Page 45 of Best Mistake Ever
‘I guess I could try and persuade my dad to hold off on selling the place for a bit longer and try and get a loan from the bank to do the refurbishments. I’ll need to put a business proposaltogether for it though, so I can be confident I can pay it back once the hotel’s up and running properly. I’ve been reluctant to do that up till now because… well, I guess I didn’t want to do it on my own.’
There’s something a little sad in the smile she gives me when I turn to look at her, or perhaps it’s wariness.
‘You don’t think I should do that?’ I ask.
She shakes her head. ‘No, no, I do. It’d be a shame not to. It could be a really profitable venture.’
‘Yeah. We just need to get the level of luxury right.’
‘And use its natural assets. You have that wonderful lake. You could get some rowing boats and hire them out to guests. Perhaps arrange picnics for them to have on the bank in good weather. And put up a pagoda to hold wedding ceremonies in, maybe.’
Bad memories rush back into my head and I give a shudder.
She frowns. ‘Too twee?’
I shake my head. ‘No, no, nothing like that. It’s just… I hate the idea of returning to the scene of the crime.’
When I glance at her, I see her nose is wrinkled. ‘What crime? Did I miss something? Was there a death there or something?’
‘Only the death of my reputation,’ I try to joke, but it falls flat.
She blinks at me, appearing confused. ‘Sorry, I don’t get what you mean.’
I stop and turn to stare at her. I thought everyone in the country had witnessed my humiliation. I’d have thought Dee would definitely know about it. She seems pretty social media savvy. But from the look on her face, I’m guessing it’s somehow passed her by.
‘You mean you didn’t see the meme?’ I ask incredulously. ‘I thought the entire human race had seen it. It certainly felt like that the weeks after it went viral.’
‘I’m afraid I didn’t,’ she says.
I’m really surprised by this, but I can hear the clear ring of truth in her voice, so I know she’s not taking the piss.
‘The way Tessa and I broke up?’
‘Nope. Sorry. You’re going to have to fill me in.’
‘You don’t want to hear this shit.’
‘I really do. Please. Tell me.’
From the expression on her face, it seems she means it too and she’s not going to let me get away with brushing it to one side.
I sigh, wishing I’d kept my mouth shut now. But there’s no point keeping it from her; she’s bound to find out at some point from someone else. And I’d much rather she heard the full truth about it from me.
‘You know those romcoms where the audience knows that the girl’s with the wrong guy at the start of the movie but she spends the whole time kidding herself she really does want to be with him, even though he’s clearly a loser?’
‘Yeah, my sister, De-Beatrice has made me watch a few of those with her. They’re not really my bag though.’
‘Then at the end, the guy she’s meant to be with all along crashes some big important event and proclaims his love to her in some vomit-inducing grand gesture and she falls into his arms and everyone breathes a sigh of relief that she’s finally made the right choice?’
‘Yeah…’
‘Well, I’m the loser in that scenario.’
‘What? What are you talking about? You can’t be.’
‘And yet that’s exactly what happened with me and my ex.’
‘You’re kidding, right?’
