’
Freya shook her head. ‘No.’
‘The curator asked if we could come in. The email was sent yesterday.’
‘I wasn’t on the computer. I was busy working with Tarek.’ Freya caught Theo glancing over his shoulder at her and frowning.
‘Yes, I noticed that.’
