Chapter 18 #2
‘That was so good! I loved that bit about forcing your dad to detour on the road trip so you could visit the world’s largest ball of twine, ha!
Want to give it another run-through, but standing up this time?
I’ll take a few notes and then we can make some tiny tweaks to get it as tight as possible. Sound good?’
He puffed out his cheeks. ‘Okay, let’s do it.’
We spend the next couple of hours finessing the speech.
By the time we were done, Ethan was delivering the punchlines – and the emotional gut punches – like a pro, to the extent that it came across like he’d been working on the speech for months, not days.
Ethan ordered in some ramen for dinner, which I insisted on paying for, and we filled our stomachs with nourishing broth while listening to another one of Ethan’s records, icy rain lashing against the apartment windows. It was the cosiest moment of my life.
‘Hey, something funny happened this morning,’ Ethan said, washing up our bowls.
‘Oh?’
‘Yeah, I saw that someone called Anneka Bell looked me up on LinkedIn… that’s your sister’s name, right?’
I wanted to become one with the sofa, but made do with hiding under the blanket instead. ‘Oh God, I’m so sorry. Let’s just say that Anneka isn’t the most… subtle of people. I mentioned your name in passing. She’s obviously been playing detective.’
‘Haha, it’s fine. I’m kinda flattered that you told her about me.’
‘I told you last night that she knew I’d met someone.’
‘Sure, but I didn’t realise you’d also told her who you’d met. It’s sweet, that’s all. Hey, I’d love to know more about her – and the rest of your family. Do you get to see them much?’
This was it: the perfect opportunity to tell him that Anneka wasn’t snooping on him from across an ocean, but from across a nearby river.
I opened my mouth to deliver my prepared script but, before I could speak, my phone buzzed more intensely than a regular notification, and wouldn’t stop.
I looked at the screen to see who was calling me on WhatsApp, registering the name: Laurie.
‘Shit, it’s my best friend calling from the UK. She wouldn’t phone unless it was important; I’m gonna take it in the hallway if that’s okay?’
‘No, you stay here – I’ve been meaning to get to the bodega today.’ He scooped up his coat, shoes and a tote bag and was out the door before he’d even put them on. I accepted the call.
‘Laurie? What’s wrong? Is it the kids?’
‘Hey, the kids are fine, no emergency. But… there is something I need to talk to you about quite urgently. And please don’t be mad at me.’
I’d never been mad at Laurie about anything – ever – so goodness knows what she was about to say if she thought that would be the result.
‘Well, now I’m freaking out. Go on, then.’
‘Are you alone?’
‘For now, yes.’
‘Okay, cool. Right then. So…’ Laurie inhaled audibly. ‘I’ve just found out that Will is in New York…’
WILL IS IN NEW YORK?
A weird feeling erupted from my tummy and bloomed upwards. Was it… relief? Yes, relief he’d finally come to his senses, had heard I was here and had decided to fly over as some big romantic gesture – his very first romantic gesture – to get me back. The trouble was, Laurie hadn’t finished talking.
‘…with his new girlfriend.’
What? WHAT?!
I dropped down to the floor, my mouth agape and my throat blazing with devastation.
‘Flor? Are you still there?’
Laurie’s simple enquiry felt like the most complex question I’d ever been asked.
‘Umm, yeah, I’m here.’
‘I’m so sorry you’re finding out like this.’
‘Can you… can you just tell me what you know? I’m really confused.’ I rested my head on the seat of the sofa and closed my eyes so I could focus on her voice.
‘Yeah, I bet. So, all I know about the New York thing is that, according to Instagram, they landed yesterday and fly back just before New Year’s Eve.’
‘Right. Right. But… who is he here with? I don’t understand.’
There was silence on the line. Too much silence.
‘Laurie?’ My voice was perilously close to cracking.
‘His girlfriend is called Briony. I knew he was seeing her, Flor. He soft-launched her on Instagram a couple of months back. When he posted the photo, I called him to find out what was going on and he told me it was a whirlwind thing from Hinge.’
I sat bolt upright, cricking my neck, although the adrenalin coursing through my body overrode the pain. ‘Hinge?! He signed up to Hinge, like, weeks after he practically left me at the altar?’
