Page 27 of Someone Like You

‘There’s nothing wrong with you,’ I say.

‘No, nothing,’ Freya agrees.

‘Other than your questionable taste in clothes,’ I add.

Teasing him does the trick and he starts shaking with laughter. ‘Oh, you’rehilarious.’

‘It made you laugh. Besides, none of your fans seem to care that you dress like a science teacher from the nineties.’

At that, Freya erupts into laughter.

‘Hey, that’s not nice,’ says Raff through his laughter. Unable to keep a straight face, I join in.

‘I know,’ he says. ‘Instead of telling my parents outright, how about I pop on some chef’s whites, then take a photo of me out front of Baked to Perfection and send it to them?’

Freya grimaces.

‘Too much?’ he asks.

‘Perhaps,’ she replies right as I say, ‘No way! Not extreme enough. CiCi should be in the photo, and you should both be flipping them the bird.’

‘Ba-ha-ha-ha.’ Freya’s bellowing laughter echoes throughout the café and most of the other diners look our way.

We apologise, and everyone goes back to their brunch.

‘I can imagine Aunt CiCi rather enjoying that,’ Raff says to us quietly. Then he reaches across the table and steals a piece of sourdough toast from my plate.

‘Hey, you know I was saving that!’ I say, trying unsuccessfully to snatch it back. I always save one piece of toast that I like to eat cold – I know, don’t judge me – with peanut butter – again, don’t judge me.

Raff shrugs and takes a bite, then starts groaning with pleasure as if it’s the most delicious thing he’s ever eaten. Itisgood, but he’s being an idiot.

‘You keep that up, they’ll kick us out.’

He shrugs again.

And even though I’m (mildly) pissed off he stole my toast, Raff is more relaxed than I’ve seen him in ages and I’d forego a thousand pieces of toast for that.

Twenty minutes later, after Raff insisted on paying, we’re standing outside in the cold, Freya leaning against me and bouncing on her toes to keep warm. What began as a crisp, sunny fall day has turned wintry during brunch.

‘Thank you so much,’ says Raff, hugging us in turn. ‘You’ve been amazing and if I ever feel myself waver, I’ll just picture CiCi with her middle fingers in the air, telling my parents to sod off.’ Freya giggles, but then her teeth start chattering. ‘Go, go get to your train,’ he says, waving us off.

‘Say hi to CiCi and Devin for us,’ I tell him.

‘Will do!’ He waves over his shoulder as he heads to the nearest street to meet his Uber.

‘Now we’re alone again, I want to ask you something,’ says Freya, hooking her arm through mine.

‘Sure – anything,’ I say, not knowing I’ll instantly regret giving her a blank cheque.

‘No way, Frey, that’s ridiculous,’ I tell her adamantly. I didn’t think it was possible for her ideas to get any more harebrained, but now she wantsmeto help choose Raff’s perfect match.

‘You said the same thing about matching Raff in the first place,’ she retorts.

‘Well, yeah, and part of me still stands by that.’

‘But the interview… He was very clear about wanting to find love,’ she insists.

‘Okay, yes, but Raff has a lot on right now. I’ve told you – I’m not sure finding him “the one” should be our priority. He’s going to need our support to transition to a fulltime pastry chef.’

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