Page 21 of The Wedding Pact
There was a moment when they weren’t sure how to greet each other. They’d gone from strangers to sharing a home together in less than a day. A wave? A handshake? A hug? A kiss on the cheek? All of the above?
They wavered, both let out a nervous laugh, and made the joint decision at the last minute to go in for a hands-on-arms, quick-peck-on-the-cheek hello. For a tiny fraction of a second when the skin of their cheeks touched, a breath of August’s perfume and Flynn’s aftershave fused together in the air between them.
Chapter 16
Flynn
Sitting in the window of the pizzeria, Flynn couldn’t quite believe how much his fortunes had changed in twenty-four hours. This time last night he was eating instant noodles courtesy of his hotel kettle, nursing his blistered feet and desperately re-scouring the property websites for anything he’d missed. He’d widened his searches to nearby villages, upped his budget as much as he could possibly stretch it, and then spilled tea on what had been (until now) his last remaining sweatshirt.
And now, he had a home. Even with a two-week delay before moving in, at least he had it sorted. It was strange and satisfying and sad all at once because he wouldn’t be living with Yui this time, but he would belivingagain, rather than in this strange twilight zone of jet lag and hotel room.
August, this woman who had gone from stranger, to potential flatmate, to fake wife, and was now maybe a new friend, asked him, ‘What did you do with the rest of your day?’
‘I bought some shirts and a clean jumper to wear,’ Flynn said, gesturing to himself. ‘The last thing I needed was to drip melted cheese over my suit before my first day tomorrow.’
‘It looks nice,’ August commented, taking a seat and signalling to the waitress for a beer also. ‘I mean, it’s a nice jumper.’
‘Thanks. It’s a little too warm if I push the sleeves down though, and a little too cold if I push them up.’
‘Poor Goldilocks.’
‘I know, right? My life is so complicated.’ They smiled at each other, and there was a brief pause in the conversation. When August’s beer arrived, along with some smoked almonds to nibble on, they both made a comment about how the food ‘hit the spot’, and then fell quiet again after placing their pizza orders.
Flynn leaned forward and said in a low voice, ‘We haven’t run out of things to talk about already, have we?’
At that, August laughed, a big, head-thrown-back laugh. ‘Why are we being so weird?’ she said.
‘My mind has gone blank! I could tell you about my new jumper again?’
‘Oh my God, that was so fascinating, could you go over the parts about the temperature of your forearms one more time?’ They paused again, sipping their beers, and August said, ‘I don’t think we’ve run out of things to talk about, I think I just don’t know where to begin.’
‘I think you’re right. I keep nearly saying things and then thinking, did I already cover that this morning?’
‘We talked for a long time this morning. But … don’t take this the wrong way … ’ August hesitated. ‘I don’t remember a lot of what you said.’
It was Flynn’s turn to laugh hard. ‘I thought it was just me! I can barely remember a thing from our conversations!’
‘I know I had fun talking to you, and I found you interesting, but most of the time I was just thinking about the open house.’
‘I’m really a good listener most of the time, I promise, I just need a good night’s sleep.’
‘Do you think you’ll get that tonight?’ August asked.
‘Almost certainly not, but I hope so. Just knowing I have a place lined up again now makes me feel a lot calmer. I can put up with another couple of weeks of the hotel now there’s an end in sight, and I don’t have to try and squeeze in house-hunting after hours.’
They ordered another round of beers, and both relaxed into their surroundings. August looked at Flynn. ‘Let’s slow things down and start again from the beginning. If we go over old ground, so be it. Tell me again what happened to the house you were supposed to move into when you flew in from Japan – you said something about the owners splitting up?’
‘Yes, exactly that. Quite sad really. It happened while I was on the flight over, but I didn’t check my voicemail until I was already on the coach heading towards Bath, and they broke the news that they couldn’t take in a lodger anymore, and would I mind finding somewhere else at this time. They offered to pay for a hotel for me until I found a new home, but I didn’t want to do that to them. Divorce can be expensive enough, and I was supposed to be helping them out, money-wise, not costing them more.’
‘So, if you’d found out as soon as you got off the plane, would you have gone straight back to Japan?’
‘No,’ Flynn said, and for a moment he drifted to somewhere else, to the other side of the world, before he returned to the present. ‘No, but I might have just stayed at an airport hotel in London for the night instead.’
‘Do you miss Japan?’ August asked, catching Flynn’s faraway look.
‘I mean, I’ve only been back in England for forty-eight hours,’ he replied.
‘That doesn’t answer my question.’
