Page 48 of The Truth About You and Me
‘How’s your dad, Jack? Loved his last book. Stayed up till the early hours to finish it.’
I’m concentrating on the yoke beneath my fingers, but the conversation surprises me. Jack’s dad’s a writer?
‘He’s good, thanks.’ Jack’s voice is flippant.
‘You read any of his stuff, Maggie?’
‘I…’
‘Maggie is more of a film buff,’ Jack intervenes.
‘Really? What’s your favourite?’
‘Um, I like anything really, but particularly romance films. I love a good horror too though. I’d recommend some but I’m finding it hard to reply and concentrate on not killing us all.’ My hand shakes and I feel the slight movement of the plane, all of it under my control.
Greg lets out a small laugh. ‘You’re doing great. Let’s turn right now, gentle movements. You’ll feel us bank slightly. That’s it, keep her steady. Perfect! You’re a natural! Completely in control.’
His words snag on my thoughts. There is a pull inside, an anchoring, and I grip the stick more firmly. I can’t remember the last time I felt like I was in the driving seat of my own life. My eyes find Jack’s briefly as I pass the controls back to Greg. And just like that, I’m a passenger again.
I look at Jack’s side profile against the backdrop of the sky, his high cheekbones, dark hair and the Mediterranean glow of his skin. There are a few white clouds scudding the horizon behind him. I take a mental snapshot – of Jack, of this moment – before it all crashes to the ground.
We almost kissed.
I want more than friendship with Jack.
Tess was right. Date number five. It’s time. I need to tell him the truth.
Or I need to end it.
22
JACK
The look on Maggie’s face as she flew the plane will stay with me for a long time. On the drive home, we talk about the flight, about Greg, about everything other thanthatmoment. I park the car outside my shop and turn off the engine.
‘Hungry?’ I ask as the silence in the car pushes down on us.
‘I’m always hungry.’ She smiles but it’s guarded.
‘Pizza?’ I ask.
‘I, actually… I think I might turn in early tonight. It’s been’ – she looks up at me, green eyes almost jade in the setting sunlight – ‘a pretty big day.’
I’ve been trying to deny how I feel when she looks at me like that, like she sees the truth beneath the façade.
‘But a good day?’
‘Definitely.’ She smiles. ‘Definitely a good day.’
She opens the door and climbs out.
The physical distance feels symbolic. She’s about a metre away but it feels further somehow. The open door is between us, like a pause at the end of a chapter that I can’t read.
I’ve waited too long, or moved too soon. But in that moment, as she stepped towards me, I was so sure she felt the same. That she wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss her.
‘I guess we should talk?’ I suggest. ‘About earlier?—’
‘Listen, Jack.’ She turns to me. ‘I’m not sure I can do… this.’
