Page 11 of The Plot Twist

‘What?’

‘It was too big,’ she repeated. ‘Too big for a party,’ she continued. ‘How are you supposed to eat something like that with one hand? And one mouth,’ she added, helpfully pointing at her mouth as if Will might not know which part of her body she was talking about.

Will didn’t say anything at first, he just stopped and stared at Allie’s mouth, making her wish he was kissing her, and that she hadn’t just insulted his company’s food. He turned to carry on, looking thoughtful as they walked along the tiled corridor. Allie was even more aware of the sound of her heels clacking on the floor in the aftermath of her confession.

‘Sorry,’ she said, feeling slightly bad that she had besmirched the vol au vents.

‘Don’t be.’ He put a hand to the small of her back to guide her around a corner and she felt an electric jolt zip through her body. He took his hand away quickly as if he had felt it too. She looked sideways at him, just as he did at her. They both broke eye contact and smiled down at the ground.

‘I’d just never thought about it like that,’ he said, ‘about the right size for vol au vents.’

Allie shrugged. ‘Maybe you could give them some feedback?’ she suggested.

‘Maybe,’ he agreed. ‘So, you’re published by Brinkman’s then?’

‘Yep. Well, sort of.’ She paused. ‘Actually, to tell the truth, I haven’t written anything for ages. I think I’m having some kind of mid-life crisis to be honest. Promise you won’t tell anyone?’

‘Who would I tell?’ he said, looking around them as if a publisher might be lurking nearby just in time for Will to spill her secrets to. ‘And anyway aren’t you a bit young to be having a mid-life crisis?’

Allie looked over at him again as they went round yet another twist in the corridor. Honestly, she did need his guidance, she would never have found her way back on her own. She tried to work out how old he was. Probably about her age, maybe a little older, late thirties perhaps?

‘Well, maybe not a mid-life crisis,’ she finally agreed, ‘just the kind of crisis where you question what you’re doing, how you ended up doing it and how long you can keep doing it for before people discover you really have no idea what you’re playing at.’

Will laughed. ‘Got it. I can understand that feeling.’ He pointed left and Allie obediently turned, wishing he would dispense with the pointing and go back to directing her with a hand to her waist because that made her feel all the internal feels.

‘Hang on.’ Allie stopped for a moment and picked her foot up swaying as she did so. Will caught her elbow, immediately steadying her. She looked up into his eyes and felt her stomach swoop, refusing to feel guilty for the shameless attempt to feel his hands on her body again. ‘Sorry,’ she said, ‘I just need to adjust this.’ She indicated the buckle on her silver sandals.

‘No worries,’ he said, keeping his hand on her arm, ‘I’ve got you.’

Allie blushed and looked quickly down at her shoe. He had no idea how much she wished that were true. She rearranged the buckle, taking longer than she actually needed, just so he would keep his hand on her.

Finally, realising that he might start to think her a bit odd, she straightened up and he let go of her arm. She looked down in disappointment at the spot, rubbing it with her other hand, feeling the warmth that his skin had left on hers. She sighed and then reluctantly started walking down the seemingly endless corridor.

‘So, do you work at a lot of these?’ she asked.

He gave her a curious sidelong look as if he was thinking about what answer to give her. ‘Some.’ He shrugged. ‘Just depends how busy we are.’

Allie felt a pang of guilt about her existential crisis over writing a book. At least she was earning, orhadearned good money in her career so far. She wasn’t on some kind of zero-hours contract, sat at home wondering whether today would be the day she got a call to work and would get paid.

‘I guess that makes it stressful.’

He looked at her quizzically.

‘I mean, not knowing whether they’ll need you to work.’

Will seemed about to say something. He paused, and Allie wanted to ask him what it was, but suddenly they were back at the coat check, and Will had stopped walking. She looked at the cloakroom and then back up at him. He really did have the nicest eyes.

‘Well, erm, thanks for showing me the way,’ she said, desperate to prolong their conversation, hoping he might feel the same way.

‘You didn’t tell me your name,’ Will said, staring down at her and standing just that smidge too close so that she knew, just knew, that he must be feeling something too. ‘So I can look out for your books,’ he explained.

Allie tried not to let her disappointment show. ‘Allie Edwards,’ she said, wondering exactly what she would do anyway if he did touch her, or ask for her number, or do any one of the things she felt desperate that he do to her right away. She suddenly remembered Dominic and felt horribly guilty to even be having these thoughts.

As if Will could read her mind, he stepped away from her. ‘I should get going.’

‘Yes, yes of course.’ She nodded vigorously. ‘I don’t want to get you into trouble.’

Will cocked his head at her with that quizzical look on his face again.

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