Page 115 of The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love

‘I don’t want you to feel worse. I don’t even want you to feel bad. So why don’t we go back to the small talk. How did you and Zach meet?’

‘Oz and I introduced the two of them,’ Carlos answers for her, handing us two wooden spoons. ‘That’s what we do. We find Ashleigh dates. They get along great. Don’t you?’

‘Sure.’

I can’t work out if its embarrassment flooding her face or something else. ‘You don’t sound too certain? I guess we’ll find out. If he turns up.’

A spark flashes in her eyes and her mouth opens but no sound comes out and then we’re both concentrating again on Oz.

‘Fill your pan halfway with hot water and set it on the hotplate. Take the bowl and set it inside carefully and slowly heat, stirring the ingredients occasionally.’

‘Tell me more about Carlos and Oz finding you dates,’ I whisper as I stare at the two pans nestled side-by-side on the dual hotplate, ‘because maybe they should do this as part of their business. They could call it the Love Bakery.’

‘Don’t even suggest it,’ Ashleigh whispers back while Oz talks about different qualities of chocolate. ‘Unless you’re ready for dates from hell.’

Interesting. ‘But they found Zach for you, right?’

‘True. But be careful what you wish for.’

‘Zach isn’t what you wished for?’

She smiles as if he is but I don’t quite believe her. Or am I looking for signs that aren’t there? As her friend I want to make sure he’s a good guy for her. ‘What did you ask for?’ I press.

She lays her hand over mine so that I stir the ingredients in the bowl more softly. Our eyes meet for a nano-second before she’s withdrawing her hand and with a shrug surprises the hell out of me by answering, ‘I wanted someone to hang out with on the weekends.’

For some reason her answer makes me extremely happy, until the door opens and in walks Zach.

* * *

Thirty minutes later as I try and put the stupid baking parchment into the stupid tin, I spy Zach leaning in to give Ashleigh a quick kiss.

Someone should tell him PDAs are passe. Or maybe he thinks he’s staking his claim or something? Either way, treating someone like they’re your property is not on.

Oz takes pity on me and comes over to help so that I can finally pour the brownie mix into the tin. Feeling irritable I say, ‘You know, these bake-dates don’t have to be romantic per se.’

‘What? Don’t listen to him, Oz, it’s going really well,’ Ashleigh weighs in.

I guess I should be grateful she’s come up for air because if she and Zach are going to spend the next twenty-five minutes that the brownies are in the oven, kissing, then my irritability levels are going to rise considerably. ‘I just think that if you make it too romantic some people might get carried away’—I stare pointedly at Zach—‘making others feel uncomfortable.’

‘But think of first dates – ooh, and Valentine’s – Oscars should totally capitalise on that,’ she replies.

‘For every Valentine’s though, there’s Galentine’s Day,’ I counter. ‘I’m sure friends would love learning how to bake. Not everything has to be made romantic.’

‘You could do wedding anniversaries,’ Zach chimes in, making me think no one’s getting my point.

‘Like I said, think outside the “romance” box. Maybe go for birthday parties.’

‘It’s important to be able to scale-up and expand on an already successful format,’ Carlos says, ‘but let’s see how successful this is first.’

‘Business school looks so good on you,’ Oz says, beaming at Carlos before saying to us, ‘Talk is good while your brownies are in the oven but you’re supposed to be working out how you want to decorate them when they come out.’

‘Hey, so I have a majorly important question.’ Zach pauses for dramatic affect and then says, ‘When do we get to lick the spoon or the bowl?’

‘Licking?’ Ashleigh shakes her head vehemently. ‘There will be no licking,’ she mumbles, turning beetroot red so that I know she’s thinking about when we went out for ice cream.

‘Spoil sport,’ I find myself saying. ‘And so unromantic when, if used properly, a tongue can wreak havoc.’

Ashleigh’s eyes look like they’re about to pop out of her head and I have to tell you I’m now feeling a lot less irritable. Right up until Carlos gives me a shrewd look and says with a hint of warning, ‘Maybe that’s enough with the helpful suggestions.’

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