Page 65 of The Do-Over

As I stare at the rudimentary bed, snatches of the previous evening start to come back to me. Alasdair, full of his customary enthusiasm, his eyes sparkling as he tested out various plans and theories. At some point, a bottle of wine appeared, and then another. Did we eat? I think we must have done, because my stomach would be growling furiously this morning if we hadn’t, and my hangover, although not great, would be much worse if I’d drunk as much as I suspect I did without any food to soak it up. A memory of fish and chips swims lazily into my head, along with an image of Dave and Brooke. Were they there? I guess they must have been, for part of it at least.

‘Ah, you’re awake,’ Alasdair says, strolling nonchalantly into the room in his boxer shorts, carrying two mugs. ‘I’ve made you a coffee. Did you sleep OK? I’ve had better nights myself.’

‘What on earth are we doing here?’ I ask him.

‘Don’t you remember? It was your idea, actually. We’d both had a bit of a skinful so I suggested getting a taxi and booking into a local hotel for the night, only there weren’t any taxis or hotel rooms available because we’re so far from civilisation. So you suggested we camp out here. I don’t know about you, but my boy scout days are a long way behind me. Give me a proper bed, preferably made up with high thread count Egyptian cotton, any day of the week. Still, at least we’re awake early. We need to get to Tenterden before your friend George shows up.’

‘Hang on, Alasdair, slow down. Are you saying you invited me to spend the night with you,and I accepted?’ I think about my state of undress under the blanket. ‘Did we…?’ I ask in horrified tones.

‘No, relax.’ He smiles. ‘It was purely platonic. Nothing happened. I mean, we kissed a bit, but nothing more than that.’

‘Oh, God.’ I feel absolutely mortified. ‘Did I come on to you? I’m so sorry.’

‘You didn’t come on to me as such. You were a few sheets to the wind, and wondering out loud about whether George had run away because you kissed weirdly – apparently Rebecca had planted that seed of doubt in your head – so you asked to kiss me to check if you were all right.’

Another vague memory surfaces. ‘And was I?’

‘You were fine, as you always were. You’re a great kisser, Thea.’

‘But that was it? You’re sure there was nothing more?’

‘Positive. We came back here, had a laugh trying to find enough stuff to make a bed out of, and then went to sleep. I don’t think either of us were in a fit state to do any more, and even if we had been, I knew you would have regretted it this morning.’

‘Phew,’ I exhale with relief.

‘Thanks a lot!’ he says, mock-affronted.

‘I don’t mean it like that. It’s just that you’re right. I would have felt horribly guilty if we had. It would have made talking to George really difficult. “Hey, George, I think you might be the man of my dreams, which is why I shagged my bestie last night.”’

‘You’re all good. If it’s any consolation, it was clear to me from your drunken rambling that this George has got under your skin, so there was a real risk you might have called out his name in the throes of passion by mistake. I like to think I’m a fairly confident guy and a decent enough lover, but that would put a serious dent even in my ego. Emailgate was bad enough.’

‘It was only the one time, and we laughed about it afterwards, if I remember correctly.’

‘Yes, but even so. Anyway, you’d better drink your coffee, splash some water on your face and get dressed. We need to get going if we’re going to get there before him.’

‘Remind me what the plan is?’

‘We’re going to stake out the industrial unit where his fabled traction engine is, remember?’

‘That’s a terrible plan!’ I exclaim. ‘How drunk were we when we came up with that one?’

‘What’s so terrible about it?’

‘He’s avoiding me, remember? He’s not going to be there.’

‘Of course he is. We talked about this. He wasn’t there yesterday because he was avoiding you. But his mate, what’s his name?’

‘Trevor.’

‘Trevor will have told him that you came in and collected the letter. So he’ll be confident that you’ve got the message and won’t be coming back, ergo he will turn up today.’

‘What if he doesn’t?’

‘Then you’re on your own. I’m off to New York for two weeks tomorrow.’

‘OK, let’s assume he does turn up. Then what?’

Alasdair looks thoughtful for a moment. ‘I don’t think we got that far. Let’s deal with that when we get there. I’ll drive.’

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