Page 70 of Midnight in Paris

Another text flashed on her phone.

Will

All OK?

Sophie

Getting there *grimace emoji*. Love you.

And she really did, she thought. In so many ways, she didn’t deserve the loyal, dependable Will. Especially after she’d cut him out of her life so brutally. But he’d kept reappearing – through chance, or design – until she’d finally been able to see the truth that was right in front of her all along.

It was her promise to Sam that had prompted her to go to the party. She’d accepted an invitation to the pub after work, and her colleague Rachel had taken the chance to persuade her on another night out. Two glasses of wine down and more at onewith the world than she’d been for some time, Sophie had found herself accepting the invite.

‘There’ll be some fit blokes there too,’ Rachel – who had no idea about Sophie’s past and so couldn’t be blamed for being tactless – said. ‘I’ll introduce you to some of them.’

‘Thanks, but no thanks.’

‘Oh, live a little. Think of those rowers’ arms!’ Rachel had said, flexing a rather pathetic bicep and grinning.

Rachel’s brother, Ted, was a rower, and trained with the professional club. The party was to be held at the clubhouse – an annual event to mark the summer and the tail end of the regatta season. Apparently, it was ‘the more the merrier,’ especially when it came to women. ‘There are like 75 per cent men at the club,’ Rachel had told her. ‘Ted is relying on me to even up the numbers.’

‘Oh, OK,’ she’d said, draining her glass and looking at her watch. ‘If you insist.’

Which is why she found herself the following Saturday night wearing a dress that hadn’t left her closet for years, and standing awkwardly near the bar of the clubhouse as people conversed loudly around her. The air was filled with the kind of posh, raucous laughter that only seemed to come from privileged people; for a moment she was brought back to the summer ball all those years ago – when everything had seemed so awful; before she’d known what awful really meant.

‘Sophie!’ cried a voice, and Rachel made her way past groups of chatting men, grabbed her and kissed her on each cheek. ‘You came!’

‘Yep!’ she said, trying to smile. ‘Look, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay long. I’m?—’

‘Sure, sure,’ said Rachel, clearly already a few glasses down. ‘But look, let me introduce you to some of the gang.’ She grabbedSophie’s hand and led her through the mingling groups to a table at the back of the room were several people sat and chatted.

‘Guys!’ she said loudly, making Sophie blush. ‘This is Sophie from school. I mean, she’s a teacher, obviously, not a pupil,’ she tittered. ‘Sophie, this is the gang. Ted, Archie, Simon, Flick and Will.’

Sophie smiled as the seated group turned to look at her. And then she gave an unexpected gasp.

‘I think we already know each other,’ Will said, standing up and giving her a brief hug. His arms were strong and warm inside his polo shirt, his smile open and friendly. She embraced him too, awkwardly, aware that it was she who’d dropped contact and eventually unfriended him on social media. It hadn’t been personal, it had been survival. The only way she could keep going had been to push Tom and everything associated with him to the back of her mind.

‘Hi, Will!’ she said, trying to sound upbeat. ‘Long time no see!’

‘Yes.’ He smiled and moved away from the table, touching her upper back lightly, then found a space for them on the crowded floor. ‘It’s good to see you. Seriously.’

‘You too.’ And she realised it was true. Because somehow, over the months apart, he’d become ‘just Will’ again. ‘Sorry for being crap,’ she added.

He laughed. ‘If we’re going to apologise for all the times we’ve been crap, we could be here forever.’

She smiled. ‘Still. I unfriended you on Facebook.’

‘You did?’ He looked genuinely surprised. ‘I don’t actually go on there much these days.’

She laughed. She’d been worried when she’d done it that she might upset him. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Well, in that case, forget I said anything.’

He smiled at her. ‘Want to get out of here for a bit? Get some air?’

She nodded. ‘If you do.’

It was a relief to step out of the noisy clubhouse and into the warm evening air. The Cam sparkled and caught the sunlight, reflected the blue endless sky. She breathed deeply, feeling the air fill her lungs, and then she let it out in an enormous sigh.

‘You OK?’ Will said, grinning at the noise.

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