Page 38 of Be More Lucy

‘Lucy darling. It’s so lovely to see you again.’ Nancy hugged Lucy tightly. ‘Has that hopeless son of mine made peace with you yet?’

‘No. He won’t apologise.’

‘Hmm. Perhaps I should have a word with him.’

‘It’s too late for that. I’m sorry, Nancy, but I’ve had such a stressful day. Would you mind if I went straight to bed?’

‘Not at all. You can tell me all your news over breakfast. I’ll show you to your room.’

Em left them to it and went back across the courtyard to the flat. She heard Jack and Mark talking as she walked through the door.

‘I tried to get things on a civil footing, but she’s still determined to be angry with me.’ Mark said. ‘I can’t believe at one point, I thought she might be the one.’

That was news to Em. ‘She’s waiting for you to say sorry for two-timing her,’ Em said as she walked into the living room.

‘But I didn’t. That’s what’s so frustrating.’

‘Why don’t you have a proper talk to her? Find out why she thinks that.’

He sighed. ‘I tried that in the pub before you arrived, but you saw what she was like with me. She wouldn’t even let me say two words to her.’

Em had noticed. It was really odd. Normally, Lucy moved on quickly when a relationship failed, but tonight, she seemed to be determined to stay angry with him.

Mark sighed. ‘I’ll give it one last go, for your sakes.’

22

Lucy was lying in bed, looking at the ornate mouldings on the ceiling. She was tired, but being in close proximity to Mark all evening had wound her up. She couldn’t relax, and she felt bad about upsetting Jack. Was she genuinely annoyed with Mark? Or with herself because he still made her heart skip a beat when he looked at her. Perhaps being angry with him was her way of making sure he stayed away from her because as soon as he’d walked into the pub earlier, she knew she was still attracted to him. What a mess.

There was a knock on the door.

‘Can we talk?’ Mark.

Come on, Lucy Thomas. You’ve got to find a way of being civil to him. The skipping heartbeat thing will wear off eventually.Lucy sat up and pulled the duvet up around her neck. ‘Ok’

The door opened slightly, and a coat hanger with a white t-shirt hanging off it slid through it, followed by Mark’s face. ‘Truce?’

Trying to make her laugh. She’d always found that appealing, but she mustn’t lose sight of the fact that he’d lied to her. Lucy pointed to the chair by the window.

Mark walked in and sat down.

‘I’m listening,’ she said.

‘I don’t know why you ghosted me, but it’s been almost a year, and we’ve both moved on. Can we find a way of being in the same room without you sniping at me, for Em and Jack’s sakes?’

Bloody cheek. Still no sign of an apology. ‘So it’s all on me, is it? You’re still claiming that you’re the innocent party?’

‘I explained why I missed your awards ceremony. I didn’t lose my passport deliberately. I’m not sure why that warranted you ghosting me, but we’ve got to move on from that now.’

‘I accepted your apology for that, but you lied to me about why you hadn’t got around to inviting me to Spain.’

He looked confused. ‘I told you I was busy. It’s really hard not to be dragged into doing business activities when I’m there, even when I’ve got cover. I didn’t want you to fly all that way and then be on your own for most of the weekend. I thought I was being considerate.’

Very plausible. That’s why she’d believed it when he spun her that line last year. ‘You think I’m an idiot, don’t you? Well, I am. I am idiotic enough to buy a plane ticket to Malaga and turn up on your doorstep the morning after the awards as a surprise, thinking you’d be fed up and lonely without me. But you weren’t fed up and lonely, were you?’ She looked away. She was in serious danger of bursting into tears.Deep breaths. You’ve got this.

‘I don’t understand. I had no idea you’d flown to Spain.’

‘Because I didn’t hang around once I found out what was going on. When there was no answer at your house, I was worried in case you’d sorted out a temporary passport, and you were on your way to England. So I knocked on your neighbour’s door to ask if she knew where you were. She said she’d bumped into you earlier, and she thought you’d be working all day because you’d said the guy who was meant to be looking after the jetskis had phoned in sick, so you were having to cover. Then she said your girlfriend - GIRLFRIEND - usually came home about 11 am if I wanted to talk to her. Note that she said usually. So it wasn’t a one-off, having a woman living with you.’

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