Page 34 of The Love of Our Lives
The inside is pretty plush in comparison to the rather sterile walk down – all dark floorboards and leather backs, red velvet seats and a bar filled with bottles of all shapes and sizes.
As soon as we walk in, one long arm shoots up in the corner, and we head towards Sven and who I assume is Charlie. She’d be pretty hard to miss anyway – with her head of blonde curls, scarlet-red lipstick and a retro polka dot dress. She looks more like someone from the fifties than this era. She beams widely and stands as we approach, but then something else passes over her face. Some trace of surprise and something which definitely looks like recognition.
Shit.
‘Emily, isn’t it?’ She smiles, and pulls me into a hug.
My mind goes crazy as she holds me – how does she know Emily? And how much does she know about her? And then an image hits me: Charlie’s smiling face in some sort of hall, her mouth talking as she passes me a yellow flyer – the one I found in the flat.
‘I was so jealous when Sven said he’d met you already,’ Charlie says, stepping back now, grinning, ‘but turns out, I already have. I haven’t seen you at my classes yet though, I don’t think?’
‘Oh, well, I’ve been really busy with some stuff,’ I say, feeling a bit odd suddenly, dizzy, because it was like a memory I’ve never had just came back to me. Just like with that photo of Simon and the receipt Fran mentioned.
‘Hello again,’ Sven says to me now, ‘good to see you,’ and he embraces me before clapping Adam on the back.
‘Right, what can I get you guys to drink?’ Adam says, rubbing his hands from the cold.
‘I’ll take a beer, thanks,’ Sven says.
‘The fizziest water you’ve got,’ Charlie beams.
Adam touches my arm, and I blink up at him. ‘Emily, you?’
‘Um, I’ll take a small red, please.’
‘Great, I’ll see if they’ve got any of that Malbec we enjoyed the other night,’ he says and heads off.
As I sit down, I can feel Sven and Charlie both looking at me expectedly. I still feel confused about the strange memories and then renewed panic takes over as I remember Charlie knows at least something I don’t know about Emily. I just need to figure out what.
‘So,’ Charlie says, ‘this is certainly a very small world. Are you settling in OK? Did you ever find the Close you were looking for?’
I pause, my heart thumping. ‘The Close?’
She smiles encouragingly but looks vaguely confused too. ‘Yeah, the little alleyways on the Royal Mile? You said you were looking for one in particular. God, what was it called again?’
As she wracks her brain, I try to pull the conversation back to Charlie’s first question. ‘I’m settling in OK,’ I say, ‘and I’m sorry I’ve not been to the classes yet . . . I’ve just had a lot on recently.’
‘All good things, I hope?’ Sven says.
‘Oh, yes,’ I reply, ‘a bit of photography and running and stuff. I’ll need to come back for one of your pizzas sometime.’
‘Absolutely do.’
Charlie’s eyes widen. ‘Dunbar, that’s it!’
‘I’m sorry?’ I say, my heart thumping.
‘Dunbar.’ She grins, and claps her hands together. ‘That was the name of the Close you were looking for. God, that was killing me.’
‘Oh yes, right,’ I play along. ‘So it was.’
Charlie leans in now. ‘So tell me, what exactly is the deal with you and Adam?’
‘Oh, nothing at all,’ I say quickly, relieved to be changing the topic of conversation. ‘We’re just good friends.’
Charlie smiles mischievously at me. ‘OK.’
Sven rolls his eyes fondly. ‘You’ll have to excuse my Charlie here; she gets a little excited about stuff like this.’
