Page 76 of Date with Destiny

It’s neither.

‘Shawn?’ I blink in surprise and he pulls a face at my expression.

‘Well, excuuuuse me,’ he says, barrelling past me and into the hallway. ‘Clearly you were hoping for someone else.’ He glances around. ‘Is Toni upstairs?’

‘Oh, right, yes, I think so,’ I tell him, distracted. I hadn’t prepared myself to deal with Shawn’s angry energy.

‘I’m here!’ Toni sings from the top of the stairs, coming down to greet Shawn. She takes me in. ‘You look lovely! Going out?’

‘No, actually.’ I debate explaining. On the one hand, I’d love to have Toni with me for this. If Myfanwy needs to see me being brave, my little sister needs me tomodelbravery for her. On the other hand, Shawn’s here, ugh. Either way though, they deserve a warning, since they’re here. I gulp. ‘Um, Mikey’s on his way over.’

They both explode, shouting at me over each other calling him various names and asking what I’m thinking.

‘I know!’ I try to be heard over the exasperated din. ‘I’m not giving him another chance or anything!’ They finally shut up, so I continue, ‘I’ve tricked him into coming overhere so I can confront him about his behaviour.’ I pause, puffing out my chest. ‘I’m being strong!’

From behind me, my favourite voice in the world pipes up. ‘It’s about bloody time.’

‘Myfe!’ I whirl around on my heel, taking in my lovely friend’s lovely face. ‘You came.’

‘Too right,’ she snorts. ‘That screengrab was beyond tantalizing.’

‘Thank you,’ I say, my bottom lip wobbling.

Sonali trails in right behind Myfanwy, shutting the door behind her. ‘Oh, Gin, don’t start crying, we’re here for fun!’

‘Sonali,’ I say joyfully as she gathers me up into a big hug. ‘I’m so happy to see you both.’

‘Same,’ Sonali says into my hair. ‘Myfe’s been a right fucking misery the last couple of weeks. I kept telling her to message you but she said you needed some time to get your head together and figure things out.’

I pull away. ‘She was right,’ I admit, glancing at my best friend. ‘She’s always bloody right – it’s annoying.’ Sonali nods, rolling her eyes.

Myfanwy looks delighted by this. ‘Right, where do you want us?’ She looks around. ‘I assume he’ll be here any minute.’

At this, the doorbell goes and I glance around at Myfanwy, Sonali, Toni and Shawn’s expectant faces.

‘Let’s do this,’ I say, with grim determination, suddenly not the least bit afraid. I open the door to find a grinning Mikey on the step. The grin fades as he glimpses the groupgathered around me, and for a second I think he will make a run for it. Instead, his face crumples in on itself.

‘I’m sorry, I’m really fucking sorry,’ he whispers hoarsely. ‘I know I shouldn’t do it but I can’t help myself. Please don’t tell Janine. Please, I’m really sorry.’

He looks genuinely contrite, broken down by his own stupid male ego.

But instead of comforting him and saying it’s all OK – which every awkward, introverted instinct is telling me to do – I pull myself up to my full height.

‘You’re a cheating prick,’ I tell him, as he hangs his head. ‘It’s despicable and I can’t believe I nearly slept with you. I deserve better and so does your girlfriend.’

He’s silent for a minute. ‘I know,’ he admits in a low voice. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘I don’t accept,’ I say with feeling. ‘Have you done it before? To Janine, I mean. Have you cheated on her before?’ He answers this by staring at the ground. ‘I guess that’s a yes.’ I sigh with disgust. ‘Well, you’re going to tell her, Mikey.’

He looks up at this, horror on his face. ‘No, I can’t! She—’

‘—deserves to know,’ I finish for him. ‘And she deserves to dump your egomaniac necrotizing arse in the bin where you belong.’ His eyes are wild, thinking this over, trying to find a solution.

Myfanwy leans in. ‘I’ll be checking your Instagram and Twitter and Facebook, and if it looks like you haven’t told her in the next week, I’ll be messaging her.’

Shawn steps forward. ‘And you can try blocking all of us, but we’ll just keep popping up with new accounts.’

Sonali pulls out her phone. ‘Look at that, Janine’s account is public on Instagram, and now I follow her!’

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