‘So whereisAlistair?’ Bibi looks irritated. ‘I want to meet him.’
Nick glances at me, amused.
‘This is our flatmate, Bibi,’ I explain, a little embarrassed.
‘That’s not her real name, though!’ Louise gets too close to Nick’s face. She seems to be studying it. ‘It’s Bethany or Bailey.’ She veers back to Bibi, who is shaking her head. ‘Or Bobbie?’
‘Alistair’s at the bar.’ A bemused Nick points Bibi in Alistair’s direction. ‘If you hurry, you might get a drink out of him.’ She leaps to attention, bounding eagerly through the crowds.
‘So, how are you, Louise?’ Nick grins widely as they regard each other. ‘Is life good?’
‘Really good.’ She bats her eyelashes, drinking him in, and I give her an elbow. I know she had a big crush on him at school, but has she forgotten about a certain long-term relationship?
‘Er, Louise, have you made up with Sven yet?’ I ask pointedly before adding as an aside to Nick, ‘Lou’s boyfriend.’
She pouts. ‘Kind of. But not really.’
‘Oh no.’ I turn more towards her. ‘Is it theare you OKargument still?’ adding quickly to Nick, ‘He asked her if she was OK. The twat.’
Nick nods with faux understanding, his eyes twinkling. ‘I see.’
Lou takes a deep breath. ‘Right, so I stewed for a few days, but last night I decided I was over the argument – totally over it – and ready to be the bigger person. Y’know’ – she narrows her eyes at Nick – ‘forgive and forget. So when he got to our place last night, I sat him down on the bed and said, “Look, Sven, I’m sorry for how I acted the other night.”?’
‘That was so good of you,’ I tell her and she glows.
‘I know, right!’ Then her face darkens. ‘But you willneverguess what he said.’
Nick leans in, blinking hard behind his glasses. ‘What did he say?’
‘Uh oh,’ I offer, wary.
Louise takes a big, deep inhale before answering. ‘He said, “Don’t worry about it.”?’ She looks at me and Nick with naked astonishment. ‘He said I shouldn’t worry about it because I was tired and he was happy to just forget about it.’
I shake my head slowly, not sure what she needs from me right now.
‘Can youbelievethat?’ She joins me in the slow shake. ‘Hedidn’t say sorry back, he said not to worry about it – as if I really, actually had something to say sorry for! I was only saying sorry to be a good person. I expected him to go, “Oh, babe, no, you have nothing to be sorry for, it was all my fault!” And then apologize a lot, y’know?’
‘Heinous,’ Nick says, joining in with the head shaking and the three of us shake our heads some more.
She beams at him, pleased to see he gets it. ‘So anyway,’ she sighs, ‘it felt petty to tell him I take back the sorry and he can sod off, so I got into bed fully clothed and went to sleep without another word. Hopefully he had a good long think about his bloodydon’t worry about it.’
‘Quite right,’ Nick says, nodding now instead of shaking his head. ‘But if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to pop to the loo. Great to see you both.’ He pauses before adding to me, brow arched, ‘Good that you and Alistair are back in touch.’
‘Right,’ I say, feeling weird. ‘And best of luck with Jackie Weaver. I hope you give her plenty of authority.’
Louise launches at him for another hug and I pull her back. Nick gives us a little wave as he heads for the gents’ and Lou watches him leave, a thoughtful expression on her face. ‘Jesus, Nick lookssofit, doesn’t he? I can’t believe how much he’s changed since Year Eleven. He’s such a…man, y’know? What was that about a Jackie? Is that his girlfriend?’
‘So you didn’t think you’d invite Sven tonight after thedon’t worry about itincident?’ I ask loudly, ignoring her question. Her head snaps back to me.
‘Definitely not!’ she pouts. ‘Forget Sven, what did you and Nick talk about before I got here? He seems so charming and sweet. I love his glasses. Remember him in the playground? Always playing football and being annoying.’
‘That was all the boys,’ I remind her and she nods. ‘And nothing really, just small talk. He’s got a dog, she’s got a people name.’
‘Nothing else?’ Louise looks exasperated. ‘You didn’t find out if he’s dating or married or anything at all?’
‘Why would you care about that, Lou?’ I narrow my eyes and she waves me away breezily.
‘What’s going on with the mission anyway?’ Her gaze wanders off again, back over in Nick’s direction. ‘Bibi said you’ve messaged Alex! That’s so great. I know that would’ve been tough, so well done.’
