Chapters (50)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication Page
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Ninteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Epilogue
- Letter From the Author
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
‘Yeah, well, I never felt like this about Harriet. Charlie has completely blown me away.’
‘Your pupils dilate when you talk about her,’ Sasha said, leaning forward. ‘Uh-oh. You’re in love.’
I was about to protest, but maybe I was. Did you have to be with someone for a certain amount of time before you were allowed to be in love with them? It did feel too soon to say the L word to Charlie, but I didn’t deny it to Sasha.
‘Wow, Andrew. I can’t wait to meet her.’ She paused. ‘Oh, speaking of Harriet, did you see those photos she put on Facebook, the ones of her New Year party? It looked ay-may-zing.’
I shook my head. ‘I’ve hardly been on Facebook recently.’
‘You should take a look. And while you’re on there you’ll have to change your status to In a Relationship.’ She gave me a big comedy wink.
My head was buzzing when I got back to my flat, which didn’t look any tidier or cleaner, despite Kristi’s visit. I needed coffee. While I waited for the kettle to boil I sat at my computer, the iMac that I used for work, and went on to Facebook to kill some time. Charlie had told me she wasn’t on Facebook, believing it to be a poor substitute for real life, which I didn’t agree with.
I remembered Sasha telling me about Harriet’s party photos, and scrolled through my friend list to find her. I had 251 friends, most of them old acquaintances from uni or school, or people I had encountered through work. Harriet appeared to be missing from the list.
I double-checked by searching for her name and clicking through to her page. I could no longer see her photos. It appeared that she had unfriended me.
I was surprised. As far as I knew I hadn’t done anything to offend or upset her. Then again, we hadn’t been in touch for a while and maybe she was having a cull of her friends. I knew people who did that every so often.
I went to bed without thinking any more of it.
In the middle of the night, when I was tossing and turning, I slipped my hand under my pillow and felt something hard.
Groggily, I switched the lamp on and pulled the object out. It was a small parcel, fastened with a red ribbon which I pulled open.
Inside was a little heart-shaped box, about four inches across and made of cardboard. I lifted the lid of the box and found a tiny photo.