Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
I pulled up outside Sarah’s house, ready to collect Bing and see how much compensation Sarah wanted for damages to her new home. I had her gift from Crete in a little bag, as well as a bottle of kitchen cleaner and some wine. As long as he hadn’t touched her sofa, we would probably be able to get away with it.
Sarah and I hadn’t spoken properly since my mini meltdown in Agios Nikolaos. I was very nervous to see her. She had texted me a few times, asking if I was all right, but I hadn’t replied. Not until this morning, when I asked what time I could pick Bing up.
“Hey.” She tried to smile as she opened the door, but she was clearly nervous too. As she stepped to one side, I went in and looked around. There was no clear damage that I could see. Bing hadn’t clawed at any of the newly painted walls, which was a huge relief. “Shall I put the kettle on?”
“I think you should.”
She already had the cups prepared, and the kettle had not long since been boiled, so didn’t take too long to be ready. We were both silent as the teaspoon clinked against the cups and Sarah stirred the milk. She carried the cups back into the living room and I followed her. We sat apart on the sofa.
“I’m ready to talk about… about you and Dan,” I finally said, breaking the silence.
She exhaled. I could tell she had a speech prepared. “I am so, so, so, so sorry. Dan and I weren’t even meant to happen. I’d arranged a date with a different guy, who didn’t show up. No message or anything, just completely ghosted me. It was the postman. I shouldn’t have bothered. Anyway, as I was leaving the bar, I saw Dan.” She broke off to look at me, but I said nothing. “I swear on my mother’s life it was not pre-arranged, just pure chance. We had a drink, we had a laugh. Apparently, he’d seen me on the dating app too, but wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to reach out, although he’d wanted to. We decided to have a kind of date, there and then…” She stopped and took a much-needed breath. “And Jenny, we really hit it off. We spoke on the phone. We texted. We went out again. I just…” Her hand covered her mouth, to stop her lip from quivering. “If I’d known.” Her voice went high. “If I’d known it would cause this between us, I never would have…”
I leapt towards my crying friend and pulled her close. I couldn’t stand seeing her like this. It wasn’t worth it. “Please don’t cry. It’s okay.” I hadn’t seen her crying like this since the bombshell news about Max The Wanker becoming a dad.
“No, it isn’t.” She pulled back. “I kept it from you. You and I don’t keep things from one another. It was really shitty of me. I don’t know why I kept it from you. It was stupid!” She wiped her eyes with her sleeves. “I was being so selfish.”
“Sarah, look, it was a big thing. I get it. I was hurt you couldn’t talk to me. But barely speaking to you for two weeks has hurt me even more than that. I need you. Clearly,” I said, thinking back to my almost Greek tragedy.
“I need you too, so I spoke to Dan and we might be calling it off.”
“What on earth for?”
“I told him my friendship with you was more important. We’ve been together since we were eighteen. We’ve seen it all with each other. And after Max The Wanker, you pulled me back from the brink. I owe you everything.”
That was it. We were both crying now. We hugged and soaked each other’s shoulders with tears that had been a long time coming. But I was not losing my friend over a guy, and she was not losing a perfect guy over me.
“Sarah, you’re not going to stop seeing him, do you hear me?” I pulled back and held on to her shoulders. Her blonde hair was stained dark from the tears. “Do you like him? I mean, really like him?”
“I do.”
“Then, there you go. If you guys are happy, and if you’re perfect for each other, it would be stupid to end it. To be honest, I think you’d be great together.”
“I don’t want things to be awkward though. I mean, you and he… Would it be weird for you? For Zack, if we all went out together?”
“It’s all history. I promise. Besides… Oh, hello you. You finally came to say hello.” I stroked Bing’s head. He was chuntering under his breath, which was his way of saying, “ Where the hell have you been? ” “We need to get your stuff together and compensate Aunty Sarah for her condemned kitchen sink.”
Bing jumped up on the couch and sniffed at my fingers, before stepping on me and rubbing himself on my black T-shirt, leaving a trail of white hair.
“When are you seeing Dan next then?” I asked Sarah.
“I’ll text him in a bit. I think he’s expecting me to call it off, so it’ll hopefully be a nice surprise when I say otherwise. Are you sure it’s going to be okay?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I promise. I’m so glad you’ve found someone decent. Before I went away, you seemed happier. I thought it was because you were getting rid of me for a while, but I guess there was another reason.”
“I haven’t felt this happy in ages. When he texts me, I get all giddy. Just like you did when Zack would message you in the early days. And, that day you found us, that was the first time we’d… you know.”
“Oh, I was witness to a milestone!” I laughed. “I’m glad I can be a part of that memory. You opted to avoid the waterbed then?”
“Jenny, honestly, if this is going to be weird, I will end things with him.”
“You’re not going to end things with him. You’re going to need him around in about twelve months’ time.”
“Why’s that?”
