Page 86 of One Night in Edinburgh

This is good news, Steph. You can gain some experience at that level and then use it to get a senior role in a better paid sector.

Dad:

Just what I was thinking, Marjory. Steph, you are on the up! It’s taken a while to get there, but ending your relationship with Connor seems to have been exactly what you needed to get you on the right track.

By the time I’ve read all three messages I’m seething: why is everything about money or status with them? They couldn’t see this as a genuine success for me; all because it won’t come with an obscene pay rise, and isn’t in some highfalutin private sector company. I’m so hacked off, I don’t even wait around to see what Mikey’s reply will be. I snap the cover across my phone and stuff it into my handbag.

‘So that drink?’ Calum’s clearly picked up on my mood.

‘Absolutely,’ I mutter and follow him out of the function room, trying to ignore the handful of eyes on us as we go.

‘Well done on getting the hotel stay,’ I say, once we’re out in the corridor, heading for the bar. ‘Was that your plan all along to swoop in like that?’

He shrugs. ‘I didn’t see the need to join the early bidding. I was always planning to make a sizable donation, so I thought I’d leave the others to provide the entertainment – which they certainly did.’

‘Yes. I thought at one point I was going to have to referee their fight in the car park.’

‘Now that I would have loved to see.’

‘Thank you, by the way.’ I give him a sideways glance. ‘For making such a significant pledge. It means so much to us.’

‘I’d give more if I could. It’s a great cause. So important that all kids have a fair chance in life.’

We reach the bar and Calum insists on buying the drinks, which we then decide to take outside to the same area where Anna and I sat the day before. The darkness and the night air feel so good after the intensity of the evening so far.

‘Can we walk a bit with our drinks?’ I ask.

‘Of course. Where would you like to go?’

‘Into the garden.’ I point across the rolling lawn, which is illuminated by a bright full moon so big and imposing, it feels like we could almost reach out and touch it.

We wander across the grass and I feel an urge to take off my shoes – not least because my heels keep sinking into the grass, making it difficult to walk. Calum reaches across and takes them by the straps, making me feel like a privileged young woman in a historical drama being courted by a wealthy man. It’s also useful because it means that if I trip then I have a free hand to save myself with – and hopefully my drink.

‘Tell me about yourself, Steph,’ says Calum. ‘Apart from working for a charity, what’s your thing? What makes you tick?’

Jamie. Jamie makes me tick.

I push this invasive thought aside and take a slug from my G&T. ‘I… um… gosh, I don’t know. I like walking, reading…’

‘Drinking…’ Calum jokes.

‘Ha ha… funny. I don’t always overdo it the way I have tonight. I was nervous about leading the event and…’ I trail off: the truth is that my breakup with Jamie and the fact that I thought I saw him earlier is also why I’ve drunk like a fish all evening.

‘And what?’

‘Oh… err… it’s nothing. So, are you going to kiss me or what?’

Nothing like diving into the arms of another man to get Jamie off my mind.

Calum stops and looks at me. ‘I’d like to, but you seem a bit… heartbroken. And well, your friend said to go gently with you. I get the impression I’m going to be nothing more than your rebound guy.’

I wince at how that makes me look. ‘Sorry, Calum. I’m fresh out of a breakup and a feeling a little delicate.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

I shrug. ‘It is what it is.’

As we stand there awkwardly, I feel angry at Jamie. He doesn’t want me, so he shouldn’t get to interfere in my life.

---