Page 42 of The Fallback

‘So?’ said Rosie defensively.

‘So? You never eat bacon sandwiches unless—’ Mitch gasped ‘—unless you’re hungover!’ He gaped at her in mock horror. ‘Rosie! You got drunk last night!’ He could barely keep the glee from his voice. ‘Now youhaveto tell me everything.’ He swivelled around so he was now looking straight at her.

‘I do get drunk,’ she said.

‘You don’t!’ he responded with excitement. ‘Which means it was either amazing,’ he grinned, ‘or terrible.’ He suddenly gripped her arm in concern.

‘I’ve told you it was fine,’ she said through gritted teeth. She realised she was running out of options. ‘It was lovely, OK? He was great, really great. But then…’

‘Go on,’ Mitch said eagerly. ‘But then, what?’

‘Well, then he kissed me and it wasn’t great.’

Mitch groaned. ‘Oh no, bad breath? A terrible kisser?’ He shook his head sadly. ‘But never mind,’ he said immediately brightening up, ‘we can work on that.’

So many images ran through Rosie’s mind. She didn't want to ask him to expand on that idea. ‘No, I’m sure he was a great kisser, it’s just that I don’t think I really fancy him.’

Mitch stared at her blankly, ‘But I thought you said he was great.’

‘He is,’ Rosie said adamantly.

‘So, what’s wrong with––’ Mitch started and for a moment she was sure he was going to finish his sentence with ‘you’ but he stopped himself just in time.

‘I just don’t think there was chemistry,’ she said sadly.

‘Oh,’ Mitch was briefly speechless. ‘I’m really sorry, Rosie.’ He stroked her arm in what she found to be a very distracting manner. ‘But you had a fun time, which shows that not all online dates are terrible. And maybe next time youwillfancy them,’ he said encouragingly.

Rosie stared across the park, grateful for her sunglasses, which stopped Mitch seeing her eyes brimming with tears – again. Part of her just wanted to tell him why she didn’t fancy Graham, why online dating was so hard, but the rest of her feared her confession would ruin both her day and their friendship. She marvelled at his optimism that shewouldmeet someone one day, his sunny outlook was both wonderful and painful and she didn’t want to risk not having it in her life.

‘How are things with Jenny?’ she asked tightly, trying to shake the tears from her voice.

She immediately regretted asking. If she was worried that confessing her feelings might push Mitch away she feared more the effect that the mere mention of Jenny’s name had on him. It was like a light lit up inside his face; he was practically glowing. She felt sick, and it wasn’t because of the hangover.

‘She met my mum yesterday,’ Mitch confessed.

‘She met your mum?!’ Rosie exploded. ‘What, when? How?’

‘Well, on FaceTime.’ Mitch was lost with a dreamy expression on his face.

At least it wasn’t in person, Rosie thought, but still. Mitch’s mum loved Rosie, and the idea that Jenny might be about to usurp Rosie’s position in his mum’s affections was unthinkable.

‘Isn’t that a little soon?’ Rosie asked sharply.

‘It wasn’t planned.’ Mitch snapped out of his reverie. ‘Mum FaceTimed and Jenny happened to be over. It just felt right, I guess.’ He shrugged as if introducing his new girlfriend to his mother was an everyday occurrence. It really wasn’t. Rosie couldn’t remember him introducing anyone apart from her to his mother. She started to shiver.

‘Are you OK?’ Mitch asked, a look of concern on his face. ‘You really are suffering today, aren’t you?’

Rosie forced herself to laugh, ‘Yeah, I need to remember that I cannot handle more than two drinks.’

A beep distracted him, and Mitch fumbled in his pocket for his phone. ‘No, not me. Must have been yours.’ He carried on staring at his phone and then realised Rosie hadn’t moved.

‘Rosie,’ he said. ‘Rosie?’

‘Sorry, what?’ Rosie had been staring into space.

‘I think that was your phone,’ he said, pointing at her bag. ‘It wasn’t mine,’ he said. ‘I’d been hoping it was a reply from Jenny. You see, I sent her––’

‘Yes, yes, OK,’ Rosie said loudly, fumbling in her bag desperate to stop him from telling her whatever it was he had sent to Jenny. She really didn't need to hear any more.

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