Page 32 of If I Never Met You

‘Yep.’ Jamie looked at an expensively solid silver watch again. ‘What’s hedoing?’ He pressed the buzzer again. ‘Hi. Still here.’

‘I just said hold on!’

‘I don’t know if time’s moving differently down there but up here it’s been ten minutes?’

Moments ago, Laurie had resented Jamie’s intrusion, now she felt quite fortunate to be able to delegate this problem to the most entitled and pushy of the firm’s advocates.

‘Yeah, well, get used to more of that.’ Mick said.

‘What?’ Jamie’s brow furrowed as he leaned on his forearm and jabbed the intercom again. ‘Speak to us, Mick.’

‘Right … the maintenance company say it’s going to be an hour. Hang tight.’

Jamie’s brow furrowed further and Laurie gasped.

‘Sorry, that sounded like you said an HOUR?’ Jamie said.

Pause. Crackle. ‘At least. Sorry. How many of you are there?’

‘Two of us. Myself and …’ Jamie looked over.

Laurie couldn’t help but grin as a stricken blankness spread across his face.

‘Laura?!’ he said triumphantly, palms up, ahow did I do?to play up the fact he hadn’t been sure.

‘Laurie,’ Laurie corrected, with a smile.

‘Laurie. I knew that! Sorry. Long week.’

‘Do a crossword together,’ Mick said, audibly chortling.

‘Ha fuckin har,’ Jamie said, after letting the button go. ‘An hour?!’

He looked at his watch. ‘Fuck’s sake. Gone seven?’ Jamie fiddled with his phone. ‘No coverage at all?! Fucking HELL.’

This aspect of captivity was obviously a major sting for Jamie Carter, whereas Laurie wouldn’t have thought about whether she could get online or call anyone for another five minutes at least. Maybe Dan was right, maybe she had become insular and boring. Should she be trying to Snapchat with dog-ears filters, from inside this Faraday cage?

Jamie yanked his coat sleeve up, checked the time again – although in the last minute, Laurie was guessing it had only moved forward by a minute – and jabbed at his phone again and then waggled it. ‘What about you?’

Laurie rifled her own iPhone out of her bag and peered at the screen. It was covered in spidery cracks and fractures. It looked like she felt. She shook her head.

‘Absolutely wonderful,’ Jamie said, looking at his phone again, in disgust. He threw his umbrella and briefcase down and pressed the button.

‘Hi, Mick. Would you do me a favour, would you call my date for tonight and tell her I’m trapped in a lift?’

Laurie laughed out loud, a real belly laugh.

‘What?’ Mick barked.

‘Call her. And say I’m trapped in a lift, put our date back an hour.’

Wait, he wasserious?

‘OK, here’s her number …’ Jamie read it from his iPhone. ‘O – 7 – 9 – 1 …’

Jamie took his coat off as he did so, shucking it over his shoulders in a manner that somehow felt showy even though he was simply taking a coat off.

‘What?’ he said, glancing over, unbuttoning a cuff and rolling a sleeve up.

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