Page 16 of Fundamentals in Flirting

“I’ll have a burger and chips then,” I said, knowing that I could easily get them to put this in a box for me to take away and eat on the hoof if I got called out.

“Good choice. I’ll have the same.”

I had expected an uncomfortable silence while we waited for the waitress to take our food order but Teddy seemed relaxed, and my usual twitching and discomfort around people began to ebb away. We chatted a bit about our experiences at university – me at Bristol, him at Edinburgh – and how things had been since we’d left school. He seemed impressed that I’d got a PhD and pursued an academic fellowship, but I decided to leave out the disastrous last few months. It was still pretty raw and humiliating and I was trying not to think about Jonathan on a regular basis.

“Why did you come back here, Hannah?”

Teddy looked at me speculatively, fiddling with his cutlery, long fingers turning over the stainless steel fork hypnotically.

“To be near my parents. The job at the surgery came up and it seemed like a good choice as Giles is looking to retire in a few years.”

This was all true. Well, mostly. I hadn’t at all wanted to move nearer to my parents because I found them difficult and overbearing, particularly my mother, but inside I was craving some sort of comfort and familiarity. Plus, after reporting Jonathan to the Dean of the Veterinary School, my options had become somewhat limited. True to his word, he had made my position untenable and then thwarted all my attempts at getting another research fellowship at any of the UK vet schools, so I was left with finding a job somewhere he had no influence. Daisy, as predicted, had not complained about his behaviour, and the dean had seemingly ignored my emails, so Jonathan’s life had remained entirely unaltered.

Why is it that crap always seems to float to the top?

The door to the bar opened with a creak and I heard a group of people enter, their soft laughter and chatter adding to the already cosy atmosphere of the pub. I had my back to them but I watched Teddy’s face go from recognition to horror, and I turned in my seat to see the unmistakeable figure of Henry Fraser enter the bar, accompanied by an extraordinarily beautiful blonde, and Mr and Mrs Fraser following behind.

“Shit.” Teddy turned to me with a look of panic in his eyes, then whispered, “Should we make a run for it?”

“Ted?” Henry’s deep voice called out, puzzled, glancing quizzically to me and back to Teddy.

“Too late,” Teddy groaned.

“Edward!” Mrs Fraser had always been impossibly sophisticated and glamorous, and today was no exception. Her diminutive frame was clad in designer clothes, her beautiful, lyrical French accent soft and subtle as she continued to speak, while looking curiously at me. “And who is this?”

“This is Hannah Havens. We used to go to school together,” Teddy said uncomfortably. He was clearly as upset as I was that his family might think we were a couple.

“Oh, how lovely!” Mrs Fraser was clearly more delighted than us about this encounter.

“Hannah?” Henry’s voice was all surprise. “Oh my God.”

“Hi, Henry, how are you?”

Well, wasn’t this bloody awkward? I could see exactly what this must look like to Teddy’s family and I was both mortified and annoyed to be thought of as his latest conquest. Where was an emergency cow caesarean when you needed one?

“Wow! It’s been such a long time. How are you? And why are you sitting with Ted in the pub?” Henry was genuinely disconcerted. He rubbed a hand up the back of his neck uncomfortably and shook his head slightly. “You hated him when we were at school, as I recall?”

“We accidentally bumped into each other again recently and he’s trying to buy my silence,” I replied, shifting in my seat and glancing at Teddy, who narrowed his eyes.

“Is he?” Henry laughed delightedly.

“Are you eating?” Mrs Fraser asked, before adding, “We could all eat together?”

“Er, well, Mum, no, Hannah and I were just grabbing a quick bite,” Teddy tried desperately, and I noticed Henry seemed to be enjoying his discomfort, before wincing as the beautiful blonde pinched his arm sharply and tutted at him. I liked her already.

“Nonsense. I’ll ask Bob if he can put two more places at our table,” Mrs Fraser declared, marching over to the barman in a no-nonsense way.

“I’m Clara, by the way,” the woman at Henry’s side said, reaching out and shaking my hand warmly as I stood. “Nice to meet you, Hannah.”

“Henry’s fiancée,” Teddy added helpfully.

“Right. Nice to meet you too. Congratulations,” I murmured, carefully watching Henry, who was gazing at Clara with slightly nauseating eyes, his arm around her waist, holding her tightly to him. They were a poster couple for being in love, if ever I saw one. I briefly wondered how it would feel to have someone look at me like that, before swallowing such a ridiculous notion away.

The Frasers began to mill around while we waited for the table to be readied. It was getting crowded in the bar, and we were already pushed quite closely together when another couple entered. And I felt my body begin to shut down, system by system.

There was no way we could hide because the presence of both Fraser twins had always drawn the eye. This latest couple was no exception, turning as one to gape at the film star looks of this small gathering and then catching me in the midst, looking like a blob fish caught in a net of mermaids.

“Hannah?” My father’s voice was like the foghorn on the QE2 coming out of the mist, and all the Frasers turned as one to look at him. Meanwhile, my mother was running an appraising glance over the cast in front of her, eyes lingering on Teddy, who was standing really quite close to me.

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