Page 33 of Just Do It
‘Exactly. And from little acorns, mighty oaks grow.’
Colette breathed out a sigh and took a sip of black coffee before placing the cup back delicately on the saucer. ‘I don’t think this is a good idea. Trying to set people up can backfire.’
‘You’ve tried to set me up! With Finn!’
She shrugged my argument away. ‘That’s different. You have history.’
‘A few hours is not history. Besides, like I said, Bella is interested. I’m not.’
‘Is that true, though?’
‘Yes!’
‘But you said you had a nice evening when you left the bar.’
‘He saw me home and had a drink. He wasn’t even there that long.’
‘But it was nice?’
‘It was nice. But friends is all we can ever be. All I can afford it to be at this point in time.’
‘And, if by some miracle, Finn goes for it, how are you going to feel seeing them together?’
‘Fantastic. Everything will be back to normal. I get Bella doing her work again and I don’t have to think about Finn.’
‘So you admit you do think about him?’ Colette’s expertly shaped right eyebrow lifted a fraction in question.
‘You know what I mean.’
‘I do, Lizzie. That’s what I’m worried about.’
‘Hi.’ I greeted Finn with a cheery smile and pointed to the mug of coffee steaming gently on his desk. ‘Good weekend?’
He glanced at it, and then me before shrugging off his jacket and hanging it on the antique coat hook in my office along withthe hard hat he was regulated to wear on site. ‘What are you up to?’
I put all my effort into appearing taken aback and a little wounded but Finn wasn’t buying.
‘Thanks for the coffee, and yeah, not a bad weekend. Quiet.’
It occurred to me that I didn’t really know what Finn filled his time with outside work. Maybe there was something there that could tie in with a hobby of Bella’s.
‘What did you do?’
He sipped the coffee and switched on the laptop he’d now unloaded from his rucksack, waiting for it to boot up. ‘A bit of DIY for my parents, went for a walk, went to the gym.’ He gave a shrug. ‘Stuff.’
It didn’t surprise me that the gym featured in his pastimes. His certainly wasn’t one of those memberships that had been taken out with all good intentions and then left to gather dust after a few visits. From what I’d seen, and could see even in his everyday clothes, Finn got full value for money from his.
Nothing he’d said gave me a clue to link to Bella but I was still determined that this was a good plan, despite Colette’s misgivings and Finn’s previous comment that she was too young for him. Age was just a number after all, right? But I had to be clever about this. Finn was a man who knew his own mind so – as with most men – I had to make him think that it was all his own idea…
Bella, true to form, wandered into the office although today there was more of a strut to her walk which only accentuated her slim hips and the never-ending legs which were encased in tights and trendy, tweed shorts, topped off with a white shirt and heeled ankle boots. All of which made her about level with Finn’s shoulder should he be standing and me with her boobs. I remained at my desk but hadn’t missed Finn glance up as she entered and reply to her casual morning greeting. Interesting. Itseemed like Bella had changed her tactics. Maybe this was going to be easier than I thought…
‘Hi, Lizzie. How was your weekend?’
‘Yeah OK. Quiet, thanks. Yours?’
‘Busy! But great. Didn’t you try out that new bar on Friday? How was it?’
Finn’s gaze lifted momentarily before focusing back on his work.
