Page 42 of Falling for You
As I crash through the door of our flat, I make the mistake of glancing at myself in the hallway mirror and feel the instant surge of dismay I get every time I look at it. Penny put it up and she’s about two inches shorter than me, so when she looks in it she can see her lovely sunny reflection beaming back and then leave the house with the comfort of knowing that she’s about to have a great day. When I look, I only catch sight of my chins and neck and leave the house knowing that if I walk into Waitrose at Christmas then some tweedy toff might mistake me for one of the turkeys.
I fling open the suitcase in my room and start chucking things inside it. Clothes, make-up, pyjamas. I have about forty minutes until I need to leave the house to get the train back to Mum’s and Dad’s house.
‘Hello!’
I look round to see Penny and Tanya standing at my door, both looking a little pink-cheeked and suspicious. They climb onto my bed, Penny immediately burrowing her way under the covers like she always does (she says I have the bestbedding in the flat, which is true) and Tanya perches alongside her, in a far more respectful manner.
‘Hey,’ I say back.
‘What are you doing?’ Tanya asks. ‘Are you leaving us?’
‘Just for the weekend.’ I reach out and grab an electric-blue jumper I knitted last winter, swiftly throwing it into the suitcase. ‘Apparently I’ve been invited to my cousin’s christening.’ I look up at them both. ‘You don’t want to come, do you? Mum’s doing a stew tonight.’
Penny groans. ‘I’d love to, but I’m seeing Mike.’
‘I’ve got plans tomorrow,’ Tanya says apologetically. ‘You’ll have fun, though. Tell your parents I say hi.’
‘Me too.’
I smile, taking a handful of socks and lobbing them onto the pile of clothes. ‘I will.’
‘And before you go,’ Tanya adds, the suspicious look back on her face, ‘we’ve got something to tell you.’
‘We’ve been doing some detective work,’ Penny grins.
I raise my eyebrows at them. ‘What does that mean?’
I’m not sure I like where this is going.
‘Well,’ Tanya starts, clearly desperate to share. ‘We were both sad about your missed opportunity with American Boy.’
I feel a pang in my heart.
For God’s sake, get a grip, heart. You’ve met him once, for ten minutes!
‘And about him leaving without a trace and you never seeing him again,’ Penny adds.
‘So, we thought we’d help you find him,’ Tanya bursts, practically bouncing up and down at the idea.
I laugh. ‘How are you going to do that?’
‘Well, that’s what I said,’ Penny replies. ‘But then Tanya had the most brilliant idea.’
‘The guest list!’ Tanya cries. ‘His name must be on it. So, I spoke to my friend Yaz who was on the events team, and she gave me the list. All we have to do is find your guy on Instagram and bam! We’ve got him!’
I stare at her. Crikey, Tanya is wasted in PR. She should be a detective.
‘Is that allowed?’ I say. ‘What about GDPR?’
Penny huffs dismissively. ‘Nobody cares about that, Annie.’
‘I think they do.’
‘Nobody cares if it’s in the name of love,’ Tanya cries, beaming at me.
‘And if he does care, then you can just block him,’ Penny adds and Tanya nods supportively.
I’m about to protest again that this is a ridiculous idea, but curiosity begins to tickle behind my chest. Is American Boy’s name on that list? Could it really be that easy to find him? What if it is? What if he’s the love of my life and this is my happily ever after?
