Page 34 of The Wedding Pact
Flynn started things off. ‘So, the big question. Are we just going to pretend we’re married when we’re with Mrs H, or with everyone in the building?’
‘I think everyone in the building. I don’t think we should drag everyone else into a secret.’
‘Agreed.’
‘But I think with everyone else, and Mrs H, really, we don’t need to be super-explicit about it.’
‘Explicit?’ Flynn raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t planned to be. Was she imagining they’d be making out on the steps into the building?
‘As in, I don’t think we need to start marching the corridors referring to each other loudly as “DARLING HUSBAND” and “MY EXTRAORDINARILY BEAUTIFUL WIFE” or anything.’
Flynn smiled. ‘Gotcha.’
‘I really think we can get away with being pretty normal around people, nobody will be expecting us to start snogging in front of them.’
His eyes flittered to her lips, just for a millisecond.
August nodded, and seemed satisfied with that agreement. ‘The next step is that we need a backstory.’
‘Like, how we met, when we married, etc.?’
‘Exactly.’ She paused. ‘So how did we meet? When did we get married?’
‘How about we met at uni?’ Flynn suggested.
‘Which uni did you go to?’
‘Edinburgh, you?’
‘Ahh, I love Edinburgh. But I went to Exeter.’ August paused. ‘I don’t think we should say uni, it could open up a whole new can of worms. We could say we had a holiday romance somewhere?’
‘Sounds fun. We should pick somewhere we’ve both travelled to though, the devil is in the details and all that. Where have you been?’
August thought for a moment. ‘Where would be a romantic place to have met someone … I’m thinking ours should be a tale of “love at first sight, I knew right away he’d be my husband”, so maybe not a crowded bar in Mykonos. Ooh, how about a vineyard tour under the Tuscan sun? Have you been to Italy?’
Flynn shook his head. ‘I’m afraid not.’
‘What? You’ve never been to Italy? But it’s gorgeous!’
‘How about we go there for our anniversary,’ he teased. ‘Have you been to Portugal?’ He was picturing a pretty cove and August paddling in the water in the distance, probably wearing some billowing, rainbow-coloured kaftan.
But she shook her head. ‘Canada? Snowy mountains, meeting over a hot chocolate by the fireplace?’
‘’Fraid not. I’ve been to the US … ’
‘Me too!’ said August. ‘Where did you go?’
‘New York – you?’
‘Dammit. West Coast only.’
‘I’ve always wanted to travel around California, driving up that coastal road,’ Flynn mused.
‘It’s amazing. I’ll take you there for our second anniversary.’ August smiled at Flynn.
‘Did you say you’ve never been to Japan?’ he asked after a while, but she hadn’t.
‘Morocco? Hungary? Cuba?’ August suggested, and Flynn shook his head for each one.
