Page 52 of The Fallback

‘Jenny, of course!’ Mitch said in exasperation.

‘Well, I haven’t really spoken to her yet, but she seems nice enough.’ There was a pause. ‘Is it still going well then?’ Rosie didn’t want to ask the question but she had to know; perhaps bringing her out with his friends would make Mitch see Jenny in a different light. But Rosie knew this was a futile hope, she could tell by the expression on Mitch’s face how smitten he was.

‘It’s going great!’ he said enthusiastically. ‘Better than great actually. I can’t believe how different this feels to any other relationship.’

Rosie felt the alcohol churn in her stomach again.

‘That’s wonderful,’ she managed to say through gritted teeth as they edged their way closer to the bar.

‘I met her school friends last night,’ Mitch said dreamily.

‘You did?’ Rosie said incredulously.

‘Yeah, they’re a really close bunch and she said it was important to her that I meet them soon.’ Rosie stared at him. ‘Apparently they all loved me, so I passed that test!’

Of course you did, thought Rosie. Apart from Ben, Rosie wasn’t sure she had ever met someone who didn’t love Mitch.

‘You’ll be meeting her family next!’ she said with a fake laugh.

‘I am!’ beamed Mitch.

‘What? I was joking!’ she said, aghast.

‘It’s her dad’s birthday on Sunday and they’re having a party. She said she didn’t want to go without me.’ He shrugged as if meeting the family was nothing.

‘Mitch,’ Rosie said seriously. ‘When was the last time you met someone’s family?’

Mitch considered this for a moment, staring hard at the ceiling. ‘I don’t remember,’ he eventually replied.

Rosie watched him, then after a while she said, ‘You don’t think you might be moving a bit quickly?’

‘What?’ he asked. ‘No! I really like her, Rosie. She’s funny and sweet and I think it’s really nice that she wants me to meet her friends and family.’ He paused. ‘Why? Don’t you think it’s a good idea?’

He gave her a searching look. Rosie considered her reply, they were almost at the front of the queue now.

‘I just don’t want to see you get hurt,’ she eventually replied, breaking eye contact. She realised this was a pathetic thing to say, there was no way Mitch was the one that was going to get hurt in this scenario.

‘You’re so sweet, Rosie, thanks for looking out for me.’ Mitch put his arm around her and hugged her tight. ‘But I’ll be fine, this time it’s different.’

Rosie let herself relax in Mitch’s embrace. It felt good to be hugged by him, even if it was while he told her about how well things were going with his new girlfriend. Maybe the meeting with the parents would go badly wrong, maybe he would discover things about Jenny that he didn’t like. Maybe…

‘What do you want?’

Rosie’s reverie was broken by their arrival at the front of the queue. Mitch was looking at her questioningly, waiting for her decision. For a brief moment she stared into his blue eyes and wished he wasn’t asking about her choice of drink before replying, ‘A vodka and tonic please.’

Rosie hadn’t quite heard what Jenny’s drink was but it looked disgustingly sweet and fizzy. It also came with a straw and an umbrella. Despite herself, this was another good reason not to like Jenny. Rosie shook herself and took a deep breath, giving herself the internal talking-to that she so needed to get her through the rest of the evening. A few more minutes of polite conversation and then she could go. Twenty minutes tops.

But Mitch had other plans. He’d left Jenny talking to some of his colleagues at one of the tables outside. There was one seat left and Rosie thought this might be her way out, surely Mitch would take it so he could sit next to Jenny, and Rosie could hang about awkwardly on the edge of the group for a few minutes and then quickly make her excuses to leave. But Rosie had underestimated Mitch’s chivalrous nature that evening.

‘Here, Rosie, you sit here next to Jenny.’ Mitch hustled some of his colleagues along to make a space for Rosie.

‘I should go and say hello to the rest of the gang,’ he said, gesticulating deeper into the garden behind him. ‘Jen, you’ll be OK if I leave you with Rosie for a while, won’t you?’

‘Of course!’ Jenny replied enthusiastically. ‘It will give us a chance to get to know each other.’

Rosie shuddered slightly and watched as Mitch leaned in to kiss Jenny.

‘I know you two are going to love each other!’ he said as he headed off.

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