“You’ll need a date. Oh, didn’t I tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“I can’t believe it slipped my mind.” With my left hand, I rubbed my forehead. “How could I forget to tell her? Bing, I think I’m losing my memory, forgetting something so huge.”
“Wait,” she said, as she glanced at my finger. “Is that a…?”
“Oh, this?” I held out my left hand, clearly displaying the most beautiful engagement ring in the history of jewellery. “Yeah, Zack gave it to me in exchange for promising to be his wife.”
“Ahhhh!” Our tea spilled all over her new couch as she launched herself at me, hugging me. Bing zoomed away in a panic. Sarah examined the ring as I told her everything that had happened on the night of the anniversary dinner.
I pulled a small bag from my pocket and handed it to Sarah, watching her pull out a handmade bracelet made of silver, encrusted with green gems. “Will you be my maid of honour?”
“Jenny,” her voice broke, “I would love to be your maid of honour.” We held each other tightly for what felt like ages, glad to be back in each other’s lives.
“I’m appointing myself chief wedding planner too. We have so much to plan!” Sarah bounced up from the couch, retrieving a notepad and pen from the kitchen. “We need wedding-dress shops, florists, venues, photographers… I’m pretty sure a few of my suppliers would offer me a discount, what with the amount of money they received from me for nothing in return, if you want me to call some of them? I can send you links to their webpages so you can see what you guys think.”
“Absolutely, thanks!” I was full of confidence in Sarah’s planning abilities. Once she was on a mission, there was no stopping her. “So, what else has been happening whilst I’ve been away?”
“So much, I don’t know where to start.” Sarah dropped the notepad in her lap, her expression suddenly looking less than enthusiastic. “Alessandro.”
“What about him? Is he still in touch?”
“Not anymore! It all kicked off. He kept texting and calling, which was great at first, but then he began to get a little bit possessive.”
“Really?” He had seemed so gentle and caring when we’d met him. “What did he do?”
“He kept hinting for me to go back out for a visit, which would have been so nice. I said someday I’d like to, but then he kept insisting. As though I could just pack up and hop on a plane and forget about work. It’s just so easy, right ?” she said in an exaggerated Italian accent. “Then I was out with Dan one evening. My phone kept ringing. He was trying to video-call me!”
“Eek, not awkward at all. What did Dan say?”
“Well, I’d told him about you and I going to Rome. I was honest about it all. No point in pretending to be all innocent. We’re in our thirties, right? We have a past. He could see I was bothered though, so suggested I take the call, to get it over with.” She paused.
“What happened?”
“His temper! ‘ You out with somebody? Tell me, tell me! ’ . Luckily, the bar we were in was busy and so it was loud, so no one could really hear him. Anyway, Dan took the phone. Did you know he could speak Italian?”
“Where did he learn that?”
“His grandma, apparently. She was Italian. I can’t believe you didn’t know.” I chose not to remind her that Dan and I never really spent time communicating when we were together. It was more of a physical thing. “Anyway, I haven’t heard from him again since.”
“Wow, Dan to the rescue.” I smiled.
“And there’s other news,” she said, coyly.
“I’m listening…”
“I saw Max.”
“ No! ” Bing, who had bravely returned to the living room, scarpered once again at my outburst. Nice to know he’d be on hand in an emergency. “When? Did he see you?”
“Yes, I saw him first. Pulled up behind him at the petrol station. Didn’t even realise it was him because… Now, I want to be classy. We’re all adults, decisions were made, and we must be mature. That being said, he looked rough. Not just ‘new parent’ rough. He looked like a completely different person, and not in a good way. He was driving this old, rusty car. No idea what happened to his old one, but there was no way he’d be seen dead in a car like that a few years ago.”
“Did he speak to you?”
“No, but he saw me. I’d just come from a meeting so was suited and booted. He looked mortified, so embarrassed.” She paused again. “Jenny, I know it’s immature, but I made some terrible gestures at him. I don’t think he’s been left in any doubt about how I feel towards him.”
“Sod being mature,” I decided. “Serves him bloody right.”
“You know the best bit though? Seeing him like that, it was strange. For the first time since we broke up, I realised I really am over him. I don’t think I’d care if he turned up on my doorstep tomorrow, begging for me back!”
I laughed and hugged her tightly. “Oh, I’ve missed you. Please can we never break up again?”
“Definitely. Anyway, we have things to do.”
“Indeed we do. Except…” I flashed my engagement ring in her direction. “I have no idea where to start.”
“Don’t you worry. I’ll kick off bridesmaid duties and put together a list of jobs. And I shall crack on with the most important job of all.”
“What’s that?”
“The hen do!”
“Don’t plan anything huge. I’m an old woman now. Just something sensible close to home. No naked men serving onion rings on their penises.” Although, the thought of putting my mother through that made it tempting.
“Nah, I know what we’re doing for your hen do. And it is just perfect.”
“What?”
Sarah was the best party planner, so she would come up with something fantastic, I was sure.
“A long weekend… in Zante!” She screeched with laughter.
This renewed friendship might not last very long.
THE END