Page 50 of Wish You Once More
“You’ll never guess who I had lunch with today.” I crunched on a prawn cracker, really they were my favourite part of the meal.
“Harry?” suggested Callie, her eyes never leaving the screen. One of the contestants was a rugby player she fancied; despite the fact she’d never been anywhere near a rugby field in her life.
“No, not this time.”
She reeled off a few more names and I shook my head at each one. “Then who? Because clearly I’m not able to guess.” She pointed at the table. “Can I have the last spring roll?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Come on, Bree, I’m bored of the guessing game now.”
“Melinda King.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? I didn’t think you two were that close anymore.”
“We’re not.”
“So why lunch?”
Briefly, I filled her in on the coincidence of being in the same cafe, then told her what Melinda had told me about Mat and Jonny’s dad and how she wanted me to try and get in touch with Mat.
She placed her plate on the edge of the coffee table. “When Mat stayed the other night, did you two…?”
I nodded, sucking in my lower lip.
“So when he dashed out of here in the early hours, he was going to see his dad?”
“Yup.”
Callie picked up her beer bottle and took a few sips before saying anything. “Which means I should kind of forgive him for shagging you and then running off?”
I scoffed. “He had good reason, although I didn’t know that until today. I thought he’d run out on me again.”
“Are you going to get in contact?”
“I’ve tried. His phone seems to be permanently off. I’ve had no replies to my voicemail or my messages.”
She shrugged. “Guess there’s no way of getting hold of him then.”
“Quick, James is up with the judges.” I pointed at the television, drawing Callie’s attention to her rugby hero. It gave me a couple more minutes to work out how I was going to tell her what I planned to do.
“Ugh, have you seen his arms?” she swooned. “Can you imagine if he swept you off your feet?” She fanned herself with her free hand, eyes fixed firmly on the hunk. “Now, what are you doing with Mat?”
“I’m going to Manchester tomorrow.” I rushed the words out. Like ripping a plaster off, there seemed no point in prolonging the agony.
“Right.” Callie nodded slowly, not saying anything else straight away. After a minute, she asked, “How do you know where he lives? It’s not as if he’ll be in the same place you stayed in at uni.”
This was something I’d already thought of. Thanks to Darla, I knew exactly what Mat’s address was. The Dart Sundowner paid all of their bands via contracts, but I knew they’d had to do something special for The JRs and Mat. Which meant that in the payments folder of the committee’s online shared storage area was a payment confirmation slip with all his details. I’d already checked that afternoon to make sure it wasn’t made out to the record company or showed his brother’s address. It wasn’t. I’d already checked out the address on Google maps - a fancy looking apartment block in the centre of the city. It was definitely a step up from the shabby place we’d previously shared with Scott.
“I’ve got the address.” I neglected to tell Callie how I’d found it. She wouldn’t approve of my slightly underhand methods. She would have preferred me to ask Melinda and Jonny. But if I did, it would mean I’d have to tell them of my plan. If it didn’t work out and Mat told me to fuck off, no-one, except Callie, would be any the wiser.
“Are you sure about this, Bree? I mean, the two of you didn’t speak for four years, then he comes back for one weekend and you’ve dropped your knickers for him. What about the woman who was with him?”
“She’s no-one.”
“You’re not going to turn up there and find them all cosy and together?”
I doubted it very much. “No. At least I don’t think so.”
