Page 101 of The Wedding Pact
He seemed distracted though this evening, focussed on something else, more like he was the first time they met than the last few times, especially last weekend. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked him.
‘Hmm? Oh yes, I’m fine,’ he said, and took a gulp of his wine. ‘How are you? How was work today?’
‘Good, actually, I finished a bit early and came home to do a bit of recording and found out I’d been booked for another job, voicing a cartoon character for an episode of a new Netflix series!’
‘That’s amazing!’
‘It’s just on one episode, not like, a recurring character, but still.’ August couldn’t help but beam. She’d never voiced a cartoon character before, and she nearly hadn’t gone for the role. But she’d had a photo text from Flynn during his first few days in Japan, showing a pile of interestingly flavoured KitKats he’d bought for her, and she’d taken the colourful animal characters on the front of some of them as a sign.
‘I think that’s very cool,’ Abe nodded, and then drifted back into silence again.
‘Are you sure everything is all right with your mum? You seem … distracted,’ asked August.
‘Yes, well. Is Flynn still in Japan?’
‘Yep, for another week-ish,’ she answered, her answer feeling loaded.
‘Great. I mean, not great, for him. But.’ Abe stopped talking and stood up in front of her as if he was about to declare something, before backing off and leaning against the back of the sofa, maintaining a distance between the two of them.
Eventually he spoke, his voice soft, his eyes downcast. ‘I feel stupid. Because I came home early this weekend, not for Mum, she’s probably sick of the sight of me by now, but … to see you.’
August held her breath.What did this mean?‘To see me?’
He nodded and rubbed a palm across his forehead, before gulping at his wine again. ‘I’m so, so stupid, and I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it, I’m not trying to muscle in on anything just because Flynn’s away. I’m just lonely and we get on, that’s all.’ He stood up, flustered.
August stood too. Abe liked her. She was sure this is what he was saying. Wasn’t it? Or was it just like he said, that he was lonely and he saw her as a friend, but felt like that was encroaching on a boundary?
She should tell him the truth. Right now. She could just let the words spill out that she was single and then whatever he was thinking would be okay. She and Flynn had spoken about how this couldn’t go on for ever, after all … sort of. She opened her mouth but the words caught in her throat.
Abe went to the door. ‘I should go up to Mum. Let me know if you want to hang out at all this weekend. Or not. As friends, of course.’
‘Abe—’ she stuttered and he turned, looking at her with a sadness that made her want to wrap her arms around him. Those words were right there:I’m single.I’m not really married to Flynn.Do you like me?But instead she said, ‘Shall we get dinner or something tomorrow, and just chat?’
Abe nodded at that, his lips parted like he wanted to say – or do – something else, but he then clamped them shut and turned to walk out the door.
‘Tomorrow, then?’ August clarified.
He looked back at her. ‘Tomorrow.’
August wasn’t sure what they’d both agreed to, exactly, but she had until tomorrow to decide what she wanted.
Chapter 75
Flynn
The third time Flynn nearly sliced into his finger instead of a mushroom, his mother took the knife out of his hand and replaced it with a beer. ‘You’re no use to me in this state, Flynn,’ she scolded, softly. ‘Just leave it to me.’
Flynn sat on a bar stool in his parents’ kitchen, their window facing out onto a lake, Mount Fuji’s peak visible in the background on a clear day, like today. His father was in the garden, finding extra fresh vegetables to add to their lunch, and Flynn had spent the morning, well, actually the whole time since he’d boarded the train and returned from Tokyo last weekend, thinking about his future. And his past.
‘Can we talk about Yui yet?’ Mrs Miyoshi asked. She spoke to him in her native English, just as happy to utilise that language as Flynn had been to use his Japanese when he arrived back in the country.
Flynn laughed at that. ‘Of course, what do you want to know?’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ his mum said. ‘How is she? How did it go? Are you still in love with her?’
‘She’s fine, good even. Happy, actually. It was nice to see her – and no, I’m not still in love with her.’
‘Oh.’
