Clutching a fluffy lilac handbag that was probably designed for a five-year-old, Bianca takes a seat opposite me and picks up the menu card. I don’t know why. She always orders the same thing.
“Vegetable lasagne and a diet coke please,” she tells the bored-looking waitress.
I order a cup of tea and a healthy salad. I’ve managed to avoid any discussions about Dan since yesterday morning’s phone call but Bianca insisted on meeting for lunch today, and I know from the eager look in her green eyes that Dan is going to be a hot topic for conversation.
“Have you had any more thoughts?” she asks subtly.
I could pretend that I don’t know what she’s talking about but it’s not like she’s going to drop it. “I’ve told you Bee, we are not getting back together.”
Her bottom lip quivers like a child who’s just been told off. “But he wants you back, Clo. It was all a mistake with Kylie.”
“It was one mistake too much. How much of a mug would I look if I just let him come home?”
“You still love him, don’t you?”
I look away from her, knowing how crushed she would be if I was honest. “I don’t know.”
“And it was only ever supposed to be a temporary thing,” she continues as though I’ve just released deep feelings of love for Dan. Sometimes I think she only hears what she wants to hear.
I glance up at her again. “Do you really think he’d move in with Kylie if they’d only just met? He’s been seeing her for months behind my back.”
The waitress interrupts then with our drinks.
Bianca sips her diet coke. “Okay, maybe he did meet Kylie a while ago but that doesn’t mean that he cheated on you.”
I cradle my hands around my mug of tea. “Just drop it.”
“I will if you do one little thing for me.” She smiles and I know that I’m not going to like whatever it is.
“What?” I sigh.
“I kind of told Dan that you’d meet him for a drink tonight.”
My mouth opens ready to protest but she holds up a hand to stop me.
“Please just meet him for one drink and listen to what he has to say. If, after that, you still don’t want to give things another go then I’ll never mention it again.”
Our food arrives and I think over Bianca’s offer. It would be nice if she’d shut up about Dan but is it worth going for a drink with him and listening to all his rubbish?
“I only have to go for one drink?” I clarify, mentally calculating how quickly I can knock back a vodka mixer.
“Yep,” she replies breezily. “Just one.”
“Deal.”
***
So here I am at a sports bar in Wakefield city centre feeling ridiculous to have bothered getting dressed up for Dan, who probably isn’t even coming. I glance down at my watch. He’s fifteen minutes late. Probably decided to stay in with Kylie instead.
I stand up and empty the rest of my glass.
“Can I get you another?” a familiar voice asks.
“Vodka and fresh orange,” I say quickly, handing Dan my glass.
He heads to the bar and I sit back down. I shouldn’t feel guilty about taking a free drink offer, not when I don’t even want to be here.
Dan reappears a minute later and slides my drink across the table to me before sitting down himself on the chair opposite. “Sorry I’m late,” he says conversationally.
I nod and sip my drink, hoping that the alcohol won’t go to my head too quickly. I’m not planning on being here that long.
“So…how are you?”
“Great!” I enthuse. “How are you and Kylie?”
“I’m not here to talk about Kylie.”
I take another gulp of my drink. Already half gone.
“You know why I’m here. I came to talk about us getting back together and Bianca said–“
“Bianca said what?” I cut him off. “That I’m all up for this happy reunion?”
“Well I did expect you to be a bit happier.”
“Sorry, that’s what happens when your boyfriend leaves you and moves in with another woman.”
“Oh, I get it.” He clicks his fingers as though he knows the answer to the final question on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? “You’re bitter about Kylie.”
“Not bitter.” I shake my head. “But the fact that you’re living with her right now isn’t exactly appealing.”
“Kylie and I aren’t together anymore because she knows how I feel about you.”
“Really?” I roll my eyes at him. “And I’m sure that’s exactly what you told her when we split up.”
“I’ve been such an idiot.” He spreads his hands out on the table. “Always looking for something better and not realising what I had all along. I just keep thinking that if I’d never met Kylie, I’d still be with you.”
“Well if it wasn’t Kylie then it would have been some other bimbo,” I say. “And thanks for finally admitting that she’s the reason you left.”
“No she isn’t,” he insists. “I thought some time apart would be good for us.”
“I know.” I take another long drink of my vodka. “Some time for you to consider your options.”
“Well…yes in a way,” he admits, staring into his pint glass.
“Wow, I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you,” I say sarcastically. “Option one: my steady and reliable girlfriend Chloe or option two: Kylie the floozy.”
“Chloe, please,” Dan begs as I stand up to leave.
Ignoring him, I grab my jacket but I know he’s following me. I stop and put my empty glass down on the bar. There’s a couple waiting to get served. The woman turns around.
“Chloe!” Janine shrieks. “What are you doing here?” She eyes Dan standing just a touch too close behind me.
The bloke she’s with turns too and I see that it’s Mark Edwards.
This scenario sums up my life perfectly. I’m out for a drink with my cheating ex and Janine is seemingly on a date with our gorgeous boss.
“Is this Dan?” she asks, shooting Mark a knowing look. Obviously she and Suzy have felt in necessary to fill the store manager in.
“Hi.” Dan steps out from behind me, offering his hand for Mark to shake.
I can already see him ogling Janine in her low-cut pink bubble-hem dress. Disgusting.
The two men shake hands and Marks introduces himself first and then Janine. He doesn’t say she’s his date or anything but I suspect that’s the case.
Janine smiles and looks between me and Dan. “So where are you two heading?”
“I’m going home,” I reply quickly.
“Why don’t you join us for a drink?” Mark suggests.
Janine glares at him. Maybe he doesn’t know it’s a date.
Before I have time to decline Mark’s offer, Dan says, “We’d love to, wouldn’t we Clo?”
I have a feeling that this is going to be a long, uncomfortable night for all concerned.
YOU ARE READING
Pear Shaped
ChickLit~Chicklit short story contest finalist~ For Chloe Mills, her life starts to go pear-shaped when she turns thirty. Her boyfriend has just left her and soon even her job as a personal shopper at a department store is threatened by recession. Can Chloe...
