Page 37 of The Fallback

‘Riiiight,’ Rosie said, wondering what to do next. Why wasn’t he inviting her up? ‘Erm, can I come up, then?’

‘Oh, right, sure,’ Mitch’s voice replied. ‘Just a sec.’

It was more than a second that Rosie waited for the buzz of the door lock to sound before she could push her way through and into the building. While she stood waiting for the lift she fiddled nervously with the buttons on her coat. There was definitely something going on and she was about to find out what it was.

The door to his flat was ajar when she stepped out of the lift onto his floor, so he’d either propped it open when he had buzzed her in…or… someone had just left Mitch's apartment. Rosie’s mind flitted back to the girl she had just seen leaving the building. The one who had looked at her so curiously. Rosie pushed open the door and walked into the flat she knew so well. There was an unfamiliar smell in the air, the scent of a perfume that was definitely not Mitch’s. The parts of the jigsaw started to fall into place.

Mitch walked into the hallway just as Rosie realised what was going on.

‘Hey!’ he said warmly pulling her into a hug. Rosie stood stonily fixed in place.

‘Were you really worried?’ he said cheekily and turned back into the sitting room. Rosie followed him.

‘Yes!’ she said. ‘I haven’t heard from you since Friday, you haven’t answered any of my messagesandyou weren’t at work today,’ she said accusingly. She noticed that Mitch had the grace to look a little ashamed.

‘Er, yes,’ he said, blushing. She hated it when he blushed, it made her want to reach out and feel the heat in his cheek. ‘I took an impromptu day off.’

‘Right,’ she said, crossing her arms. ‘But that doesn’t explain why you haven’t messaged me back since Friday.’

Mitch looked confused. ‘Haven’t I?’ He bent and picked his phone up from the coffee table. ‘Shit. Sorry, Rosie, I didn’t realise.’

Rosie felt herself growing even more confused and angry. She glanced around the room. There were two coffee mugs on the table beside where Mitch’s phone had been. A blanket which was normally draped artfully over the end of his mid-century sofa was lying pooled on the floor. Looking over the bar which marked off the kitchen area, she could see two plates, two sets of cutlery, two wine glasses.Thiswas why he had been ignoring her, he wasn’t ill or hurt, he wasn’t lying depressed after his last break-up, he had been with someone,allweekend by the look of it.

‘So how come?’ she finally said. ‘How come you haven't messaged me back? When was the last time we didn’t speak for an entire weekend?’

‘I, erm, I’m not sure?’ Mitch sounded baffled by her tone.

‘Not ever, Mitch,’ she said forcefully. ‘Wealwaystalk, we ALWAYS message each other. I was worried about you.’ She was veering between shouting and crying. ‘And I shouldn’t have been, because there was nothing wrong with you. You weren’t sick, you weren’t hurt, you weren’t even sat at home nursing a broken heart, you were with someoneallweekend, weren’t you?’

Mitch looked shocked at her outburst. He hesitated, obviously wondering what the best way to respond was. Eventually he said, ‘Yes?’ rather warily. ‘I met her Friday night and we just kind of clicked.’ Despite himself Mitch’s eyes lit up. Rosie looked at him, a mixture of hurt and anger on her face.

‘She’s called Jenny and she’s great. We went out for dinner and then drinks, and then she came back here and we spent Saturday together and then…’ He tailed off, finally seeing the fury in Rosie’s eyes.

‘I just met her,’ she practically spat. ‘Short, blonde, just like the last one, and the one before that, oh and the…should I go on?’ Rosie surprised even herself with the vehemence of her words. ‘But she’s obviously notgreatenough to introduce me to, or perhaps it’s the other way around?’

Mitch looked hurt. ‘I thought it was too early to introduce her to my friends.’

‘But not too early to blow all your friends off and skip work for?’ Rosie retorted.

‘Hang on, I didn’t skip work,’ Mitch said, suddenly grappling for his position in this argument. ‘I decided to take the day off.’

‘And didn’t tell me?’ Rosie hated herself for having said that, she knew she was starting to sound like the jealous girlfriend. Mitch’s expression changed from puzzlement to anger.

‘I’m sorry,’ he started. ‘I didn’t realise I had to run all my plans past you first.’

Rosie said nothing but stared at him mutinously. There was a pause.

Mitch softened and reached out to her ‘I’m really sorry, Rosie. I didn’t mean to worry you.’ She jerked her arm out of his reach.

‘Yeah, well you did,’ she replied.

Mitch sat down on the sofa, his uncharacteristic and momentary flash of anger dissipating immediately. He pushed his hair back from his forehead and looked up at her.

‘Rosie, I’m sorry, OK? I got carried away. I just didn’t think.’

Rosie watched him warily before she sat down, too, across from him in the tastefully reupholstered armchair that they had chosen together one weekend away in the Cotswolds. She re-folded her arms across her chest defensively. She knew this wasn’t about him not replying to her messages, it was about the fact he had spent the weekend with someone else, and she knew she was in danger of saying something she might regret, but she didn’t know how to wrestle all her feelings into submission. She felt like a child, overwhelmed to the point of tantrum.

Mitch continued to watch her with his sincere blue eyes and despite everything, she felt herself begin to thaw. Mitch sensed it, too.

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