‘He was.’ Cooper put down the menu as the waitress approached. ‘Which is sort of why I’m here.’
They gave their orders before resuming the conversation.
Ben pretended to be shocked. ‘So you didn’t ask to meet up because you missed me?’
‘Of course, I missed you. Who wouldn’t miss that face? But I also need a new job. And Prof Cole has offered me one.’
‘What, the big-money sell-out didn’t pay off? How does Bridget feel about that?’
Cooper took a swig of beer. ‘It paid very nicely for four years, until it didn’t. And why would Bridget care?’
‘Well, after turning down the job so you could have it…’ Ben raised his eyebrows.
‘What?’ Cooper’s breath froze in his chest. ‘She didn’t do that. Bridget would never have considered leaving Nottingham.’
‘Man, you didn’t know?’ Ben sat back, his face creased with guilt, and Cooper knew him well enough to recognise it as genuine. ‘I thought she told you everything.’
‘Why would she turn down a job at IPD and stay working for Cole? You know how he treated her.’
Ben put his drink down, his face serious. ‘Because she knew you needed it more than her. The confidence boost as much as the career. I mean, no offence, man, but you were kind of… lost back then.’
Cooper’s face felt numb when he tried to speak. ‘I can’t believe she turned down an opportunity like that for me.’
If he’d known he’d never have taken it. Which was, of course, why she never told him.
‘You were her best friend, Cooper. Considering how far she went out of her way for people she didn’t even like, it’s not that surprising. Remember that time she invited Evil Stephanie to move in with us, and we had to stage an intervention to throw her out again?’
They moved on to more stories from the past, but the whole time Cooper’s mind was whirring, processing what Ben had told him. As much as he could convince himself that Bridget would have always ended up staying to be near her family and Paolo, if that was true, then why hadn’t she told him she’d been offered the job? He’d known she’d applied, but she’d made out it was for the experience, and because she was under pressure from her careers advisor, with no expectations of it resulting in anything.
Crap.
He should have known. There was no way he’d have been a better candidate than Bridget Donovan.
Eventually, when their meal had been reduced to a few chips and a smear of relish, Ben brought them back onto topic.
‘Are you taking the job?’
‘I think so.’
Cooper tried to look up, seem casual, stuff down the old feelings of being a nobody, with nothing, having to rely on pity and handouts. ‘But I need somewhere to stay. I don’t suppose you know anyone looking for a housemate?’ He winced. ‘One who won’t be too bothered about a deposit or first month’s rent in advance.’
‘Sure.’ Ben nodded, cramming in his last few chips. ‘You can stay with me.’
‘Seriously?’ I mean, he’d been hoping, but not expecting…
‘Yeah, why not? To be honest, there’s not as much money in the low-budget documentary industry as I originally thought. Too many people deciding to film their own depressing stories about how everything’s gone to hell, to save them paying me to do it. I’ve even turned to the dark side.’
‘What? You’re filming weddings?’ Now, that did make Cooper laugh, remembering the bitter contempt with which Ben had viewed anyone lowering themselves to wedding photography.
‘Yeah, well. Once I realised I can get two grand on top of a free holiday to go and film destination weddings, I decided to reassess my standards.’ Ben downed the last of his beer. ‘Four hundred pounds a month, and we split the bills. No leaving your crap everywhere.’
‘Saturday all right to move in?’
‘Deal.’
* * *
The following Monday, Cooper walked into the lab where he had done the bulk of his third-year research project. It was as if nothing had changed: the ceiling tile next to the fume hood was still falling down, and the pile of random boxes towered in one corner. Apart from a couple of new machines and some different equipment, the main difference was that the old lab assistant, Pat, who used to keep everything running smoothly, had been replaced by an Asian guy who looked about fifteen. With four years at IPD behind him, Cooper viewed what had once seemed so exciting and cutting edge as in reality quite tired and outdated – a lot more probably should have changed, and he hoped that he could help rectify that soon. But, if he was honest, all of that was a side issue. Bridget’s dad used to say that bad workmates turned a dream job into a nightmare, and the right ones could make a terrible job worth getting up for in the morning. He knew that Bear Donovan would agree there couldn’t be a better person to waste a year on a pointless, idiotic project with than his youngest daughter.
