Page 25 of Try Hard
Well, Eve was lying on the floor. A giant Old English Sheepdog was lying on top of her, looking at her like she was the best thing he’d ever seen.
Oh, I’m sorry,I sent back, fighting against a smile,I didn’t realise your attention was already claimed for the evening. Send my regards to Mr. Hercules and I’ll see you another time.
She replied quickly. “Oh, no, you don’t. You texted me. I got your number. You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
I wouldn’t want to cause Hercules any undue distress.
“He’ll be just fine. So long as I’m stroking him, he’s fine with sharing. Unless you’ve turned into a small, fluffy dog since I last saw you. Then, he’d have something to say, but I think we’ll be fine.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. It came easier around her too, like she was so ready with her amusement that it was impossible not to join her in it. Plus, she was funny. Always had been.
I chewed my lip, hesitating just a second longer to reply this time.Well, okay, if you’re sure.
“I am,” she replied immediately, followed by a second, voice message. “So, what should I save your number as?”
My name, probably. Unless you’ve got some odd system where you save everyone under a random name just to make calling and texting more of an adventure?
“Ha. Ha. Interestingly, that’s not how I handle phone management.”
Probably for the best.
“No, I mean… do you want to be Fia or Ophelia? Because Alistair corrected me, but you just sent a message saying ‘Ophelia’.”
Oh.
I scrunched my face up, considering. I had done that.Well, most people call me Fia.
“But?” she fired back, and something warmed inside me at the fact that she’d even heard thebut…
But… you can call me Ophelia, if you like.
“Would you prefer that?” There was something amused in her voice, almost giddy.
I wasn’t sure how to admit I would prefer it. If I said I wanted her to use my full name, was I required to tell her why? And, if I did that, she probably wouldn’t be using it for very long anyway.
Sure,I replied, praying she wouldn’t ask.
She did, of course. In a roundabout way.
“You’re not required to say yes, you know?” she said gently. “You can tell me which you prefer and I’ll happily go with it. I wouldn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable just because I spent twenty-five years thinking of you as Ophelia.”
I groaned. She was too nice and I was going to have to tell her.You can call me Ophelia. I like it when you do.
“Because nobody does anymore?” Her smile was so apparent in her voice. How did she even do that?
Sure. We can say that.
She laughed openly in her response. “That means that’s not the reason. But I can see you’re not quite ready to tell me. So… maybe one day I’ll guess it and then you’ll owe me that Tizer.”
I laughed, breathing a sigh of relief that she wasn’t going to push it.Sure.And I wondered if she could tell just from a one-word text that I was amused too.
“Great!” It sounded like she could. “Should I call you Fia around other people?”
No.I sent the message quickly, too quick for reality to hit me in the face. But, once it was delivered, reality found me.Well, maybe? Around my parents, probably. Otherwise I’ll have to… explain.
“Okay. And we wouldn’t want them figuring out it’s because the way I pronounce the letter ‘o’ amuses you, would we?”
I knew that was her first guess, her first shot at winning the Tizer. I also knew she’d gone for something she considered purposely ridiculous, something that would put me at ease.
