Page 67 of Someone Like You

‘Pans out?’ asks Freya, lifting her head. ‘You mean with Julia?’

‘Yes,’ says Saskia, softening her tone to couch the blow.

‘I agree,’ Paloma chimes in. ‘Julia could be his match, or it might burn brightly for a short while then peter out. It’s a waiting game now.’

‘But what about Gaby?’ Freya asks them, clearly fraught, and I’m with her.

‘We’re not trying to be callous,’ says Paloma, ‘but our primaryduty is to our client – Rafferty. If we interfere at this point, we might destroy a match in the making. A reminder that we’re matchmakers.’

If she was trying not to be callous, she didn’t succeed. Ursula shoots her a pointed look, then turns to Freya, her eyes softening.

‘Freya, consider how Rafferty would feel if he found out you’d interfered, and he and Julia were over before they even started. It really is for the best to see how their match plays out.’

‘I suppose,’ Freya says glumly. She drops her head into her hands. ‘How did I fuck this up so badly? I only wanted to help Raff find love… And now Gaby’s going to be heartbroken. Why did I meddle in the first place?’

I rest my hand on her shoulder to comfort her, a feeble gesture considering how much she’s beating herself up. Ursula and I exchange glances and it’s clear we’re on the same page. The situation is grim.

Eventually, Freya lifts her head and looks at the others. ‘I should probably call Gaby…’ Without another word, she leaves.

‘Well, this is one for the books,’ says Paloma.

‘Ugh,’ I reply.

‘It will all work out as is intended,’ says Ursula confidently. She is decidedly in campque sera sera.

I have no idea what camp I’m in right now, but Iamcertain that a Bublé bubbly bubble bath is not going to fix this.

17

GABY

Freya’s on her way over to my apartment. Part of me feels relieved that she knows how I feel about Raff. And the other part is nervous. There’s every chance I’m about to get reamed by my bestie.

I also got a text from Poppy earlier and I open my phone to read it again:

Let me know if you want to talk after you see Freya.

No reassurance. No ‘everything’s going to be fine’. No ‘London’s best matchmaking agency has saved the day and you and Raff are going to be together’.

As if.

At least I got through today without my mind wanderingtoomuch. I simply kept my head down and focused on work. Since meeting with Claire yesterday, I now have a clearer picture of what it might be like to take over Raff’s role in the New Year. It’s exciting and terrifying, with a little ‘don’t count your chickens before they hatch’ thrown in.

It’s better not to let yourself want something in case you don’t get it, right?

Like wanting your best friend to fall in love with you.

‘Argh!’

I check the time. Freya should be here by now. I turn on the TV, but I can’t concentrate and I end up flicking through everything on my Netflix queue. Nope. Nope. Nope. It’s like being on a dating app, only without the eye candy.

I give up and turn off the TV right as Freya buzzes my apartment. I let her into the building, then wait out the thirty seconds it will take her to get to my front door. It takes a thousand years, then there’s finally a soft knock.

I bust out a huge smile – fake it till you make it, right? – and open the door. ‘Hi!’ I exclaim, as if it’s been months and not days since I last saw her.

Head tilt. Sad eyes. Pouty bottom lip.Weird. She steps inside and without a word, wraps her spindly arms around my neck, enveloping me in a hug.

What is happening right now?

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