Page 90 of The Love Hack

‘I’m glad that was mutual, then,’ he said. Then we laughed, and he reached across for my hand and squeezed it.

‘Cabin crew, arm the doors and cross-check,’ came the crackly announcement over the Tannoy.

While we were talking, the last of the passengers must have been taking their seats. But not all of them. From further up towards the front of the plane, I heard a familiar voice.

‘I’m sorry, you can’t possibly seat me in the exit row. You see, I’m pregnant.’

THIRTY-FIVE

Seconds later, a flustered-looking flight attendant hurried over, with my sister striding in her wake. Amelie was wearing a full-length silk dress that I remembered was by The Vampire’s Wife – she’d agonised over its purchase before her first date with Zack. Hooked over her arm was a squashy shell-pink leather bag; she had no other luggage. Her hair was straightened, her make-up flawless. Her oversized dark glasses were perched on her head and she exuded an air of, ‘Why the hell didn’t you upgrade me to business class when I couldn’t sit in the emergency exit row?’

‘There’s a space right here, ma’am,’ said the flight attendant. ‘Can I assist with your bag? If you wouldn’t mind taking a seat, we’re scheduled to take off in two minutes.’

Amelie thanked her graciously, gathered her skirt around her and prepared to sit down. Then she clocked me and her whole face changed. The air of superiority vanished and she squeaked, ‘Lucy!’ and bent down to hug me so quickly her sunglasses flew off and landed in my lap.

I couldn’t say a word. I just pulled her close, squeezing her as hard as I could because I could barely believe she was real. My sister, who I’d felt so guilty about abandoning to her fate with Zack but been unable to persuade to leave, was here. Right here, on an aircraft that would be landing in London in six hours. And she was sitting right next to me, and the cabin doors were locked, so there was no way she could escape and return to Zack.

‘You’re here,’ I muttered, once Amelie had sat down and fastened her seatbelt and I’d regained the power of speech. ‘Are you… I mean, is this just a…?’

‘I’m coming home,’ she said.

‘Home for, like, ever?’ I asked hesitantly.

‘Well, yes. Although given that home’s going to have to be Mum and Dad’s until I find a job and a place to live, I hope it won’t be that forever.’

Then she noticed Ross, who was sitting silently next to me, half-watching our exchange while pretending to look out of the window at the tarmac taxiing slowly past.

‘Hold on,’ she said. ‘I know you. You’re Bryony’s bloke.’

‘Uh… I was,’ Ross said. ‘But not any more. Now I’m Lucy’s bloke, if she’ll have me, that is.’

‘What?’ Amelie squeaked. ‘You came to New York to break up one relationship and ended up starting another, Luce? That’s some going.’

‘I… we… Ross and me…’ I stammered. I wasn’t sure whether my sister was still pissed off with me about having spied on Zack, and if she wasn’t, whether she’d start being pissed off all over again for me having nicked her friend’s boyfriend.

But part of me didn’t care. She could be as pissed off as she liked – she’d come round eventually. For now, what mattered was that she was here and Zack wasn’t.

Unless – a horrible thought struck me – he was here, basking in the luxury of business or first class at the front of the plane, with Amelie relegated to cattle class along with all the rest of us.

Surely that wasn’t possible, though? Apart from anything else, my sister would never have stood for it.

‘Ross and I will explain everything later,’ I said firmly. ‘But we need to know what’s going on with you. And where’s Zack?’

‘Zack,’ Amelie said, ‘is at work. Or at the apartment. Or in bed with Brooke frigging MacIntryre. Or possibly having a swim in the lake in Central Park, and ideally being eaten by Pumpkinseed Sunfish. I don’t know where he is and I don’t care.’

‘You mean you’ve?—

’Left him,’ she confirmed. ‘As of this afternoon. Right after you left, I gave my head a good wobble and I got changed and went to his office to talk to him. And that’s when we had The Row. You know, the one where you call each other names you wouldn’t even think of your own worst enemy and you know there’s no coming back from it?’

I nodded. Although it was horrible to see Amelie’s pain, part of me would have really loved to have been there to hear exactly what she’d said to Zack and see how small he must have looked in the face of my sister’s rage.

‘And that wasn’t all. I remembered what you said, Luce, when we were on that bench on the High Line. I thought, if you’d put what Zack did behind you to make me happy, I needed to do my bit and make myself happy, too. I realised I wanted to be with my family, and my family wasn’t Zack. So I booked a flight and packed some things and got a cab to the airport. And here I am. Three doughnuts’ll do that to you. I recommend it.’

Ross said, ‘The seatbelt sign just switched off. If you two would like a bit of privacy I can take a walk?’

I glanced at Amelie. I didn’t want Ross to move – his presence there next to me felt stable and reassuring. But this was her personal crisis – if she didn’t want a relative stranger knowing all the details of what had happened, that was up to her.

‘No need for that,’ she said. ‘If you and Luce are an item, you’re part of the family, and you’d better get used to my dirty laundry. And there’ll be plenty of that, especially once the baby’s here.’

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