Page 86 of Meet Me in Berlin

She looks away again, her jaw tight, then takes a sip of her drink and places it calmly on the table. ‘Where’s this new girlfriend of yours, then? I haven’t seen you with her.’

I narrow my eyes. ‘What do you mean you haven’t seen me with her? Have you been following me?’

She gives a casual shrug. ‘I’ve been following you on socials and about the place. You’ve not been with anyone.’

‘Don’t do that, please.’

‘Well, where is she? There’s only one Holly following you on Instagram, so I assume that’s her.’

I stiffen. ‘You better not have messaged her.’ My mind quickly computes the last contact with Holly. It was this morning and she seemed like herself. Actually, she sounded even happier than she normally does.

‘And why would that be a problem?’ Eva says.

Now my jaw tightens. ‘Because us splitting up has nothing to do with Holly.’

‘You know…’ Eva says, fiddling with the stem of her glass. ‘I’m surprised she was okay with shagging someone who was supposed to be getting married in a few weeks. What sort of person does that? She looks quite sweet and innocent in her photos. Doesn’t really have a wedding-wrecker vibe about her.’

I shake my head and stand to leave. ‘I can’t be doing with this, Eva.’

‘Unless you didn’t tell her.’

I take one step and freeze.

‘You didn’t, did you? She doesn’t know what a piece of work you are.’

I turn to face her. ‘What we talked about has nothing to do with you.’

‘Oh.’ She leans forward so she’s inches from my face, green eyes blazing. ‘I think my fiancée sleeping with someone else has everything to do with me.’

I let out a frustrated sigh, then sit back down and take a gulp of ale. ‘I struggled with how to tell you because I didn’t want to hurt you. And by the time I felt I could tell you, I met Holly.’

‘So, go on, then. Where is she?’

‘She’s still in Berlin. She’s coming to London tomorrow.’

‘Aw.’ She gives an exaggerated pout. ‘Isn’t that sweet.’

I look out the window to the grey sky.

‘She must be having a lovely time on her travels from Australia.’

I whip to face her. ‘Stay out of Holly’s socials, Eva, for fuck’s sake.’

‘How could you possibly meet up with someone from Australia in Berlin by coincidence? How could that happen?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘It matters to me, and I want to know. You owe me that.’

I bristle but I feel like I do owe her an explanation, so I answer. ‘Fine. We met in Berlin when we were exchange students at university. We lost touch, and we ran into each other again.’

‘In Berlin? You just happened to both be there at the same time? Her from Australia and you from London?’

‘Yes.’

Her eyes flick to my upper arm and she jabs my tattoo hard. ‘That makes sense now.’

‘Ow,’ I say, rubbing my arm. ‘I never lied about that. I told you it was about someone in my past.’

---