Chapter 18 #2
I sat down at the table and braced myself for the rest of her story. There was no way this was going to end well for me.
‘It was a message from Leo.’
I nodded, trying to appear calm, even though my thoughts were running at a million miles an hour.
‘Of course it was,’ I said, because that was my kind of luck.
‘He says he has to leave Oxford for a few days, but he’ll be in touch about the next stage of the investigation.’
‘Okay.’ I really hoped his sudden need to leave the city had nothing to do with the incident in the gym. I cringed with embarrassment just recalling it again. ‘Please tell me that you replied with something innocuous like a thumbs-up emoji and “have a nice trip, speak soon”?’
‘Mm-hmm,’ said Moira. ‘Yes, it was definitely something like that.’
‘Moi-ra,’ said Rami, employing his best stern tutor voice. ‘Don’t you think it’s better you come clean rather than waiting for her to read the message and find out the truth for herself? You’re torturing the poor girl by stringing it out like this.’
‘If you insist,’ she said warily. ‘So, I may have replied with something along the lines of how much I– by which I meant of course you– will miss him. And then I urged him to hurry back, and ended with some kisses.’
‘How many kisses?’ I asked, my face feeling hot at the thought, although it was ridiculous to focus on that small detail when the rest of the message sounded mortifying enough.
‘Three, or thereabouts,’ she said.
‘Oh, that is not good. I’ve never even used one kiss when we’ve been texting and he’s certainly not, either. And I can’t believe you told him to hurry back.’
‘I thought it was sweet,’ said Rami wistfully.
‘Then I shall hold you equally responsible for aiding and abetting her,’ I said. ‘You’re both as bad as each other. Maybe I should text and tell Leo you hijacked my phone?’
‘You could do that,’ said Moira, ‘but won’t he wonder why your friends thought it would be appropriate to send such a loving message?’
‘I’m certainly wondering that,’ I retorted, my mind whirling as I considered my options.
‘In fact, do you not think he might start to question whether there’s some basis of truth in the text?’ she pressed. ‘That you really will be missing him while he’s out of town?’
‘Which you will be, it’s obvious in your face,’ said Rami. ‘Has anyone ever told you that your expression gives away everything that’s going through your mind?’
Leo had, not that I was going to tell these two and add fuel to the fire.
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed, setting my heart racing. I leapt forward to grab it before either of my so-called friends could seize it first and cause more trouble for me.
‘How’s he replied?’ asked Moira. I could tell she was fighting the urge to jump up and read the text over my shoulder.
I tried to hide my excitement as I read the message, lingering over every word.
Then I nervously scrolled back to see if the text Moira had sent really was as bad as I feared.
She had been exaggerating about the number of kisses, but putting even one was bad enough after the whole self-defence class encounter.
On the other hand, Leo’s message had ended with kisses of its own for the first time, so maybe Moira had done me a favour.
Or maybe I was reading far too much into a reflex response.
He’d probably spent all of five seconds tapping out his reply and not thought twice about its contents.
Whereas I was inevitably going to spend the rest of the night over-analysing every word and dreaming about potential hidden meanings.
‘I’m not sure you guys deserve to know after invading my privacy like this,’ I said, half teasing, half rebuking them.
‘We’re very sorry and we won’t do it again,’ said Rami. ‘Will we, Moira?’
She exhaled resignedly. ‘Fine, as you insist, we’ll leave you to your own devices… for now. But if you don’t hurry up and make a proper move on that man, I may be forced to retract. You’re a fool if you let fear get in the way of something that’s staring you in the face.’
I decided it was best not to rise to that particular provocation.
And I still didn’t really want to share Leo’s message.
I wanted to hug it to myself and come to my own conclusions about it, rather than have my friends chipping in with what would inevitably be far too optimistic interpretations.
But it was clear that they weren’t going to let up until I did, so I read it out loud to them.
LEO
Hey Kat, I have to deal with a few things this week, but I will be back soon. It’s time to take things up a notch.
At this point, Moira squealed at an unnecessarily high pitch.
‘Don’t get too carried away,’ I warned. ‘He’s only talking about the investigation.’
I continued reading.
LEO
How are you with heights? SO Ox is running a ‘Love Can Overcome Any Obstacle (Course)’ event next weekend.
It’s basically a five-kilometre mud run with a pretentious name.
I reckon it’s the kind of show-off mass event that could attract our quarry.
What do you think? Could be a good opportunity to listen out for Brian. Have booked my place. See you there. Xx
‘Two kisses,’ said Rami gleefully. ‘He’s already missing you. And he’s practically said he’s going to hurry back to be with you. That’s how I’d interpret it, anyway.’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s lovely of you to say, but you’re an English tutor.
You spend half your life coming up with alternative interpretations of text, the more implausible the better.
Most likely what he actually means is that he can’t wait to have a laugh at my expense while I struggle to climb a rope ladder.
An obstacle course? There’s nothing romantic about that. ’
‘Oh, I don’t know. The app people obviously run it for a reason,’ said Moira. I shot her a look. ‘Okay, okay, I’ll stop sticking my oar in,’ she added, putting her hand over her mouth for good measure.
I tapped on the app to read more about the event.
‘According to this, it’s the most popular event that SO Ox runs.
It’s strange what appeals to some people.
I guess it’s worth a try. And the social they’re holding after it will also give us more chance to ask questions.
I suppose people might be less on their guard after spending a few hours charging around a muddy field coming face to face with their own mortality. ’
I booked a spot, then quickly tapped out a reply to Leo before I could change my mind.
Sounds like a plan. See you there.
My thumb hovered over the screen, then I shrugged. What harm could I do after Moira’s message?
I edited the message, then hit send.
KAT
Sounds like a great plan. Looking forward to seeing you there. Xx.
What had I let myself in for? It was probably a good thing that Leo wasn’t going to be around for the rest of the week.
I’d need all the time I could get to transform myself into someone capable of completing a mud run, while retaining enough energy to keep my cool around Leo and still conduct an investigation. The challenge was on.