Page 119 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘I know. I legitimately have no idea what I was thinking – even now, weeks after finding out about him.’

‘I might have an idea,’ she says, looking at me intently. ‘You see, sometimes we don’t reveal our truest self until we meet the right person. We’re instinctually protective, we keep that side of us hidden, cocooned. And when we meet our “someone”, it emerges. You weren’t yourself with Dunn because he wasn’t your someone. As an aside, I doubt he’s anyone’s. But that would explain why, when you think about how you were with Dunn, you don’t recognise yourself.’

‘God, Poppy, I’ve never thought of it like that before. It makes so much sense. Thank you.’

‘Again, it’s part of the job. But you know what this means, right?’

‘That there’s every chance Willem’s my someone,’ I reply reverently.

‘There is every chance,’ she echoes. ‘So, how are you going to win him back?’

* * *

Poppy

‘Good morning, Poppy,’ says Ursula as I arrive at the office. I can count on zero fingers the number of times Ursula has beaten me to the office. She always arrives precisely at 9a.m. and not a moment earlier.

‘Good morning.’

She beams at me, and I keep my eyes trained on her as I drop my handbag on my desk.

‘What’s going on?’ I ask.

‘I had thebestlunch yesterday,’ she says cryptically.

‘Oh, so did I as a matter of fact. I went to The Black?—’

‘Poppy, I’ve done it!’ she interjects.

‘Great. Done what exactly?’ I ask, stumped.

‘I’ve confronted Clarissa.’

It takes me a moment to remember that ‘Clarissa’ is Clarissa Blackheart, who runs Perfect Pairings and was once Ursula’s friend and business partner.

‘Ooh, that’s some serious goss,’ I say, fascinated.

‘I’m positivelyburstingwith it, Poppy.’ This must be why she was first into the office this morning – she needed to tell someone.

‘Okay, I’m all ears. Let me just…’ I drag another chair over to my desk and she sits facing me.

‘Shall I set the scene?’ she asks.

‘I’d expect nothing less.’

In great detail, she tells me how she lured Clarissa Blackheart to lunch at the Ivy under the guise of burying the hatchet.

‘So, there we are making pleasant chitchat and right as she took another sip of her Lillete Blanc, I said, “I’m onto your reckless matchmaking practices, Clarissa, and I have proof.”’

‘Oh, Ilovethat. And how did she respond?’

‘By spluttering and coughing and covering half the tablecloth with wine.’

My jaw drops. ‘Ooh, I would love to have seen that!’

‘It was quite spectacular. She was horrified, particularly because the waiter was there in an instant, offering to exchange the tablecloth! Can you imagine? Such a spectacle,’ she says, starting to laugh. ‘Obviously, she declined and when he stepped away, she leaned close, her face contorted and her halitosis wafting through the air, and that’s when the claws came out.’

‘What did she say?’

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