Page 17 of Finally Loved

She laughed. “I have a head for numbers. Don’t worry about it.”

Neve nodded as Zainab folded the napkin and rose to stand before her.

“This is for you. To do… whatever you’d like with.” She slipped the folded napkin smoothly into Neve’s hand and winked.

Neve really didn’t understand anything that was happening. “Uh, thank you.”

“My pleasure.” She smiled again, and it was only the look in her eyes that convinced Neve she wasn’t being made fun of. “It really was a delight meeting you.”

“You too.”Was it?She wasn’t sure. This whole interaction had been unbelievably weird.

Zainab turned to Alice and Charlie. She smiled gently at Alice. “Pleasure meeting you too.” Her eyes flicked to Charlie. “And it has been absolutely fascinating meeting you.”

Charlie scowled slightly, her eyes bouncing between Zainab, Alba, and Neve, as she obviously attempted to figure out the dynamic.

It was only then that Neve realized she hadn’t introduced Zainab. Well, she hadn’t introduced Alba either. The others had just… badly handled that themselves.

She wondered whether she should introduce her now, but that would be weird on so many levels, and the last thing she wanted was to postpone this conversation any longer.

Charlie sniffed. “You too. And you, Alba. Lovely to meet you.”

There was the slightest inflection that made it clear that the meeting was anything butlovely, but the laugh Alba let out told Neve she still wasn’t fazed.

Alba was a strong woman.

Neve watched as the two shook hands, and she scowled at Charlie for the heavy grip she took of Alba’s hand. They were going to have to have words as soon as they were alone, and Neve hated that.

Alba turned towards her, her smile soft again, and Neve took a step backwards, away from the intrusive group.

“Sorry, about… all of that,” Neve said with a grimace.

Alba chuckled. “That’s okay. Nothing I haven’t seen before.”

“Really?”

She nodded to the napkin clasped in Neve’s hand. “Maybe I’ll tell you the stories one day.”

Something nervous broke out in Neve’s chest. Was she really supposed to use the number? Did that mean it was real? She’d genuinely expected it to be a fake, to be a game for Charlie. But was Zainab really giving her Alba’s actual number?

She batted back the thought that she’d look deeply out of place in that friend group, annoyed with her own internal monologue again.

She’d desperately wanted to thank Alba for the kindness she’d shown her, and maybe now she could.

And she could apologize for the—well, for Charlie. Just… Charlie.

Chapter 6

Alba slowly lowered herself into her seat, watching as Neve and her friends walked away.

She’d seemed better. Not great, but that was to be expected a week after being dumped in the middle of a Best Buy. Better, though, and Alba was glad to see it. Even if Zainab had been trying to throw her under the bus with her comments, she wasn’t wrong that Alba had been worrying.

It took a moment before Alba realized Zainab was watching her.

“So,” she started with a smirk, “someone from work recommended this place, did they?”

Alba cleared her throat, sat up straighter, and surveyed her menu again despite having already decided what she was getting. “They might have.”

Zainab hummed, pretending to examine her own menu in the same lofty fashion Alba was doing. “Someone who just sohappens to frequent the exact same café as the woman you rescued last week and have been worrying about ever since?”

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