Page 98 of Did My Love Life Shrink in the Wash?
‘Something I said?’ he gestures.
‘I was trying to matchmake you.’
‘And obviously underselling the assets.’
The hat flattens out his fringe so he looks like he has a bowl haircut underneath. I’m not sure how I’d sell that asset. Sean has been busy organising everyone’s drinks, sorting the gin from the dark ales.
‘Soooo…’ I say.
‘Grace is back. I saw that on Facebook. Don’t think your mum took enough photos,’ he says.
‘Two days ago. It’s everything. She looks amazing.’
‘Tell her I said hello.’
‘I will.’
‘And what about Alicia?’ I ask. We’ve spoken briefly about that whole ordeal at my party. I mainly told him off for going at it with the head teacher on my sister’s bed but I never got all the details. Like how did you woo her in that burger costume? Did you ladder your tights? He swings his head around to check she’s not in the vicinity.
‘Yeah. File under anecdotes to tell in the pub one day.’
‘Good. I won’t tell you who to date but I don’t think you two are meant to be.’
He nods in agreement. ‘She’s a proper wild one though. She wanted me to call her names and stuff.’
‘Like?’ I whisper.
‘You don’t want to know. The burger costume added layers to the conversation. A lot of talk about meat and special sauce.’
‘Ewwwww!’ I cup my hands over my ears but can still see Alicia standing at the bar. She always comes straight from work so she’s in her usual shift dress and sensible heels. It’s always the quiet ones.
‘That was quite a party though, eh?’ Sean adds.
I nod. I’ve almost blocked it out of mind given it was the event that triggered Will’s leaving. I haven’t told Sean anything either. In fact, I’ve purposely kept all of it pretty quiet from him and from social media.
‘Also, I have news. It’s been coming and I should have told you, but I’m off soon,’ he tells me.
‘Off?’
‘This was before your party, but Alicia entered me into some exchange programme with a school in Toronto. I’ll be there for six months.’
‘Sean! That’s pretty epic, mate. From when?’
‘After Christmas.’
I’m still grinning from cheek to cheek at such an exciting opportunity for him, but I’ll admit, knowing that he won’t be there when I return to Griffin Road makes my heart twinge.
‘Please tell me you’re not taking your mum with you,’ I joke.
‘She’s currently teaching me how to iron. It’s painful.’
‘It’s good. You need this.’
‘I know. I think you having a baby made me re-think what I should be doing with my life too. Live a little, eh?’
I lean over and hug him. God, I’ll miss him. Who will make my crap coffee now and help me joke about the art department shouting at us for stealing all their pencils? He’s my work husband. This now feels like some temporary separation of sorts and I immediately think of the other separation in my life. Of Will. With Sean and Will gone, Joe will be the only man in my life.
‘So, you, me and Will need to go out. My mum’s doing a farewell dinner first week of January.’
