Chapter Nineteen
‘It’s a numbers game. The more you date, the higher chance there is of you finding The One.’ Rhys shrugs, as though my dilemma really is that simple. And maybe it is, but neither my head nor my heart will settle one way or the other.
‘What do you think?’ I turn to Thea, who’s staring out of the window of Dorian’s studio and clearly hasn’t heard a word that’s been said as she waits for the kettle to boil.
She hasn’t said much during the first half of our second class, to be honest, and chat isn’t forthcoming during our break.
‘Should I keep dating morons in the hope that I’ll find a non-moron? ’
Thea puffs out a little sigh and laughs ruefully. ‘I’m the last person you should be asking for romantic advice.’
Jonah raises his hand. ‘Actually, I think that accolade should go to Rhys, who hasn’t had a relationship that’s lasted for more than a week as far as I can tell.’
Rhys smirks. ‘A week is a long-term commitment as far as I’m concerned.’
‘Are we talking about boys?’ Olive pushes me down onto the sofa and sits down next to me, with Audrey squeezing herself down on my other side. And it really is a squeeze on the small two-seater sofa. ‘What happened to that nice chap you met the other week? Did you find him?’
I shake my head. Kit is a dead end, which is a shame, because of all the meet-cutes I’ve had, he’s the only one I’ve felt a real connection with. He’s definitely the one that got away.
Audrey frowns at me. ‘Whyever not?’
Olive jabs me on the arm with a bony finger. ‘You need to get him locked in, my love. Single handsome men don’t stay single for long. You need to snap him up before some hussy gets in there first.’
‘I don’t have his number, remember?’
Olive shrugs. ‘So what? You’re not going to let a pesky little detail like that stop you, are you?’
A pesky little detail? It’s quite an important detail, actually.
‘He had a business card, yes?’
I nod at the established fact Olive has stated.
‘What was the name of the business?’
Audrey gasps and reaches across me to pat her friend on the arm. ‘Good work, Olive. I always knew you had a whiff of Vera Stanhope about you.’ She settles back in her seat while Olive raises her eyebrows at me, a rather smug look on her face.
I squeeze my eyes shut, as though I can hide from the shame. ‘I can’t remember.’
Beside me, Audrey and Olive deflate and I wrestle myself from between the pair because I can’t bear their disappointment on top of my own.
‘Tea?’ Thea hands me a mug, and I thank her before wandering over to the window with it. I set the mug down on the ledge and watch the street below as I contemplate my blunder. This could have been it. The meet-cute to end all meet-cutes. The happily ever after. And I’ve gone and messed it all up.
‘Custard cream?’ Rhys joins me at the window, waving an open packet of biscuits at me. I take two, because this is definitely a double-helping kind of situation I’ve found myself in.
‘Do you think I’m a knobhead?’ I start to nibble along the edge of the first biscuit, nipping off the cream-free bit so I can leave the middle intact to truly savour.
The way I nibble custard creams winds Jonah up, but he’s busy chatting to Olive and Audrey (and by ‘chatting’, I mean ‘warding off their advances’) in the seating area, so he can’t kill my joy.
‘You’re my best mate.’ Rhys slings his arm around me and gives me a squish. ‘Of course I think you’re a knobhead.’ He grins at me, oofing when I jab him in the ribs. ‘What’s up?’
I explain about Kit and the fact I lost his business card and can’t even remember the details of the company he works for and therefore have no way of tracking him down.
I had my chance to find a decent guy, a potential for my one true love, a non-moron to fall in love with, and I’ve messed it up spectacularly by leaving his contact details in the back of a taxi.
I shove the rest of the custard cream into my mouth, non-cream edges and all, and chomp it furiously.
I really am a knobhead, and not just for losing that business card.
Why am I putting myself through all this disastrous meet-cute stuff on the slim chance that I’ll find my happily ever after?
Rhys offers me the packet of biscuits and I take two more.
The biscuits are chomped, tea is drained and Dorian calls us back to our desks again.
I switch off thoughts of Kit and happily ever afters, and concentrate on the class, where I do my best to capture the view from the window in oil pastels.
I’m quite pleased with the effects I’ve managed to achieve by the time the class ends.
‘So, when do we get to the life-modelling bit of the course?’ Olive calls out her question to Dorian as we’re packing away our things, earning a giggle from Audrey. ‘It’s been two weeks and I’ve yet to see any flesh.’
Dorian shakes his head. ‘The course is about materials and techniques rather than subject matter. Though one of you could volunteer to model for Olive…’ He looks around the room, but nobody raises their hand.
