Chapter 44
‘Explain to me again why I’m here,’ grumbled Tim, as he pulled out a metal chair beneath one of the large black parasols and sat down grumpily.
‘Because Amy couldn’t make it,’ said Jenni, placing their drinks on the table and sitting down.
‘Oh, great, that’s nice, I’m not even first choice.’ Tim pulled a face before taking a sip of his drink.
‘How do I look?’ Jenni asked, straightening her top nervously.
Tim turned to look her up and down. ‘Hmm. Jeans, but your favourite ones that fit nicely rather than the baggy ones, top with a low v but not too much cleavage, hair washed and straightened, no make-up make-up. You look good, but without looking like you made an effort.’
Jenni sighed with relief. ‘Perfect, just what I was going for! Thank you for noticing.’ She smiled gratefully. ‘I really appreciate you coming. I know you’re missing quiz night.’
Tim sniffed, slightly mollified. ‘Well, I couldn’t abandon you, even if that means coming south of the river. I’m curious to get a look at this Ben, anyway, and I want to see the potential House of Oscar headquarters, too, of course.’
‘I think you’re going to love it, I really do. And you know what? I’ve been thinking that if the walking range does well, there might be other opportunities for us to work together.’
As they made plans that quickly escalated into both of them leaving Go Big to set up as joint directors of House of Oscar, the bar filled up and the noise increased.
The DJ in the booth turned up the volume and people started spilling out onto the pavements, leaning against the large planters, nursing their drinks, desperately searching for a seat.
It wasn’t until a woman in a tight silver jumpsuit and sky-high heels leant over to ask if she could take the vacant chair opposite them that Tim and Jenni looked up and noticed how busy it was.
‘What time is it?’ Jenni asked.
Tim glanced at his phone. ‘Just gone nine. What time did you say you were meeting him?’
‘I think we said eight-thirty,’ said Jenni, trying to sound casual, as if the fact he was half an hour late wasn’t a biggie. She didn’t think they’d said eight-thirty, she knew they had. God knows she’d checked his message about a million times. She picked up her phone to show Tim the message.
‘Hmm, that’s not good,’ said Tim. ‘But I’m sure there’s a perfectly good reason why he’s late,’ he added hastily, seeing Jenni’s face crumple.
‘I should have known he wasn’t interested when he didn’t reply after the first time, shouldn’t I?’ she said.
‘Perhaps we should fake an incident and call 999, and then he might show up,’ laughed Tim.
Jenni glared at him. ‘This is your fault, you know.’
‘My fault? How is it my fault?’ Tim replied, surprised.
‘You made me contact him. I was quite happy—’
‘Oh, please, you weren’t happy at all. You’d just bumped into your ex with a jelly and you were covered in mud. There’s nothing happy about that, love!’
Jenni was about to protest that she absolutely was happy when her phone buzzed. ‘I’m too scared. You look,’ she said, panic in her eyes.
Tim reached for the phone. There was a tense silence.
‘Oh God. Just tell me, get it over with. What’s he said?’ she pleaded.
‘Well, nothing, actually.’ Tim paused dramatically before looking up. ‘It’s from your mum. The sweet peas didn’t survive the frost. She thought you’d want to know.’
‘For fuck’s sake.’ She looked dejectedly at Tim. ‘Should I DM him?’ she asked just as her phone buzzed again. Tim read the message.
‘Don’t tell me. Mum again. Disaster with the dahlias? Foul play in the foxgloves?’ Jenni took a swig of her drink.
Tim looked up. ‘Ben’s not coming.’