Page 19 of The Wedding Game

That’s not fair, turning it on me like that. Although I am the one who started this line of questioning.I put a laughing emoji, so Chris knows I’m being light-hearted.

One of us would have been on the sofa, I’m sure,he replies. He’s at least insinuating that he would have been a gentleman.

Are you sure? How big is your sofa?I ask.

Not that big. And not that comfy, either,he says.Not very good for sleeping on.

I chuckle.I wonder what we’d have done about that?I dare, because I’m not a nun, and Chris is gorgeous.

He puts a laughing emoji. And then he’s offline. What? Where’s he gone? A minute passes, two minutes.

And then he’s back and my screen lights up.Sorry,he says.The designer just came over to get me, as we’re heading out the door to someone’s leaving drinks, and I couldn’t get my phone out of his eyeline quick enough. I have no idea how much of that he saw!

You’re still at work?

I’m leaving now,he says,though I’m a little hotter under the collar than I was before we started talking.

It’s my turn to put a laughing emoji in our chat.

Speak tomorrow?he asks.

Yes, please.

CHAPTER EIGHT

On a sliding scale of one to ten, how hungover are you?I message Chris as I’m walking to the Tube station after work. I’m meeting Scarlet at Oxford Street to go shopping for her mum’s birthday present. Then we’re treating ourselves to a few drinks in a new bar. Scarlet worked on their logo, but I can see my entire day’s earnings being spent on a round of drinks and some nibbles unless Scarlet can wangle us some freebies.

I’ve hung on all day to message Chris. I don’t want to look too eager and he wouldn’t be awake until a few hours ago, so I’m playing it cool, safe.

Oneis his reply to me.It was a midweek drink with very uptight New Yorkers. I’m afraid they don’t do leaving parties the way we do.

I did wonder,I tell him.A leaving party not on a Friday isn’t a leaving party, is it?

Amen,Chris replies.Where in London are you right now?

Oxford Street. I’ve just left work.

Oxford Street at night. That whole vibe makes me miss London,Chris writes.Tell me all the things you can see. (Leave out the rubbish bits.)

I laugh and someone jostles into me as I slow on thepavement to type my message. I stand near a bus stop to keep out of the way of busy pedestrians with no time for dawdlers. I tell Chris all about the lights beaming out from the shops, and the early diners enjoying pre-theatre dinner, the office-types heading into bars and sushi joints.

A lot like New York, no?I ask.

A bit,he says.

I’ve got time to kill until I meet Scarlet, so I wander into Selfridges. I’m not really paying attention to the perfume and cosmetics counters and I find myself meandering aimlessly, glancing up every now and again from my phone as Chris and I message back and forth about our days, and our lives. Chris takes a selfie in his office and sends it to me. The office is open-plan, and bright-eyed workers look busy at their desks, unaware he’s snapped them and inadvertently sent their images to a woman in a busy London department store. He looks good. Exactly as he did at the wedding, although the suit he’s in is less formal. He has a slim build, like a runner. He’s smiling and seems relaxed. I zoom in on his eyes, which are wonderfully intoxicating, a smooth nut-brown.

I reciprocate with a pic of me in the Selfridges shoe department, tilting the phone to get my best angle. I applied a ton of make-up before I left my desk, so I should look fairly presentable. I zoom in on my own eyes to check my mascara is exactly where I put it less than an hour ago. It is and I hit send.

It’s nice to see you again,Chris says.

And it’s nice to see him too. This is easy. Too easy. And given the fact we’ve only met once, I wonder if it shouldn’tbe. Surely this should be harder? Weirder? But it feels none of those things.

I’ve got to step into a meeting now,Chris types.Just in case you wonder why I’ve gone silent.

I’ve got to go and taunt my best friend about shoes,I reply.Just in case you wonder the same.

Er, OK,Chris says.You can explain that one later. Bye for now x

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