‘Apparently so. He’s… invited me and Ben to their place for dinner in the new year.’
‘“Their place”?! They’re already living together? Please tell me you haven’t said yes?’
Laurie sighed loudly. ‘It’s a sore point. Ben’s keen to go. We’ve been friends with him for a long time, Flor.’
Strictly speaking, they’d been friends with me longer, if you counted the hours when it appeared I was the only eighteen-year-old girl moving into a floor full of the opposite gender, before Will showed up.
‘You should have said something, Laurie. This is such a shit way to find out.’
‘I know, I know. I was planning to tell you, I swear. I just wanted you to have this time to yourself over Christmas so you’d be in as good a place as possible to hear it from me. You kept telling me how much you needed this headspace.’
‘Yeah, well, I didn’t get it, did I?’
‘It looks like you’re having fun on Instagram, though?’
‘Yeah, because Instagram famously reflects the truth,’ I snapped back.
Laurie replied in a quieter voice. ‘I’m not psychic, Flora. If you were having a bad time, you should have told me.’
This was the closest we’d ever come to an argument and I felt dizzy with discomfort.
You need to fix this, Flora, before it gets out of hand like the row with Anneka.
‘Yeah, you’re totally right, I’m sorry. And I haven’t been having a bad time. Just a… complicated time. And all of this is just a lot to find out.’
‘I know. It’s okay.’
I returned to a horizontal position to help the blood return to my brain, keen to get as many facts as possible before Ethan got back.
‘Have you been in touch with him since you saw he was in New York?’
‘Yeah, I DMed him straight away.’
‘And did he reply?’
‘Yes, he said something like he’d booked it a while ago and it would’ve been a shame for the trip to go to waste.’
Fuck. He’d booked our bloody honeymoon a year early as a surprise, hadn’t he? The first and only romantic thing he’d ever done for me and I didn’t even get to experience it. And now my honeymoon was being enjoyed by someone else. Briony.
‘Does he know I’m here?’
‘Yes, I told him when I messaged him. I hope that’s okay. He couldn’t believe it. He said he would have told you all of this himself if you ever unblocked him.’
I’d blocked Will on every platform and device imaginable a week after he’d walked out on me once it’d become clear he was going to make no effort to get in touch. Maybe it had been an immature thing to do, but what did he expect after calling off our wedding forty-eight hours before the big day?
‘Flora, I’m really, really sorry I didn’t tell you about his new girlfriend sooner.’
Deep down, I wasn’t even sure if I would’ve wanted to know before now. In Laurie’s shoes, I probably would have waited for the right moment – just like she had planned to do. None of this was her fault.
‘I know. It’s okay, honestly.’
I heard the main front door slam at the bottom of the property – it could have been Ethan returning from the store, or someone else in the building. Either way, I needed to hang up.
‘I have to go, Laurie.’
‘Are you okay, Flor?’
‘Honestly? I don’t know how I feel about anything anymore. But, like I said, I have to go. Love you.’
I hung up before she had the chance to speak again, and locked myself in the bathroom to compose myself – and gather further intel – in the only private space available.
I sat on the closed toilet seat and opened Instagram.
I unblocked Will and there it all was – endless photos of smiles and romance and, in the last twenty-four hours, New-fucking-York.
I tapped on his new girlfriend’s username, which took me to a private profile. From what I could see of her, she looked younger than me. I was furious to notice that, in the photos they were together on Will’s grid, they also looked extremely happy.
Like me and Ethan in that speakeasy photo.
But me and Ethan weren’t a couple, were we? We were a temporary infatuation that was destined to only exist in past tense once my trip was over.
I felt a visceral urge to sit on the tiled floor and sob.
But Ethan had already been forced to deal with enough of my emotions, and he’d be back any moment now.
I splashed some cold water on my face and slapped my cheeks a few times, testing out a forced smile in the mirror, just as I heard his keys jangle in the lock.
I emerged into the main room, having decided on a temporary strategy to get me through the next twelve hours.
Tonight, I would enjoy my time with Ethan – the conversation about Mum and Anneka would have to wait.
Tomorrow, in some shape or form, I would deal with Will.