Page 85 of The Second Chance Bus Stop
I pull her close to me.
‘I’m sorry,’ I mumble into the top of her head.
‘And I’m sorry for not making it clearer that I wasin,’ she says.
‘Sophia, I should have never left the way I did. I should have talked to you, explained, given you a chance to react and figured out a way to handle this. Together.’
‘And now? Are you sure that we can figure it out?’ she asks. ‘I can’t cook, I won’t move anywhere because I have my business, and I still don’t like kissing.’
I laugh.
‘Soph, I’m going to suggest something.’
‘What?’
‘That maybe we give kissing a try.’
I can see her mind spinning.
‘Look, I think that’s what you want too. And it’s just something to try. Soph?’
I trace her jaw and the soft lines of her face with my fingers and feel her lean into my touch.
‘Yes. We should... try.’
‘Sophia, I know you. How your lips twitch and how you need to breathe deep breaths whenever something makes you emotional. But if I got this wrong and you don’t want to, then that’s okay too.’
‘Okay let’s try. Let’s get it over with,’ she says.
‘Wow, you’re such a romantic.’
‘Sorry. I mean...’
What does she mean?
I take a small step closer. ‘I’ll talk you through it so you know what to expect, okay?’
‘Okay.’
‘First, I’m going to brush my lips against yours.’
I let my lips brush against hers, and the widest, sweetest tingle goes down my spine. And she stays, doesn’t move her face away.
‘What do you think?’ I ask as we pull away from each other.
‘This is what I think, Blade. Mouths contain eighty million bacteria but I guess it’s like with E-numbers or the aspartame in a Diet Coke. The minute you taste it, you forget it’s bad for you because it tastes so sweet.’
I smile as I pull her into a big hug.
‘That is the most Sophia of all answers.’
A couple of hours later I’m sitting with Mum, Sophia and Zara. There are Hobnobs, Digestives (today’s small choice for Mum) and teas, and we let her take her time. I asked Mum if she wanted to be the one to open the safe in Sweden, that it could be arranged with a video call if nothing else, but it’s a firm and very conclusive no.
‘I couldn’t even pick up the call. Let Sophia do it. It was her uncle.’
Sophia will go and collect it as soon as she arrives back in Sweden.
‘Did he ever talk about a lost love? About a girlfriend?’ I ask Sophia now.
