AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Small.
So very, very small.
Swiping through the barriers, I try to push the thought to the back of my mind. Somewhere far, far away where I can squash it down underneath everything else and it won’t come crawling back out again and spark fresh waves of self-doubt.
I don’t even notice the person falling into step beside me until there’s a hand on my arm to catch my attention, and Lloyd is suddenly there saying, ‘So, I thought we could hang out. Maybebuysome cake this time, instead of stealing leftovers. Or we could get some chips – I won’t even judge you if you get gravy on yours again, I promise. What do you think?’
‘Wait, what? What are you talking about? What’s …?’
I stop, immediately causing a bottleneck in the flow of people leaving the building. Lloyd’s hand is still on my arm, his touch hot through the sleeve of my cardigan, and he draws me out of the way.
‘I thought we could hang out. Outside of the office, I mean. Stop each other burning the candle at both ends, or whatever.’
He beams at me, so wide that his nose crinkles a little. It’s unbearably cute.
And I am unbearably confused.
‘Fletcher, we don’t … We don’t hang outinthe office.’
‘Sure we do.’
‘No,’ I say slowly, frowning. ‘You show up at my desk asking about projects, and interrupt me halfway through my first big meeting. We talkedonce, because we both happened to be around late. Twice, I guess, if you count when you helped me out with my new pass. But that’s it. If that’s your definition of “hanging out”, then you seriously need to re-evaluate your social life.’
Lloyd raises an eyebrow. ‘I thought you said you weregladI showed up at your meeting?’
‘I was. But you still interrupted it. And that’s still not hanging out.’
‘Okay. So, let’s hang out. Full stop.’
‘I don’t …’ Warily, I shift back half a step, teeth catching the inside of my bottom lip as my frown deepens. I can’t help the way my eyes flit around, as if expecting to see people – people weknow– stopping to stare at us. Nobody is.
But I think about Tasha, probably leaving the office any moment now, and how I can’t afford to give her any more fodder for whatever rumour she might be inclined to invent around us.
‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, Fletcher. I – we said we’d be civil. Polite.That’s it. Remember?’
He rolls his eyes, but he’s still smiling – like he thinks this is all so amusing, like he knows mebetter, somehow – and that rattles me far more than any worry we might be seen hanging around together like this.
‘Come on,’ he cajoles. ‘I’m not asking you on a date. Wearecivil. Friendly, right?’
‘Right …’ I mean, Iguessthat’s what you could call it – at a stretch.
‘And friends hang out. Right?’
‘Fletcher,’ I say, very seriously. ‘Do you not have any other friends –realfriends – to spend your evening with? Literally anybody.’
‘Why? Worried you won’t be able to resist my charms and you’ll be trying to snog me again by the end of the night?’
I almost lunge forward like I can clap my hands over his mouth and hold the words in. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like anybody overheard; nobody’s paying us any attention at all, actually.
Even so, my jaw clenches and I press my outstretched hands over my eyes before letting out a shaky, agitated huff. ‘Lloyd. You can’t just say things like that.’
He does, to his credit, look a bit sheepish.
‘Besides,’ I say, ‘what about your girlfriend?’
He pulls a face, baffled. ‘What are you talking about? I haven’t been on a date since –’ He stops abruptly, eyes darting away from me.Since you. Even if it wasn’t technically a date, it was stillsomething.
‘Oh. But I thought … Dylan said you went for drinks with someone a little while ago. An ex, or something.’
