Page 97 of Five Things I Love About You

‘You’ve paid for my flight, right?’

She nods.

‘Then it would be a shame to waste it, wouldn’t it?’

They both leap up and run round the table and smother me in hugs until I have to push them off me.

‘But don’t think for one minute I’ve forgiven you for interfering in my love life.’

‘No, course not,’ Kirstie says, serious.

‘And if this turns out to be a huge disaster, you need to be prepared for the fact that I’ll never speak to either of you ever again.’

‘Message received loud and clear.’ Sophie’s grinning at me and finally I crack and laugh.

‘Good God, what would my life be like without you two interfering in it?’

‘Boring, that’s what. And lonely. And utterly, utterly miserable.’

‘It was a theoretical question, but yes. All of those things. Plus quiet. Blissfully, blissfully, quiet.’

31

Two days. That’s all the time I have to prepare to fly to Toronto.

When the girls told me they’d booked my flight and hotel, I didn’t quite think through the logistics of that. But it seems as though they were up to all kinds of mischief behind my back. Sophie had swiped my passport to sort out a temporary visa, Kirstie had rung the agency and told them I wasn’t free for any school cover for a couple of weeks. ‘I’ll sub you for a while,’ she promised, despite my objections about her paying for me. They’d even told Nick and the kids that they were taking me away so I didn’t have to answer any questions if things didn’t work out.

There was nothing for me to do except pack my bag.

Oh, and worry. And I did plenty of that.

I worried about whether to ring Matt before I went. It seemed ridiculous to just turn up in Toronto, saunter into a café, and meet him without actually speaking to him first. After all, it had been months since we’d so much as said a word to each other. But, as expected, Kirstie had opinions on that.

‘Absolutely not,’ she said. ‘He knows you’re coming, and that’s enough. You need to keep an air of mystery.’

‘I hardly think flying three thousand miles to meet for a coffee and to tell someone you miss them is maintaining an air of mystery,’ I replied, and she at least had the grace to laugh.

‘Maybe not,’ she conceded. ‘But I still think it’s better just to go. Don’t overthink it.’

In the end we compromised and settled on a text message – and even that took me hours to perfect. What did I say to him?‘Hi Matt, I know the last time we spoke I told you I was seeing someone else, and that we haven’t spoken for months, but actually I think I might love you, do you mind if I turn up on your doorstep to check?’

Of course not. Besides, if he was thinking about changing his mind, it was probably best not to know. In the end I sent the simple:

Miranda

Sorry about my friends. I know it’s weird that I’m coming to see you but I’m looking forward to it. M x.

One single, solitary kiss. Nothing else. And you would not believe the angst that involved, not to mention waiting for his reply.

His reply didn’t come for hours, and I wondered whether he’d spent as long as I had composing it. It was as straightforward as mine.

Matt

I’m looking forward to it too. See you in a couple of days. Matt x

I analysed it for ages, wondering what the single kiss meant, whether he really was looking forward to it; whether the fact he didn’t say anything else meant he thought I was an idiot for doing this. Honestly, I felt like one of my students, worrying about whether a boy fancies her or not. My life has become ridiculous.

There’s no time to worry about anything else though, because the next forty-eight hours are a whirlwind. As well as paying for my flight and three nights in a hotel (‘I hope you won’t need it, but just in case,’ she said when she sent me the details), Kirstie has also booked me in for a haircut and colour, a manicure and pedicure and a bikini wax. ‘We can’t have you all hairy and dishevelled when you’re trying to sweep a sexy man off his feet, can we?’ she said.

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