Page 113 of The One That I Want

‘You know how Remy wants to meet you?’ he asks, suddenly shy.

‘I do, yes.’

‘What if that was tonight?’

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

Inside, I’m doing a happy dance – andneverhave I appreciated my foresight more.

‘I would love to meet Remy tonight,’ I reply, maintaining the pretence.

He grins again.

‘I can’t stop grinning,’ he says, shaking his head.

‘I don’t mind.’

‘I’ll get us an Uber.’ He takes out his phone and taps away and I watch him closely.

I am going home with Ewan! I AM GOING HOME WITH EWAN AND HE MAKES ME FEEL ALL WARM AND GLOWING INSI?—

‘Excuse me, sorry to bother you,’ a woman says to Ewan. I hadn’t even noticed her approaching, being in my own little bubble of Ewan-ness.

He lifts his brows inquisitively.

‘Would you mind signing this, please? I justlovedyou inAtonement.’ She shoves a Tesco receipt and a pen at him and – to his credit (another thing to add to the Ewan-is-wonderful list) – he takes it from her. ‘To Meryl, please – that’s me,’ she says with a slightly embarrassed smile.

A few feet away, a man, who I presume is her husband, rolls his eyes. ‘Sorry to bother you, mate,’ he says.

‘It’s no bother at all,’ he replies. He leans down to rest the receipt on his thigh and writes:

To Meryl,

Very nice to meet you.

James McAvoy

xxxx

He hands it back to her and she’s beaming. ‘Thank you. You have a lovely night now.’

They leave, the woman glancing back over her shoulder at Ewan – twice – and he turns to me, his mouth open and his hands held out. ‘What? Just? Happened?’

‘You were lovely – you gave her a story to dine out on for the rest of her life.’

‘Can you imagine if she’d asked for a photo? Someone would have burst her bubble as soon as they clapped eyes on me.’

‘Hardly. I told you, it’s remarkable how alike you are.’

He barks out a laugh. ‘Anyway, we should go. Uber will be arriving soon,’ he says, pointing to where he’s dropped the pin.

As we walk towards it, I say, ‘She was adorable. She even told us to have a nice night.’

‘I think you’ll find she said, “lovelynight,” and I have every intention of making it that and more.’

I make a show of fanning my face. ‘Phoof. That Uber driver better not be worried about getting a ticket,’ I quip.

‘If they do, I’ll pay for it.’

---