Page 46 of Someone Like You

‘Whatever you’re having is fine,’ I say with a half-hearted smile.

Poppy disappears into the crowd, and I turn to Freya.

‘So, you two are good?’

‘We are. I was acting like a nitwit, and I apologised this morning. This is Poppy’s case and it’s not her fault I got my knickers in such a twist.’

I shake my head at her. I could have told her the same thing and it wouldn’t have made a hill of beans difference. Come to think of it, Ididtell her the same thing…

‘What?’ she asks.

‘Never mind,’ I say – it’s not worth rehashing.

She tilts her head and regards me closely.

NowIsay, ‘What?’

Her lips disappear between her teeth as if she’s trying to decide whether to tell me something.

She releases her lips. ‘It’s nothing,’ she says.

‘Wow, such sparkling conversation tonight. We should have a podcast,’ I joke.

‘Far too busy for that,’ she replies seriously, and I let it go. ‘Right, now, let’s talk about Raff’s case… Between the potentials you vetoed at the screening and Raff spending an entire day telling Jane to shush, we’re much further down the longlist than I would have expected.’

‘Wait, so you saw the longlist?’

‘Of course.’

This is news to me, but it makes me curious.

‘So, which one was your favourite?’ I ask.

‘I wouldn’t sayfavourite, but I liked Maria.’

‘Maria… Oh, no. She waswaytoo much like Sheree – they look practically identical. And Raff washeartbrokenafter she moved back to Dublin.’

‘Right,’ Freya says slowly, her brow creasing into a frown. ‘And what about Julia, the artist?’

‘The one who likes German rave music. Raff can’t stand that crap.’

‘And apparently, neither can you,’ she says.

‘Excuse me,’ calls out a familiar Australian accent. I look towards Poppy’s voice and see that she’s squeezing through the crowd carrying three cocktails aloft, the same way Raff does, but with much smaller hands. I relieve her of the Cosmo and hand it to Freya.

‘Phoof,’ sighs Poppy. ‘Maybe we should have met at the agency. A triathlon would be easier than that.’

She hands me a highball garnished with a wedge of lime. I sniff it – it’s gingery. ‘Dark ’n’ stormy?’ I ask, and she grins.

‘Cheers, big ears.’ She clinks her glass against mine, then Freya’s, and takes a sip of her drink.

I’m still stuck on her oddball toast, when Freya comes back with, ‘To love, laughter, and happily ever after.’

‘Cheers,’ I say simply, raising my glass at them in turn. I take a drink and it’s delicious.

‘Right,’ says Poppy, ‘let’s get to why we’re here. I’ve been noodling on this since our call, Gaby, and if Raff really is as clueless about spotting signals as you say he is, then I reckon he needs a wing-woman for the next happenstance meeting.’

‘Oh, yeah, that’s a great idea,’ I say, instantly imagining Freya and Freddie inviting Raff to something and (somehow) bumping into Ava. ‘I wish I’d thought of it.’

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