Page 105 of Meet Me in Berlin

I casually glance around as she walks away, curious to see who she’s with. She places the glass on the table and bends down to give them a brief kiss on the mouth, then heads back my way. She doesn’t like to waste time being single, our Eva.

She sits and watches me a moment, nervously fiddling with her earring. ‘I … I wanted to say sorry.’

My brows shoot up. That I did not expect.

She takes a deep breath. ‘I shouldn’t have done that to you or to Holly. I was hurt and angry, and it wasn’t fair.’ She pauses. ‘On either of you.’

I stare at her, stunned. This is the Eva I first met. More genuine, more compassionate. All my defences crumble. ‘Thanks, Eva. That means a lot.’

I give myself a moment before I speak again, because I’m a little choked up. ‘It was my fault. I put you in that situation and I hate myself for it. I’m sorry too.’ I shake my head. ‘I handled the whole thing so badly. I should’ve talked to you well before, told you how I felt, but I was so confused.’ I take a breath. ‘I did love you. Marriage just wasn’t what I wanted, and I let it go on too long before I figured it out.’

She nods, a flicker of sadness in her eyes. ‘Some things aren’t meant to be, I guess, and it leaves the door open for other stuff, right?’

‘That’s one way to look at it. I’m sorry your parents spent so much money on the wedding, and that I haven’t seen them again?—’

She cuts me off with a wave of her hand. ‘Don’t worry. Mum got most of it back. And, um…’ She fiddles with her necklace. ‘They gave me a good talking-to. Told me to grow up and apologise to you.’

That makes me smile. ‘I always liked them.’

‘They liked you too. Thought you were good for me.’

‘We were good for each other once.’

‘Until we weren’t,’ she says.

I nod my agreement. ‘Until we weren’t.’

‘It sounds like no one can compete with Holly anyway. You would’ve kept searching until you found her.’

I peer into the amber liquid of my glass, shame nipping at me. Not only over what I did to Eva, but what I said to her in the pub the other week.

‘Sorry. That came out wrong,’ she says. ‘I just meant, you obviously have a strong connection with her, and she would’ve always been in your head no matter what. She’s stunning by the way, not bland at all. I was jealous.’

Her eyes flit around nervously, and I feel sick that I’ve put her in this position. ‘I shouldn’t have said that stuff to you in the pub. I didn’t mean you weren’t all those things. You are.’

She swallows and glances away. ‘Forget it. I pushed you.’ She takes a breath and composes herself. ‘Anyway, Holly isn’t here with you, and you look miserable. I take it things didn’t work out?’

I shake my head. ‘She had to go home.’ My voice wobbles. ‘Her mum had a stroke and then she died of a heart attack not long after Holly got back, so we haven’t had a chance to talk much.’

Eva’s face falls. ‘Oh, that’s really sad. I’m sorry to hear that.’

‘Yeah.’ I point behind me, keen to change topic. ‘You’ve met someone, then?’

She looks over my shoulder, her face turning dreamy. ‘Her name’s Frankie.’

‘You happy?’

She smiles. ‘I am, and I haven’t popped the question yet, so all good.’

I grin. ‘Haven’t seen you splash it all over Insta.’

‘No, Frankie’s not into it much, and well, neither am I these days.’

‘You’re good at it, no reason not to keep going with the influencer stuff,’ I say.

‘Yeah, but for now I’m doing some other things for a bit. That make-up line thing I’ve been working on came through, so…’

Her own make-up line has been a long-standing dream, and I’m genuinely happy for her. ‘Eva, that’s brilliant. Good for you.’

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