‘I volunteer Jonah.’ Olive winks at my flatmate, who pretends to neither see the gesture nor hear the words as he tidies away his things.
‘Or Rhys.’ Audrey nudges her friend with her elbow. ‘I’m not fussy.’
‘Oh, we all know that, my love.’ Olive pats her friend on the arm and they both crease up with laughter.
‘I’m not being in any room where my brother is naked.’ Thea pulls her jacket off the back of her chair and slips her arms through its sleeves.
‘And I’d rather boil my own eyeballs in bleach than see Rhys without his kit on.’ I shrug at the ladies. ‘So, I’m afraid you’re out of options.’
‘Not quite.’ Olive eyes the class tutor. ‘There’s always Dorian.’
Dorian shakes his head emphatically. ‘No way. Not happening, I’m afraid.’
Audrey tuts. ‘Spoilsport.’
We trail down the narrow staircase and gather on the pavement outside, making sure to look out for e-scooters and their careless drivers. Rhys holds a protective arm across Olive and Audrey until he’s sure the path is clear.
‘Drink?’ Audrey nods across the road, towards the bar. ‘They do a lovely house red, and we can discuss Christina’s quest to find her handsome chap.’
‘I can’t.’ Thea gives an apologetic shrug. ‘Daniel’s dropping the kids off in an hour.’
Jonah pulls his chin back. ‘Dropping the kids off where?’
‘At home. He took them to his mum’s for the afternoon but he’ll be bringing them home before he has to dash out. A work thing.’ She shrugs again. ‘So I need to get back.’
‘Christina? Are you free?’ Audrey indicates the bar across the road.
I reach into my bag and pull out my keys. ‘I’m playing taxi, I’m afraid. Maybe next time?’
Audrey’s face falls. ‘But we wanted to hear all about this fella.’
I shrug. ‘I don’t have much to tell. I only spoke to him for a few minutes.’
‘But you must have something to tell.’ Olive takes my hand in hers and gives it a squeeze, and it’s obvious she’s trying to live vicariously through me. She’s going to be let down though, because I really don’t have much, only a tiny peck on the cheek.
‘I know you can’t remember what the business card said, but what does he do for a living?’ Olive squeezes my hand tighter. ‘Is he a doctor? A fireman? Ooh, a pilot!’
‘Olive likes a man in uniform.’ Audrey titters. ‘She even had a weekend fling with a Butlin’s Redcoat back in the day, even though he was as camp as Christmas and he could have been half man, half bird with the size of his beak.’
Olive nudges her friend with her elbow. ‘His nose wasn’t his only oversized body part. The man could have been a hybrid man slash bird slash horse.’
‘He’s in a band.’ I pipe up quickly, before Olive can elaborate any further. ‘The guy I met. He’s in a band.’
‘A musician.’ Olive sucks in a breath and shimmies her shoulders. ‘I do love a performer. So sexy.’
‘Not all musicians are attractive.’ Audrey purses her lips. ‘My husband, may he rest in agony, was a musician and he was as sexy as a fungal infection.’
Olive tuts. ‘He played the harmonica. Badly. He was hardly Mick Jagger.’
‘Now Mick Jagger…’ Audrey closes her eyes and emits a dreamy sigh. ‘The things I would do to that man.’
‘I’ve seen Kit perform.’ I nudge the subject away from Mick Jagger, in case we find out what Audrey would do to him, because I’m sure none of us want to know. ‘He was very good.’
Olive narrows her eyes at me. ‘Very good? Or sexy?’
I shrug. ‘Both?’
She nods, smiling in approval. ‘Marvellous. You lock him in, my love.’
‘I would if I could find him.’ But without the business card, I’m screwed.
Olive releases my hand and threads her arm through Audrey’s. ‘You could try returning to the scene of the crime.’
I frown. The scene of what crime?
Olive tuts. ‘The piano bar, my love. He might be a regular. And if he’s not there, someone might know who he is. Come on, Audrey.’ She starts to tow her friend across the road. ‘Let’s get that drink. I’m spitting feathers.’
They leave the rest of us on the pavement, watching as they disappear into the bar before we make our way to my car. Jonah falls into step next to me and I nudge him with my arm.
‘Do you think Olive is right? That I can track Kit down by going back to the piano bar?’
Jonah shrugs. ‘Maybe. It’s worth a shot, I guess.’
I thread my arm through his and give him a squeeze. ‘Then let’s do it. Let’s go and find my happily ever after.’