She couldn’t conceal the hurt in her voice. She felt as though she’d just had the most perfect date of her life, and then had a door slammed in her face.
She dared to look up at him again, trying to see what that look had been a few moments ago, where the hesitation had come from. As soon as their eyes met again, he closed his.
‘Don’t look at me like that, Minnie.’
‘Like what?’
‘Like you want me to kiss you,’ he said, unable to look at her.
‘Why not?’ Minnie felt her voice catch in her throat.
‘I thought we could just hang out. I didn’t plan … ’ Quinn squeezed his forehead between finger and thumb. Finally, helooked at her, then dropped his gaze again. ‘I’m kind of seeing someone. I don’t want to be a dick here.’
Minnie felt the words like a punch in the stomach. ‘Oh right,’ she said quietly. ‘Amanda?’
‘No.’ Quinn shook his head. ‘Someone else. It’s not like, a relationship but … ’
‘I see. Busy man.’
Quinn took a step towards her. He blinked slowly. ‘I wouldn’t be good for you, Minnie, not like that, trust me.’
Quinn’s phone started to ring. He took it out of his pocket, looking at the display, momentarily distracted. Minnie set her jaw firm, trying to stop herself from crumbling where she stood. She watched him torn between saying more and taking the call – no doubt from her, whoever she was.
‘You can take it, I need to go anyway. And for the record, I wasn’t looking at you like I wanted to be kissed. I was just looking at you, Quinn.’
Minnie marched past him and kept walking. Hot tears instantly sprang from her eyes. She started to run. He called after her but she didn’t turn around, determined he should not see he had made her cry. What was wrong with her? She’d been so stupid to get caught up in today, feeling as though she was on some kind of magical first date when clearly he thought it was nothing of the sort. How could she read people so badly?
As she blinked away the blur of tears, there was only one person she wanted to speak to right now, one person she needed to see. She pulled out her phone.
It rang twice.
‘Leila?’
‘Yes.’ It was a civil yes, a polite yes – the new tone of their friendship.
‘Can I come over?’
Leila heard the tears and her tone instantly changed.
‘Where are you, Min? I’ll come and get you.’
17 May 2020
Despite Leila’s offer to fetch her, Minnie said she would rather come to hers. By the time she arrived on Leila’s doorstep she had stopped crying. She now felt nervous about being here. Though they’d met for a few coffees in town, she hadn’t been to Leila’s flat since their fight. She also hadn’t seen Ian in three months but, as far as Minnie knew, he hadn’t proposed yet. Surely she would still be the first person to hear if he’d asked the question?
Ian had sent her a text after the fight, saying he felt responsible for her and Leila falling out. He said he’d told Leila about their conversation, tried to broker a peace. Yet strangely their argument had felt like it was about more than just the business. Years of being so close, rubbing against each other’s hard edges, finally causing a friction fire that needed to burn itself out. Perhaps, like in the aftermath of a wildfire, there would now be room for new shoots.
As Leila opened the door, Minnie’s eye went instantly to her hand just to check there wasn’t something there she hadn’t been told about. No ring. She felt her chest decompress. If there had been a ring, if Ian had proposed and Leila hadn’t told her – it might have felt like the death knell for their friendship.
‘Min, what’s happened?’
Leila wrapped her arms around her and Minnie sank into her with a heaving sob. It wasn’t even about Quinn bloody Hamilton any more, it was about her friend hugging her in a way she hadn’t been hugged for months and only now, this second, realising how deeply she had missed her.
‘Quinn Hamilton,’ Minnie sniffed.
‘Whaaat?’ Leila clenched her hands around Minnie’s shoulders and dragged her into the flat. ‘I knew it, I knew that was on the cards! How, when, where? Tell me everything.’
‘Nothing happened. I ran into him this morning at Hampstead Ponds.’