‘I took your advice.’
‘Which bit?’ Ben’s mouth creased up. ‘I hand out so much, I lose track of it all.’
‘About finding someone else.’
Ben turned round to look at him properly, taking another bite of bacon cob. ‘That was quick. Have you found someone you like, or just decided to start looking?’
Cooper swallowed the last mouthful of bread, screwing up the wrapper and throwing it into the nearby bin. ‘It’s a bit more serious than that.’
‘What? How serious can it be in less than two weeks?’
‘I’m getting married on the 11th May. Providing you’re free to film it, of course.’
Ben stared at him, mouth open. ‘You’ve signed up to your own experiment. Even knowing it’s a pile of crap. Must have been some woman who applied.’
‘Yeah.’ Cooper nudged a stone on the gravel footpath with his toe. ‘Bridget’s sister.’
Every trace of amusement dropped off Ben’s face. ‘Man. That is… are you sure? In what universe can marrying the sister of the woman you’ve been in love with for years be a good idea? Let alone when you’re not even in a relationship with the sister. And haven’t met her. Have you met her?’
Cooper nodded. ‘A couple of times. She’s… great.’ He looked up at the clear April sky. ‘And I’ve not been in love with Bridget for years. I’ve notseenher in years. Besides, according to your great theory on love and marriage, no one’s in love with the same person forever. This is me moving on to someone else. I’m happy about it.’
‘Does Bridget know?’
‘Yes.’
‘She’s happy about it?’
‘Why wouldn’t she be? Her friend marries her sister. She marries Paolo. Happy-ever-after all round.’
They turned to start walking home. After a while Ben said, ‘Well, I think you’re insane to even think about it, but I wish you well, mate.’
‘In that case, I have a couple of things to ask you,’ Cooper replied.
Ben glanced at him. ‘You’re not going to ask me to be your best man?’
Cooper returned the look.
‘Aren’t I meant to be filming the wedding? How am I supposed to do both?’
Cooper shrugged. ‘You only need to record the actual ceremony, and then maybe a couple of interviews afterwards.’
Ben sighed. ‘You haven’t got anyone else to ask, have you?’ He shook his head. ‘No stag do though. And no speech.’
‘Believe me, I think one of your speeches on marriage is the last thing anyone wants. Cheers though, honestly. It might help make me appear a bit more normal.’
They reached the pedestrian crossing in front of the apartment block, and stood waiting for the lights to change.
‘What was the other one?’ Ben asked. ‘You said a couple of things.’
‘Oh, well. Given that you’re planning on travelling for work a fair bit over the next few months, I was wondering how you felt about my new wife moving in?’
* * *
Emma
Monday, I spent deciding what sort of wedding I wanted, given I had twelve days to arrange it. Every time Bridget messaged or called to update me on the groom’s reply, it hit me a little harder that this was a Real Life Man, who I would soon be living with, and trying to learn how to love – calling him the groom might distract from the fact that he’d soon be my husband, but it didn’t make it any less true. Anyway, he was happy to let me plan the whole event, and in return he’d sort us a short honeymoon and buy me a ring. He was bringing one guest, his best man, due to his family living abroad. I wondered if the lack of relatives nearby might explain why he was prepared to marry a stranger. And better absent in-laws than nightmare ones, I supposed.
When I sent Bridget a frantic text asking why he only had one friend, she replied that he only had one friendcoming to a last-minute wedding, with next to no budget, under circumstances that a lot of friends would find hard to get their heads round. And then she asked me how many friends I was bringing. Answer: Nita and Vik.
