Page 109 of Fling

‘But I don’t want other women, I want Tara back,’ Colin said, breaking the balls and sending two of them flying into the pockets.

‘Well, for the record, I still can’t believe Tara left you because you punched that creep. You looked like a champ in that video!’

‘Thank you! And everyone in the comments agrees I was a hero.’

‘Exactly! And I looked pretty heroic too, backing you up like that,’ Rory said, hitting a ball into one of the pockets.

‘You didn’t lift a finger!’ Colin snapped.

‘It’s called being a hype-man, Colin. I didn’t interfere because I wanted to let you have your moment,’ Rory said unconvincingly.

‘Yeah . . . right,’ Colin laughed.

‘But my point is, there are hundreds of women on the internet talking about how heroic you are. Now is not the time for a pity-party on my couch. Now is the time to put yourself back out there. The timing couldn’t be better for you!’

‘Hmm . . . maybe you’re right,’ Colin said. He hadn’t really thought of it like that before. If it was his fifteen minutes of fame, perhaps he should make the most of it.

‘I’m always right,’ Rory said. ‘I mean, why haven’t you downloaded Fling again? Now that Tara is gone, there’s nothing stopping you getting with Claire.’

‘Claire doesn’t want me either,’ Colin sighed. ‘She stood me up twice. If she wanted me, she’d have met me by now.’

‘When’s the last time you chatted with her?’

‘When I was in the hotel room, she messaged me and said she wasn’t coming to Elixir. So I deleted Fling. I haven’t been on it since. Cold turkey.’

‘No offence, but cold turkey isn’t a good look on you,’ Rory said, looking at his wiry beard and pyjamas. ‘At the very least, download Fling again and see what new matches you have. Even for an ego boost.’

‘I’m not going to get a better match than one hundred per cent, Rory. Claire was the only woman apart from Tara who really made me feel something.’

‘Then tell her you’re the hot-shot everyone is talking about online! You don’t need to hide your identity any more. Once she sees that video, she’ll be dying to meet you. And not just for a drink either.’

Colin was officially out of excuses. He didn’t feel that Claire truly wanted him the way he wanted her. But perhaps it was worth a shot. There was nothing stopping him sending a face picture now. He was heartbroken, but maybe putting his heart on his sleeve was the step towards healing it.

After everything that had happened, what did he have to lose?

‘OK, fine. I’ll download Fling,’ Colin conceded.

‘Thatta boy!’

Colin took out his phone and downloaded the app once again. When he hit the icon, he was greeted with the log-in page. He entered the name JACK.

‘What was the password you used again?’ Colin asked.

‘RORY-IS-HUNG, all caps and hyphenated.’ Rory smirked.

Colin rolled his eyes and logged into his account. When the homepage opened, he almost dropped the phone in shock. He had a massive amount of messages from Claire waiting for him. The most recent messages appeared first.

Claire: Hi Jack, I know you probably hate me and you might not even see this message. But I want you to know how sorry I am for standing you up again

I don’t deserve a third chance, I know that

But I’ll be at Dún Laoghaire Harbour tomorrow at 3 p.m.

Halfway down the West Pier, there’s a quiet walkway

I know there’s probably no chance you’ll show up. But I’ll be there, Jack

I promise I’ll be there x

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