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Alison closed her eyes, as if recovering from a punch. ‘Do you know how crazy those photos made me?’ She spun on her heel, slightly off balance as she leaned her back against the stonework. ‘I was always going to be visiting Glasgow this week. But then I saw those photos and it was like someone ripping my heart out.’
Jen bit her tongue. She didn’t need to drive the hurt deeper. She took a seat a few feet up from Alison and picked her words carefully. ‘What’s changed? Why now?’
Alison moved her jaw from side to side, playing with the hem on her shorts. ‘I knew you’d hate London. I didn’t want to feel like I was sucking the life from you when I was off following my dreams. It didn’t seem fair.’
‘I would have coped. You know that. It was my decision to make.’
‘I know.’ She ran a hand through her hair, nodding aggressively. ‘I know that now.’
‘We can’t change what you did.’
‘No, but.’ She blew out a long wavering breath. ‘I can change things now. I came back because I found this bar. It’s in Dalston – you’ll love it. I thought if I bought it, you could run it?’
Jen was flummoxed.
Alison took her silence as a challenge and ran with it, filling the void. ‘You, me? It would be like old times. We’re a good team.’
She reached a hand towards Jen’s but found only stone. There was one thing being nice, but misleading her was another.
Words were lodged in Jen’s throat as her brain struggled to keep up with changing events. She looked at the hands in her lap as she shook her head.
‘I’ve never stopped thinking about you. Loving you,’ Alison said, her final sentence a near whisper.
Jen stood. ‘I think I should go.’
‘No, wait,’ Alison blurted, grabbing Jen’s wrist and pulling her close.
