Page 59 of Wish You Were Here
‘I hope you and Jess sort things out, then maybe we can go on a double date.’
‘I wouldn’t get your hopes up. She can be quite stubborn.’
‘Then I’ll just have to show her how much I’m ready for this.’
‘Are you ready for this?’
Brad has his enormous arms wrapped around me, and he looks deep into my eyes. All thoughts of how different we are, and if this is really going to work long-term vanish when he looks at me like this. It’s quite powerful.
‘I am, babe,’ he says, and then he kisses me long and hard, and if we weren’t in his mates’ backyard, I’m sure it would lead to something more. It’s one of those kisses.
‘Me too, boo,’ I reply, and looks at me curiously, but doesn’t say anything about boo, so I think I am in the clear. Babe and boo it is!
Eight hours later, after dinner and sex – not at the same location – while Brad is in the bedroom, falling asleep, I am in his living room, about to FaceTime Ben. It has been a strangeday, from having a good chinwag with Mum this morning, arranging to meet Jess, to cold plunging with Brad, which has somehow brought us closer together as a couple – with two new adorable nicknames. The strangest thing recently has been that as my life seems to be getting better in Sydney, my relationship with Ben feels like it is drifting away. I really want to talk to him again, but when I FaceTime him, he doesn’t pick up. I try again, and still, he doesn’t pick up. Instead, I am forced to message him.
I tried FaceTiming, but you didn’t answer. Hopefully, we can speak soon. I miss you. Saso xx
25
Ben
I have called an emergency meeting at the pub. It felt like the only thing to do given the recent turn of events and everything that transpired after Simon’s video release party. I am in complete and utter turmoil, so I have called a summit with my nearest and dearest in the hope that they might be able to shed some light on my current predicament. It is also the night of the weekly pub quiz. So it is that I find myself in a pub in Clapham on a wet, dreary and rather gloomy night with Simon, Abigail, Will, Poppy and Hugh – or ‘Smarty Pints’ as we are called for the quiz. We are sitting around a table, each with a glass of something alcoholic – except Hugh who has a meeting in the morning and has gone with the rather controversial choice of a tomato juice – and I am explaining my conundrum, while we also participate in the quiz.
‘Let me get this straight,’ says Will. ‘Jemma gave you an ultimatum. It’s either you stop FaceTiming with Saskia or lose her?’
‘That’s right,’ I reply.
‘And you said you’d stop FaceTiming with Saskia?’
‘Yes.’
‘Right,’ says Will, a perplexed expression on his face. ‘So, what’s the problem?’
‘Yes, brother dearest, why the dramatic text?’ says Poppy, reaching down, picking up her phone and reading out the message I sent them all verbatim. ‘PUB TONIGHT! URGENT! I NEED YOUR HELP! EVERYTHING IS FUCKED! I mean, seriously, all caps?’
‘I had to convey a sense of urgency.’
‘It was a bit much,’ says Will.
‘I only use all caps for important events or big announcements,’ says Hugh, before he starts chuckling. ‘Although there was Monty’s stag. All caps fest!’
‘Question number seventeen!’ says the quizmaster Ricky, who is sitting on a chair by the bar, a microphone in one hand and a pint of lager in the other. ‘What is the currency of Denmark? I’ll repeat that. What is the currency of Denmark?’
‘Do they have the euro?’ asks Simon.
‘I know they’re in the EU,’ says Poppy.
‘They don’t,’ says Will. ‘I was there last year. They have the Danish Krone.’
‘Are you sure?’ says Hugh.
‘One hundred per cent,’ says Will.
‘Okay, writing it down,’ says Poppy, who is in charge of the answer sheet.
‘Back to Ben and his sense of urgency,’ says Abigail. ‘Jemma asked you to stop FaceTiming with Saskia, which was totally justified, and you agreed. What’s the problem?’
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ I say to the group, and they all look at me with baffled expressions on their faces, so clearly, I need to explain. ‘I don’t want to stop FaceTiming with Saskia.’
