Page 64 of The Fallback

Rosie looked uncomfortable. ‘It was ages ago. Right when we first moved in together.’ She said nothing more.

‘And?’ pressed Jasmine. ‘You have to tell me everything now!’

‘Honestly it was nothing, almost nothing,’ she said. ‘We kissed. Once,’ she added firmly.

‘That’s it?’ said Jasmine, with disappointment.

‘That’s it,’ confirmed Rosie.

‘Nothing else?’ Jasmine queried.

‘Nothing else,’ Rosie confirmed again and then realising that Jasmine was going to keep questioning her she continued, ‘We’d been out, we were both drunk, we ended up kissing. I thought it was probably a bad idea to be kissing my new housemate, but in the end, he fell asleep anyway and I went to bed. The next day he pretended nothing had happened and we’ve never mentioned it since.’

‘Never?’ said Jasmine in disbelief.

Rosie shook her head. ‘Never,’ she said. ‘He obviously either completely regretted it and decided not to mention it, or he was so drunk he didn’t remember it.’

‘Or,’ proposed Jasmine, ‘the factyounever mentioned it made him think you weren’t interested.’

Rosie raised an eyebrow at Jasmine. ‘I don’t think so,’ she said firmly.

There was a long silence. ‘Oh, maybe you’re right.’ Jasmine looked thoughtful. ‘I know this won’t be what you want to hear, but given how close you two are, I’d have thought he might have tried it on with you again before now, if he was really interested.’

Rosie felt the sting of Jasmine’s assessment. She was right, of course, and Rosie had thought the same thing in the past, but it still hurt to hear Jasmine say it out loud. They both drank the rest of their tea in silence, Rosie wondering how many more people she was going to confess her feelings about Mitch to in the next few days. At this rate she might as well tell him, too.

‘I’m sorry, Rosie, this really sucks. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make you meet someone amazing to take your mind off him.’

‘Yeah, me, too,’ Rosie replied. ‘Where’s your magic wand when you need it?’

There was a long pause.

‘When he first proposed it, Nadia suggested I go ahead with the plan anyway, although she doesn’t know the latest drama.’

‘Nadia knows?’ Jasmine said in rather a high-pitched voice. Rosie looked awkward, she knew Jasmine wouldn’t take kindly to Nadia knowing Rosie’s secrets, especially not before Jasmine knew them.

‘Yes, she knew about our plan,’ Rosie said carefully.

‘Did she know about you being in love with him?’ demanded Jasmine.

‘Well, yes, but she guessed, I didn’t actually tell her,’ Rosie protested. ‘She doesn’t know about our argument, though!’ she added, eagerly, keen to give Jasmine an exclusive on one part of the story.

Jasmine looked huffily at Rosie, ‘Fine, but I’m not sure why you would tell her before you told me,’ she said sulkily.

Rosie laughed. ‘Jas, you sound like a child. Honestly it doesn’t matter who knew what before whom. I’m asking foryouradvice now, not Nadia’s.’

‘Well, OK,’ Jasmine said reluctantly. ‘I think we need to get you over Mitch and on with your life. You know what they say about getting over someone…’

Rosie rolled her eyes. ‘Jasmine! I can’t even find someone I want to go on a date with, let alone find someone who will replace Mitch. I just want him back in my life as a friend, Jas. That’s all I’m asking for.’

‘Hmm, devil’s advocate here, but I’m not sure that’s the best option. I don’t think you’re going to get on with your life if he’s still in it.’

Rosie felt herself go cold. This definitely wasn’t what she wanted to hear. Where was Nadia and her loopy theories when you needed her?

Jasmine reached across the island to squeeze Rosie’s hand. ‘We’ll work this out, don’t worry.’

They heard the door click and seconds later Chris walked into the kitchen holding a small shopping bag. Rosie glanced at her watch and then back at the small bag Chris was holding and came to the conclusion that given the amount of time he had been gone he had managed to do very little shopping.

‘Rosie,’ he said as he bent to kiss the top of Jasmine’s head. ‘I wasn’t expecting you.’ He eyed her and his wife warily, unsure of what he had walked in on.

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