Page 29 of One Night in Edinburgh

‘You come out with me for drinks tomorrow night.’

‘That’s an easy condition to meet.’ Anna looks delighted. ‘Hell, yeah. I love a Friday night out.’

‘Great. We’re going to have a night out at The Shore.’

‘The Shore? We never hang out there.’

‘I know.’ I do my best to keep my expression neutral. ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to give it a try?’

As we approach the entrance to Tesco on Duke Street, I dig in my purse for some change, and give it to the homeless man begging outside.

‘Cheers, darlin’,’ he calls up to me. ‘You’re always so good to me.’

‘No problem,’ I smile kindly at him. ‘I’ll bring you a sandwich on my way out.’

‘Buy him a good one and I’ll pay half,’ says Anna. ‘Anyway, so, The Shore tomorrow night. It’s a bit different, but I guess it could be fun. It was certainly a good laugh on Hogmanay… wait a second…’

I pretend to be immersed in choosing my sandwich, as Anna eyeballs me suspiciously. Her stare is so hard I can feel it on the side of my head.

‘You want to go out at The Shore to try to find Jamie!’ Her tone is accusatory.

‘What?No, I don’t.’ I feel my face turn beetroot.

‘Yes, you do. Steph, you’re the worst liar in the world. So don’t even try to convince me that’s not what you’re up to.’

I turn and face her defiantly. ‘So, what if it is? He said he was living in Leith, and it’s not that big a place, so what’s the harm in seeing if we bump into him while we’re out and about?’

Anna plucks a cheese-and-ham sandwich from the refrigerated shelf and sighs with exasperation. ‘No harm in that, I guess. Provided we only do it once.’

‘But… what if he goes out on Saturday instead of Friday?’

‘Then your paths are not destined to cross. Steph, he could go out or not go out on any weekend or on any blinking night of the week. That strategy is doomed to failure. I’ll entertain your crazy plan for one night, if you promise me you’ll join a dating app and go on a minimum of three dates.’

‘OK, deal.’ I cross my fingers that our night out will come up trumps and I won’t have to go on any dates at all – other than with gorgeous Jamie, of course.

By the time Friday night rolls in, and we’re on the bus to The Shore after a bite to eat at my apartment, I’m fizzing with nervous anticipation. The idea that we might walk into one of the bars and see Jamie sitting there is so exciting, but also hugely nerve-wracking. What would I even say to him? ‘Hey there, remember me?’ It’s not like he’d have forgotten in such a short time. ‘We forgot to swap digits.’ Maybe a bit forward to start the conversation that way. ‘Do you come here often?’ Yuck. Super cheesy.

I decide I’m overthinking things. The conversation flowed between us before. There’s no reason why that wouldn’t happen again. The main thing is that I track him down, and then I can take things from there.

We start at the same bar we were in on Hogmanay, but there’s no sign of him. I even try asking the barman if he knows Jamie, but my question is met with a curious look – especially when I’m unable to give any other details about him, such as his surname.

‘The barman treated me as if I’m some kind of bunny boiler there,’ I say to Anna as I plonk our G&Ts down on the table.

‘You didn’t ask him if he knew Jamie, did you?’

‘I did. What’s the harm in that?’

‘I’m not even going to answer that question.’ She picks up her glass, clinks it against mine, and takes a refreshing sip while shaking her head at me.

‘If this were a Hollywood romance, my searching for the man of my dreams would be considered romantic.’

‘Nice try. This is nothing like a Hollywood movie. I’m already on the verge of disowning you over this, and I dread to think what you’ll be like once you’ve got a few of those down your neck.’ She nods towards my drink.

‘You wouldn’t do that.’ I stick my tongue out at her.

‘Nah, probably not, unfortunately. You’re lucky you’re cute enough to pull this whole thing off.’

‘Aww, thanks. Shame the barman didn’t agree.’

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