“Not really.”
“He wasn’t expecting it.”
“What?”
“To like you so much. And it’s taken him by surprise.”
I smile without realising.
“And he doesn’t think you could ever really like him.”
“You know, right, that things aren’t real between us?” I feel like I have to point this out, given the nature of the conversation.
“Then why did you ask me to talk?”
“Oh, well, I just wanted to… I wanted to see whether…”
“You wanted to know whether he’d said anything to me.”
I shake my head, embarrassed. I’m an idiot. I can’t believe I’ve fallen for this.
“You like him, right? You really like my brother.”
I don’t know whether to be completely honest, so I take my time answering. “It’s complicated…”
“Complicated? Complicated is what happens in my head.”
I smile.
“It stopped being pretend a while ago, since I found you at his house.”
I scratch my head, uncomfortable. “I don’t know.”
Mila takes another drag, then pushes away from the wall, standing in front of me. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I know for sure that my brother doesn’t want things to end before they’re supposed to.”
“So you’re saying he wants to keep going?”
“I’m saying you both want to.”
I smile, unsure why I’m so relieved.
“Is this what you wanted to ask me? You wanted to know whether Sean was still pretending to pretend to be your boyfriend?”
“I think so… I’m not really sure.”
Mila laughs, putting her cigarette out in the ashtray beside the back door to the restaurant kitchen.
“You want some advice, Eric? Call him. Now.”
“You think that…?”
“Of course I do! Actually, Iknowthat he’ll be laid out on the sofa with his phone in his hand, waiting for a certain talented, charming chef to call him and put him out of his misery.”
I laugh. Mila winks at me before going back inside. I pull another cigarette from the pack, more nervous than I’ve possibly ever been. I light it, even though I’ve just finished the other one, and pull my phone from my pocket before I can change my mind. Two rings before his voice makes me smile like an idiot, alone, in a dark, damp alleyway.
“Hey,” I say, as soon as I hear his voice.
“Hey,” he says, clearing his throat. “Hi.”
