Page 58 of The Wedding Game

I feel my mouth drop open and then close again. ‘You moved in with him? Already?’

‘It was more of a little holiday,’ she back-pedals.

I don’t say anything, and we stare at the skaters.

‘Anyway I miss Josh and Scarlet and my family. Two weeks is a long time to be away from home.’

‘I’ve done it for quite a bit longer than that,’ I say absently.

‘And you don’t feel that pull back to the UK?’

‘Sometimes. Not often, though,’ I muse. ‘I came here for the job, and the lifestyle, and I love both.’

‘Fair enough,’ she responds uncertainly.

I breathe in, breathe out. I feel the conversation coming to a close.

‘OK, she says, turning to me. ‘Big Talk round … whatever round we’re on.’

I give her an indulgent smile as I ask, ‘Weren’t we just doing that?’

‘Shh,’ she says. ‘This is official Big Talk now. What would it take to get you to live back in the UK?’

I pause and think. ‘I have no idea. Something … big.’

‘How big?’

‘Family illness or something dreadful.’

‘Oh God,’ she replies quickly. ‘OK, never mind. Let’s skip past that. What would it take for you to live in New Yorkfor ever?’

‘For ever?’ I ask, glancing around me slowly, taking it all in. It’s great. It’s wonderful. It’s cinematic and I’m working on building my career here, but, ‘I don’t think I’ll live here for ever.’

‘What if you and this Tinder swipe—’

‘Uh … excuse me. It wasn’t Tinder,’ I cut in and give her a playful shove.

She’s dismissive. ‘Soyousay.’

‘Ha!’ slips from my lips.

‘What if you and this swipe are for ever …’ she comes in with again. ‘Really for ever. Would you live here?’

I blow air out of my cheeks. ‘If we’re for ever, then … I guess so, yeah.’

‘Even if you didn’twantto live here for ever?’

I think about it, but not for as long as I’d think about it if thiswasactually happening. ‘Yeah.’

‘That simple?’

‘It is, isn’t it? Love is simple. It’s complicated and messy and all of that too, but really it’s simple. If you’re ready … you either make it work, come what may, or you don’t.’

‘If you’re ready?’ she asks.

‘Sometimes it’s the right person, wrong circumstances. Sometimes it all falls into line.’ I think about what I’ve just said. I was trying to be philosophical, but really: whatislove? It’s two people who are right for each other finding each other at the right time. It’s magic, it’s complicated alchemy, but also … it’s one of the simplest things in the world.

I look away from the skaters and watch Lexie’s reaction thoughtfully, as her eyes follow two children being held up artfully by their mum and dad. She won’t turn her head to look at me, even though she must see out of the corner of her eye that I’m giving her my full attention. And then her phone rings and lights up. ‘Josh’ is displayed on the screen. Lexie swipes to answer quickly, commenting how sweet Joshis to ring when it’s so late for him, telling him she’s at the Rockefeller Center. I hear him make enthusiastic remarks in the background and so I discreetly move away, pulling out my own phone and tapping away on it for a moment. I pocket it again and glance at Lexie as she talks to Josh, telling him she’ll call him tomorrow when she’s on her way to the airport. She tells him she misses him, that she can’t wait to see him again, then says goodbye and hangs up.

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