Page 86 of Date with Destiny

‘I’m so sorry!’ I whisper urgently as Myfanwy blinks hard. ‘Shall we go to the loo?’

She nods, swallowing hard as she tries not to cry.

No one notices us slipping away, as the party – Sonali included – all crowd around the star of the show, Toni, shouting their congratulations at her as she beams at the fuss. It should’ve been Sonali at the centre there, showing off all her mad, stupid, sweet, beautiful rings.

In the loo, Myfanwy lets go, bursting into tears.

‘Well, that’s that fucked,’ she declares through snot.

‘It’s not fucked!’ I protest, looking through the cubicles for toilet roll. There are only wads of paper on the soaked floor, so I offer her my sleeve.

‘What am I going to do?’ she wails. ‘It’s all ruined.’

I stroke her hair. ‘It’s not ruined, Myfe, you just need to come up with a new plan for when to do it.’

She harumphs. ‘I can’t exactly throw another big party for her, can I?’ Her voice is exasperated as she cries into her hand.

I take in my best friend, crying in a loo over what should be a magical night for her and Sonali. And I make a decision.

‘Actually, Myfe, I think this is a good thing,’ I say decisively, and she sniffs loudly, looking up at me with eyes narrowed.

‘What?’

I stand up a little straighter. ‘I should’ve said something before, but I don’t know if proposing in front of everyone is the right thing.’

She stares at me. ‘But that was the plan. We agreed.’

I cock my head. ‘I know, but I don’t know if Sonali is really a public proposal kind of person…’

‘What?’ Myfanwy says again, looking outraged. ‘But you said it was a good idea!’

‘I didn’t want to interfere,’ I say lamely.

‘It wouldn’t have been interfering!’ Myfanwy cries. ‘You were part of Project Proposal from the start. I literallyasked youto interfere. Not just as a best friend, but as a bloody expert in proposals! It’s basically your day job to help people like me! I wanted you to tell me if I was doing anythingstupid because I knew I was too close to the whole thing to see it clearly! That’s why I wanted you on board, to let me know if I was going in the wrong direction!’ She sighs. ‘So you think I should ask her one-on-one, in private?’

I nod sheepishly. ‘I really do. I think that would mean a lot more to her.’

She sighs again. ‘Is the rest of it wrong, too?’

‘Oh my god,no!’ I tell her hurriedly. ‘The rest is perfect and wonderful and I know Sonali will completely love it. Every one of those stories and rings are exactly right. But I do think she would prefer it if it was just the two of you. Much as I’d love to watch.’

She considers this, letting my words sink in. After a minute, she gives me a small smile. ‘I could record it?’ she offers, and I think about this. I’m the professional, after all –the expert– and she wants my genuine opinion.

‘Yeah,’ I nod, considering Sonali’s reaction to this. ‘I think she’d like that. She’d like to have a record of it. And I definitely would like to see that record.’

‘The only question left now then,’ she sighs, ‘iswhento do it.’

We’re about to start brainstorming when Toni appears at the door. She looks out of breath, eyes widening as she spots me.

‘Daniel’s here,’ she says.

‘Fuck,’ I say, because who the hellforgetsthat they invited their ex-fiancé to a party?

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

‘You invited Daniel?’ Myfanwy is shaking her head, her mouth gaping at this news. ‘I knew you’d been texting a bit, but have you been seeing each other again?’

I shake my head. ‘No, not at all. Not since that mushrooms night.’ I grimace, remembering again how weird that was. ‘He’s mentioned wanting to talk a couple of times, but he’s also been quite good about not putting pressure on me.’ I pause. ‘I don’t know why I haven’t had The Chat with him yet…’ I shrug. ‘My only excuse is that he does genuinely seem quite different these days. I thought maybe it would actually be quite nice to see him and catch up here. One-on-one seemed a bit too intense; this way there’s no pressure.’

---