He laughs deeply, throwing his head back before reaching across the table and grabbing a stick. We bite into them in tandem, eyes widening at the sheer, rich, deep-fried nectar that befalls our mouths.
‘A definite yes,’ he says.
‘No question.’
Kendrick clears our plates away and pours us more water as we wait for the mains. I guzzle it down quickly. So quickly, in fact, that Aiden slides his own glass over before my empty one has even touched the table. I nod back in thanks and he shrugs it off instantly, watching as I knock back his too.
‘So, what’s Benji saying?’
I stare back blankly so he nods towards my phone, reminding me that I am supposedly in good, regular contact with Benji.
‘Oh, right, yes. Nothing important.’ I’m babbling. ‘We were just trying to make some plans for this weekend.’
It’s not entirely a lie. . . Ihavebeen pestering Benji for at least his availability so I can try to plan something nice this weekend.
‘Plans with Benji?’ Aiden’s eyes grow weary. ‘This weekend?’
‘Yes,’ I say, confused. ‘It doesn’t go against the bet. You said I could make plans a week in adva—’
‘You can’t. You’re busy.’
I blink. ‘What?’
‘Wehave plans this weekend.’
I roll my eyes before shaking off his weak attempt at a joke.
‘I’m serious,’ he says.
‘Yeah, sure,’ I say sarcastically. ‘What are we doing, then?’
‘Maddy. The overnight.’
I stop dead in my tracks, my blood running cold at the thought as I frantically reach in my handbag for ourPLANSbinder. I plonk it on the table and flick through it maniacally, desperately searching the timeline and scanning for this weekend’s dates. Lo and behold,OVERNIGHTstretches from Friday to Sunday in perfectly printed ink.
‘It’s that time already?’ I say.
‘You didn’t put it in your calendar?’
‘Nice try. I haven’t used a personal calendar in almost five months.’
He feigns a scowl, doing his best to act mad at the revelation, but I can see how impressed he is. ‘Well, I have.’
He whips out his counterattack.: a deep-orange suede book, the year embossed on the front. He pauses dramatically, waiting for me to take it all in– let the book and me really have our moment. Once I’m done, he flicks through to the month of June, whereOvernightis written in purple from the eighth to the tenth.
‘I use purple for everything work-related,’ he says boastfully.
‘You need to stop talking about your colour coding; I’m getting emotional.’ I’m half-joking.
‘Weirdo,’ he says teasingly, as I quickly message Benji again.
Acc, can’t do Saturday. . . Next weekend? Xx
‘So I’m guessing you haven’t packed, then,’ Aiden continues.
I huff in response. ‘You’d be right.’
And, come to think of it, I haven’t done any laundry in a couple of weeks. . . Kimi deleted my reminders when she deleted my calendar. It’s been a struggle.
