Page 28 of The Plot Twist

Allie shook her head and Jess looked momentarily downcast.

‘But he’s messaged.’ Allie’s lips twitched in amusement as she saw Jess’s face completely transform.

‘Yay!’ Jess exclaimed. ‘Al that’s great.’

‘Yep. I woke up to a message saying what a great night he’d had and checking I had got home OK. And then he messaged to ask if I was free next Thursday night.’

Jess clapped her hands together in glee, looking more like an overexcited toddler at Christmas than a thirty-something professional woman in workout gear. ‘Tell me you said yes!’

‘Of course I did!’ exclaimed Allie. ‘Honestly, Jess, he does funny stuff to my insides every time I think about him. I’d cancel on you if it meant getting to see him again.’

Jess pretended to frown. ‘Er, I thought we had an agreement, friends come first?—’

‘When?’ Allie interrupted, genuinely surprised. She put her coffee cup back down. ‘Did you put me first when you cancelled our night out at the cinema so you could meet that skanky boy you kept hooking up with in our final year?’

‘Oh my god!’ Jess practically shouted. ‘You’re never going to let me forget that are you?’

‘Nope.’

‘You didn’t even want to go to the cinema. In fact, I remember you saying that if you were made to sit through anotherPirates of the Caribbeanfilm, you would personally hunt down Jack Sparrow and condemn him to Davy Jones’s locker yourself.’

‘Did I?’ Allie felt pleased with herself. ‘Sounds rather eloquent, very much like something Iwouldsay.’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘Anyway, it’s irrelevant. I’m not cancelling on anyone to see Will. I had no plans other than to try and get some writing done.’

Jess grimaced. ‘Dare I ask how that’s going?’

Allie smiled up at the waitress as she put the food down in front of her, grateful that Jess wasn’t shouting something smutty at that precise moment.

‘Actually, I think I’ve had a bit of a breakthrough.’

‘You have? Allie, that’s great. Another thing to celebrate.’ Jess pulled her plate towards her and started attacking the bacon and eggs on there with gusto. ‘See?’ she said, with a mouth full of food. If Jess wasn’t so gorgeous it really would be a revolting spectacle watching her eat. ‘It’s all coming together, sex and your career!’

‘I told you,’ Allie said forcefully, ‘I haven’t slept with him.’

‘Yeah, but you will. And soon.’ Jess grinned at Allie, ketchup smearing her mouth a little.

‘How’s the detox coming along?’ Allie asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Sod off,’ Jess mumbled through another mouthful of bacon. ‘And don’t change the subject,’ she continued, waving a piece of toast threateningly at Allie. Allie picked up her own cutlery and regarded her plate. She’d told Martin that she didn’t want anyone to know about their arrangement. But now that she was sitting here with Jess, she wondered whether it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to run it past her? Was it really a good idea? She didn’t know Martin, only by reputation. And it could end up being a colossal waste of time. Or even worse, Allie could end up writing Martin’s book for him and getting nothing in return. But on that thought, Allie paused. Yes, she didn’t really know Martin, but her gut feeling told her that he was one of the good guys. And she was intrigued to find out more about him. Especially if it meant she might get to meet the amazing Angie, although Allie couldn’t yet envisage the circumstances under which that might actually happen; she found it hard to imagine Martin leading with the introductions, ‘Hey Ange, I want you to meet Allie, she helped save our marriage.’

Allie felt another flicker of excitement in her stomach at her plans. Because, actually, while she was excited to see if working with Martin might help both of them write, she was also excited to see if everything she had learned on paper about love and romance could be put to practical use in the real world. If her experience writing romance might just help save Martin’s marriage. And maybe things with Will would spark some real-life romance in her own life.

‘Earth to Allie! Stop drooling overWilland tell me about the book.’

‘Alright. But stop calling himWill. His name is Will.’

Jess bit her lip in amusement and pretended to pull a serious face. ‘Will it is.’

Allie made a split-second decision as she swallowed a large mouthful of toast. ‘I’ve got myself a writing mentor.’

Jess looked confused. ‘A writing mentor? How does that work and where did you find her?’

Allie found it interesting that Jess would assume her mentor to be a woman. Some definite bias that presumed only women wrote romance, and that they wrote it solely for other women. She decided not to correct Jess. Best to keep things as vague as possible until she really knew how things might pan out. Until then, she could amuse herself by imagining the look on Jess’s face when she unveiled her mentor as a straight, middle-class man approaching retirement age.

‘I met them at a publishing party. We kind of clicked,’ Allie explained. ‘They’re going through something similar and we agreed to meet up regularly. Help each other out, encourage each other and set targets. You know,’ Allie shrugged, ‘that sort of stuff.’

‘Cool,’ said Jess. ‘But do you think you’ll have enough done to meet your deadline?’ Allie had told Jess all about Jake’s new, set in quick-dry concrete, deadline. Right before she had told Jess in excruciating detail every last painful piece of torture she planned to exact on Jake if she ever got the chance.

‘Ugh, honestly? Allie looked pained. ‘I’m not sure. I hope I can get enough down to buy me some time for a second draft. And anyway,’ her expression switched from pained to coy, ‘maybe Will might help inspire me?’

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