. . . a friendly ask
It took three days to craft the perfect text to send to Eléa – one to draft, one to proof and one to backtrack several times.
Who knew Noah was so indecisive? He flipped and flopped so much that it almost gave me the ick.
I wish that it did. Instead, I suffer at his side while I help craft messages to the very-not-single girl of his dreams.
He’s fretting. ‘She hasn’t replied.’
I clamp my eyes on my screen to stop them from rolling aggressively back into my head. It’s been five days since we sent the message, three days since we left Rome, and maybe about ten minutes since Noah last brought El up. One of his longer intervals.
‘We knew that was a risk,’ I say for the thousandth time. ‘She didn’t strike me as the type that would take kindly to rejection. She probably read it, deleted it and moved on with her boyfriend.’
I put some real weight behind the word ‘boyfriend’, attempting to knock it across our living-room table and into Noah’s skull. He chews his lip in contemplation.
‘Yeah, you’re probably right. Okay, new topic, talk me through the last two days. I want a run down.’
Though my three-date day in Rome was a lot, it did teach me that I’m capable of maximizing my time more efficiently.
And while I doubt that I’ll ever go so far as three in one day again, I’ve found that two a day gives me more time to myself elsewhere.
If I can pack all my dates into the first few days in a city, then I can use the rest to chill and explore for myself.
And I can catch up on actually writing them up.
I’ve been avoiding Analeise’s emails like the plague.
‘Speed rate them!’ He sits up in his seat, eyes delighted at the new impending game. ‘Gianna.’
‘Erm . . . seven?’ I jump to action.
‘Quicker! Ernesto?’
‘Four and a half.’
‘Ouch. What about Allegra?’
‘A solid eight,’ I say.
‘Nice!’ He smiles. ‘And Rochelle?’
‘Ten.’
He gasps. ‘Well, we have a winner!’
‘And then she immediately ghosted me, so . . .’
‘Straight down to zero, got it.’ He nods in understanding.
‘I can’t give her zero; she was such a great kisser,’ I sigh.
He chuckles, nodding back at me. ‘Been there.’
I catch him stealing glances at his terribly silent phone and my mouth fills with venom at the idea that he likely means Eléa.
‘When are you getting back out there?’ I ask coolly. ‘We only have three months left to find you a serious girlfriend.’
I don’t know why I’m the one pushing it.
Maybe I’m a masochist. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s the slap in the face that I need.
The sooner he gets serious with someone, the sooner I can see it and come to terms with the fact that it will never be me.
He wants and he needs to be friends. I knew that all the way back in Brussels and I was naive to think things might have changed.
‘Damn, has it been three months already?’ he asks.
His eyes roll back as he starts visibly counting back the months in his head. I lift my glass of water to my lips and gulp it down ferociously, trying not to think about what we were doing the last time his eyes rolled back like that.
‘Yeah, time flies when you’re having fun,’ I reply, voice shaky.
His smile glows from within as he leans further across the table towards me. ‘Are you having fun with me, Am?’ he asks smugly.
‘You’re all right.’
‘Charming.’ He winks at me. ‘Although speaking of girlfriends, do you have any plans tomorrow night?’
‘What are you thinking?’ I ask, eyes squinting in confusion.
I feel a buzz, but I have to shake it off because I know it can’t mean anything I think it does. I’ve been down this road before – every time I assume so, he ends up leaving me high and dry.
‘My mate’s here with his girlfriend and they want to meet us both,’ he replies.
I blink back at him. ‘Us? They know who I am?’
‘Everyone in my life knows who you are, Amorie. You’ve been the most important part of my trip.’
He states it like it’s obvious, rolling his eyes at the ludicrous concept of a world where that’s not the case.
‘Please, I need you.’
‘Need me?’ My heart’s pounding.
‘I can’t do this without you!’ he says. ‘Jake and his girlfriend can be pretty . . . full on when they’re together. And I figured what’s better than one third wheel? Two third wheels!’
He stares right at me, desperate, and I straighten my spine as I try to shake off my sudden bout of nerves.
‘That’s not how wheels work,’ I say.
He ignores this. ‘Plus, they really want to meet you.’ It’s not working, and he purses his lips before changing tactic. ‘You do this for me, and we can go to Verona.’
I sit up straighter, watching him dangle the perfect bait.
Given the three-hour train ride and the fact we were in Italy, I downloaded Letters to Juliet to watch on the way here.
After crying my way through it, I took myself on a deep dive and discovered it’s real – you can actually respond to the letters people write to Juliet in Verona.
Upon finding this out I immediately woke Noah and demanded we travel to Verona next, but he was reluctant.
We’ve already gone past it and he didn’t want us to go back on ourselves. However, I know him better than that.
‘You would have given in anyway,’ I say, calling his bluff.
He smirks. ‘Yes, but this way it’s tit for tat. Way more owed.’
I lean forward, bartering hat on. ‘And you’ll join in and write a letter too?’
His face scrunches up. ‘I’m not a writer.’
‘But it will be fun! I mean – we actually get to volunteer and be Juliet! How cool is that?’
He smiles fondly. ‘You’re cute when you nerd out about writing.’
The smile, like butter, stops my heart in its tracks. I feel sweat break out on my forehead. ‘Noah . . .’
‘I know, rules one and seven, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah . . . You gonna help me or not?’
He rolls his eyes.
I look down and sigh, casting the flutters in my stomach away. He always calls me cute. It’s friendly. It. Means. Nothing.
‘What time do I need to be ready for?’ I ask begrudgingly.
He leaps from his seat. ‘I’ll get all the deets from Jake. Love you.’
He runs over to me and kisses my cheek, before grabbing his laptop and heading to his room.
I mutter in response, ‘Love you too.’
He’s already out of earshot, which is definitely for the best. We may both say the words, but only one of us says them in a way that could harm our friendship.