Page 116 of The One That I Want

I hold Evie, letting her have a good cry while rubbing her back. When her sobs start to diminish, I release her. Tristan’s had the forethought to place a box of tissues on the kitchen counter and I snatch up a handful and offer them to Evie.

‘Thank you,’ she says, taking them, but her nose is blocked and it comes out ‘dankoo’.

‘Would you like something to drink? A cup of tea?’ I’ve always found tea to be the perfect panacea when everything feels too much.

She blinks at me, her lashes still wet. ‘Can I have wine?’ she whines.

Tristan quickly goes to the fridge and takes out a bottle of Chardonnay, pours a glass, and slides it across the counter to Evie. She takes it and downs a big glug.

‘And water, I reckon, Tris.’ He nods and comes back with a highball brimming with water. ‘Drink that, Evie,’ I say, pointing to the water, ‘then let’s go sit in the lounge and you can tell me what’s happened.’

She complies, much like a woeful child would. Shortly after, she and I are installed on one of our sofas, each with a glass of wine, Evie facing me, sitting cross-legged. Tristan brings over the tissues, then signals he’s going into the bedroom.

‘Right, so, what’s going on?’

‘It’s Tyler…’ she wails.

I’d figured as much – that little weasel. I thought it might take more than a pep talk and a girls’ night in to exorcise him from Evie’s life. I don’t rush her, though, letting her tell me the latest development in her own time.

She sets down the wine glass and grabs a handful of tissues to blow her nose, then inhales deeply.

‘Okay, so, Liv and I have this group of friends, see? Because we’re only eighteen months apart and we’ve always been close, we know a lot of the same people, and now we’re both living back in London… Well, we’re part of the same friendship group and we see everyone all the time – parties, dinners out, weekends away…’

She’s setting the stage so, again, I don’t rush her.

‘Anyway…’ More tears spring up and she breathes through them, then licks her lips. ‘Our so-called friend,Delia, well, it turns outshe’sthe one Tyler’s been sleeping with. Besides me, I mean.’

‘Oh, Evie, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.’ Of course, I don’t raise that I know of at leasttwoother women Tyler is sleeping with (the little shit).

Evie sniffs, watching her hands as she fidgets with a wad of soggy tissues.

‘How did you find out?’ I ask.

‘Shetoldme. She did it under the guise of “caring about our friendship” and “being transparent because we’re so close”,’ she says sarcastically. ‘So close, you’re bonking my boyfriend, you utter… utter…’

‘Cow,’ I supply.

She coughs out a laugh and looks up. ‘I was going to say something else but “cow” will do, I suppose.’

‘Well, I can understand why you’re so upset. There’s no excusing that behaviour – from either of them.’ I phrase my next question carefully, as it could trigger another bout of tears. ‘Evie, how have you handled things with Tyler – since he asked to see other people?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Have you broken it off with him entirely or…?’

Her lips disappear between her teeth and she shakes her head. ‘No,’ she replies, her voice small and childlike. ‘I’ve still been seeing him. This is my fault, isn’t it?’

‘No, not at all. Two people you trusted,caredabout, went behind your back. The onus is on them.’

What I don’t tell her is that I have no doubt Tyler considered Evie staying with him as permission to ‘see other people’ – ‘I brought it up, she’s still dating me, she must be okay with it…’ Voilà – arsehole logic.

Evie expels a long, ragged sigh. ‘I’ve been trying to concentrate on my work all afternoon – you know, keep my mind off things, but…’

She shakes her head and reaches for the wine again. She takes a sip, then cradles the glass in her hands.

‘Can I ask, how close are you with the cow?’

This makes her smile. ‘I don’t really know the answer to that. We’ve been friends since school – we came up together. Ithoughtwe were close, but now… God, she even spent a summer with us once in Italy – I’d forgotten about that.’

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