Page 34 of One Night With You

As the bus picked up speed,

So I wanted to wish you good day.

A little ‘read at 12:04’ comes up underneath my message, and three dots to signify she’s typing.

Hey there Nic,

I’m impressed with your pic,

Those shoes are truly stunning.

It’s Candice’s birthday next week,

And not to stick in my beak,

But I wanted to know if you’re coming?

There’s a party? At Maple Avenue? And she’s going to be there? I call Jackson.

‘Jumping Jack,’ I say, using the nickname he hates when he says hello. ‘How do?’

‘All right, mate,’ he says. ‘Just on my way to a lunch date,as it goes. The girl from work finally agreed to go out with me. Only took me six months of grafting!’

‘Timing is everything,’ I say. ‘I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.’

‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘Plus she thought I was a dick for the first five months because of some stupid joke I made in a welcome meeting. Been trying to undo the damage all this time. She’s seeing the light though. Just can’t mess it up today, can I?’

‘You’ll do great,’ I assure him. ‘You know you’re a top bloke.’

‘Yeah,’ he says, a small flicker of self-doubt in his voice. ‘But it’s whether she thinks that, innit? Anyway, what you on?’

‘Rumours of a party next week, mate. Did my invite get lost in the post?’

‘Candice’s? Yeah, it’s next weekend. How did you know?’

‘Ruby.’

‘Oh,’ he says. ‘Well, I was waiting to ask Ruby if it was okay to invite you – not being funny, but she might not want some dude she shagged at her big Maple Avenue reunion. But if she’s the one who’s told you about it …’

‘Yeah, she texted me about it just now.’

‘Texting, is it? I thought you weren’t staying in touch?’

I shrug, but obviously he can’t hear that down the phone. ‘Occasionally,’ I tell him, making a mental note of how she obviously hasn’t mentioned our communications to one of her best friends. ‘So I’m invited? Obvs I don’t wanna intrude.’

‘’Course you’re invited, mate! In fact, can you come early to help set up? Ruby won’t be down until late because she’s a tight-arse student who would only buy the cheapest ticket, so you can blow up balloons, make some drinks, that sort of stuff?’

‘Sure,’ I say. ‘Yeah. Can I invite my brother too? He’s good value at a party.’

‘Yeah, no bother. You off seeing Zola now? She said you were meeting up. Great you finally asked her out.’

‘Other way round, actually,’ I explain.

‘I wouldn’t expect anything less from her,’ reflects Jackson. ‘Naturallysheaskedyouout.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It doesn’t mean anything. That’s just very Zola. She’s assertive. Knows what she wants.’

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