‘We should. I keep promising myself to visit Mum and Dad more often. Knowing that you’re settled here will be a great incentive.’
‘Why is that?’ he asks. ‘I mean, why don’t you come to see them more often? Have you had a falling out?’
‘Not at all. It’s just that –’ I break off. I don’t want to explain to Brandon that I avoid coming home whenever Alex is likely to be there, and he seems to be home for every single holiday.
‘It’s just that you what?’ he presses me.
I stare back at him helplessly. I’m too tired to come up with any more excuses of the kind I use to fob off my parents. It would be a relief to talk to someone.
He picks up the wine bottle and waves it threateningly. ‘If you don’t tell me, I’m ordering another one of these. And you’ll be joining me, even if I have to pay for your taxi home.’
I put my hand over my glass. ‘Fine – you win! But I’m switching to orange juice now. I don’t want to come out in the cold tomorrow to fetch Dad’s car.’
‘I knew that would do it,’ he says. ‘So, what’s the big secret? Why don’t you come home anymore?’
I take a deep breath. ‘Partly, it’s because I’m really busy. I’m going for a promotion at work and putting in lots of extra hours. But if I’m being honest, I don’t come home very much because there’s someone here I don’t want to see.’
His expression changes. ‘That isn’t good.’
‘It’s nothing to worry about. It’s just this man –’
‘Or woman,’ he says.
‘What do you mean?’
He looks smug. ‘Let’s not be thoughtlessly heteronormative.’
‘But I’ve already told you it’s a man!’
‘True,’ he says. ‘My mistake. Carry on.’
I roll my eyes at him. ‘I met him right before my third year at university and ... well, I suppose I fell for him.’
‘You never mentioned this to me. What’s his name?’
‘His name doesn’t matter. The feeling wasn’t mutual. In fact, he ended up going out with Suzy for a few months.’
‘Suzy Madison? Then he isn’t worth a second of your time. Any man who would choose Suzy Madison over you needs a lobotomy.’
‘How do you know?’ I say. ‘You would never have fallen for either of us.’
‘I’m gay, darling, not blind! Seriously, Annie, you’re better off out of it.’
‘So I told myself. Not the part about Suzy. She couldn’t help being so beautiful. But I was determined to get over it and not allow it to get in the way of my friendship with her. It might have taken me some time, but I would have managed it, if not for –’
I break off, my voice wobbling treacherously. I feel an unaccustomed rush of tears.
It’s ok,’ he says, taking my hand. ‘If it wasn’t for what?’
I stare into the fire. ‘If he hadn’t started seeing her while he was supposed to be with me.’
‘But why are you still upset with him?’ he asks. ‘That was two years ago.’
‘It’s hard to say. He and I only went on a couple of dates before he cheated on me with Suzy. And then a few months later, he cheated on her with someone else. But I really thought he could be the one. I know how ridiculous that sounds, but we got on so well together. I could have accepted him deciding he didn’t want to see me again. But cheating on me with my friend was something else.’
He nods. ‘What did he have to say for himself?’
‘Nothing. What could he have said? Anyway, I was leaving for Paris the following day. That was good timing, as it turned out.’