Page 57 of The Fallback

‘Are you sure you don’t have us down on your list?’ he asked once again. ‘Because look,’ he held his phone up to her, ‘I’ve got the email right here.’

The hostess politely smiled at the people in the queue behind Rosie and Mitch. Her smile said, ‘please excuse the delay while I deal with these morons, I will have them killed later’. Rosie shuddered slightly, she hated making a scene, she’d much rather have just left and found somewhere else to eat. But Mitch was determined.

The hostess leaned forward to study Mitch’s phone and then took it from him – with one hand she swiped at the screen, with the other made a small but important adjustment to her asymmetrical bob. Without thinking, Rosie’s hand went to her hair, too, subconsciously wondering what she would look like with half her head shaved. Definitely not as hot as this hostess, that was for sure.

A small smirk played on the girl’s lips. ‘Sir,’ she said, ‘your reservation is fornextyear.’

‘What?’ exclaimed Mitch, grabbing the phone back from her.

Rosie caught the girl’s eye and tried not to laugh. Seeing Mitch flummoxed like this was both hilarious and adorable. He ran his hand through his hair in a state of distressed confusion.

‘Would you mind stepping to the side so I can seat people who have a reservation forthisyear?’ she asked somewhat snarkily.

Rosie grabbed Mitch’s arm. ‘Come on,’ she whispered, ‘let’s get out of here.’

Mitch allowed himself to be pulled out onto Dean Street and by the time the cold night air hit him he had regained his composure and mustered his ire.

‘Why didn’t you check?’

‘I’m sorry, what?’ Rosie asked turning in surprise.

‘I sent you the confirmation email. Why didn’t you check the year?’

Rosie laughed, thinking he was joking before quickly realising he wasn’t. ‘Mitch? Seriously? I read the date and put it in my diary, I didn’t check theyear!’

‘Well, you should have done,’ he said mutinously and turned to look in the direction of Soho Square.

Rosie wished, not for the first time, that she could read his mind. It was just dinner. Yes, it was to celebrate his promotion but, really, did it matter? It was the two of them, why did it matter where they celebrated?

‘Mitch?’ Rosie put a hand on his arm. He jerked it away and continued to ignore her. ‘Come on,’ she nudged him gently. ‘At least we know where we’ll be in a year’s time?’

Her attempt to make a joke seemed to thaw him a little.

‘I just wanted tonight to be special,’ he said, continuing to stare in the opposite direction from Rosie but his body language was softening.

‘I know,’ Rosie said consolingly, putting her hand back on his arm. ‘But we can celebrate anywhere. Come on, let’s go find somewhere for a drink.’

Mitch allowed himself to be pulled towards Oxford Street. ‘I’m sorry, Rosie,’ he said taking her hand. ‘I just had other plans for tonight, I really wanted to take you somewhere special.’

That fight had been ridiculous yet brief, and they had made up over drinks and burgers in a grotty pub the other side of Oxford Street where the draft beer was so undrinkable Mitch had relented for once and drunk wine with Rosie. Afterwards, as they wandered the streets of Soho laughing, they had both admitted that they had probably had far more fun drinking in the pub than they would have had in a stuffy, upmarket restaurant.

NOW

Rosie felt her eyes welling up as she recalled telling Mitch that they would be back at that restaurant in a year’s time. It was probably almost a year since then and Rosie didn’t dare to hope that Mitch would remember and invite her. He’d probably take Jenny, she thought bitterly. In fact, Rosie wondered whether Mitch would ever forgive her enough to spend even just an evening in a grotty pub with her again.

Rosie’s safety goggles were now misted up and with her lab gloves on she was finding it hard to remove them to wipe her eyes, so her tears collected on the bottom rim of her goggles and the fog began rising higher and higher. It was a good thing no one was there to witness the state she was in.

Usually, Rosie managed to lose herself in the lab, concentrating carefully on each of her actions, the focus being so intense to ensure that no mistakes were made. But that morning she found herself repeating standard steps as she forgot to keep track of where she was in the process. By lunch she had only managed a tiny portion of what she needed to get done and Rachel was not going to be pleased. Frustrated, Rosie shrugged off her lab coat and safety equipment and went to shut herself away in her office.

The light on her office phone was flashing, alerting her to an answerphone message which she knew she ought to listen to, but she reallyreallycouldn’t be bothered. Instead, she put her head down on her desk, always grateful that she had the space to do so, unlike Nadia, who would presumably have to put her head down on a pile of lab reports – if she ever allowed herself to get into the kind of state where she would need to stick her head down on her desk and ignore the world, which Rosie doubted.

Rosie closed her eyes only for her office phone to immediately begin ringing. Without lifting her head, she pulled the receiver to her ear and gingerly balanced it there. She said nothing, hoping that perhaps it was a spam call. Eventually a voice on the other end spoke.

‘Hello? Rosie? Are you there?’

Rosie sat upright. Her brother never rang her, he certainly never rang her atwork. She couldn’t remember the last time she had actuallyspokento him on the phone. They’d occasionally exchange brief text messages to discuss practicalities but most of their mutual plans were arranged between Rosie and Jasmine. Jasmine’s name elicited a jolt of guilt in Rosie. She’d read her messages, she knew Jasmine wanted to talk but Rosie hadn’t called her back. still hadn’t returned her messages.

‘Chris?’ she said, ‘Is everything alright?’

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