Chapters (52)
- COVER PAGE
- DEDICATION
- PART ONE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- PART TWO
- NINETEEN
- 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
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHORS
As Maximilian pulled up onto the curb outside Ben and Josie’s flat, ‘Somebody to Love’ still pumping from his speakers, Evie’s loins instinctively began to stir.
‘Goddamn it, what have you done to me!?’ she yelled, to which Maximilian simply smiled sympathetically.
He turned down the volume completely, and then whispered, ‘This is your stop.’
His tone sent chills down Evie’s spine. ‘Will I see you again? Maybe as my barista? Postman? The waxer doing my Brazilian?’
Maximilian winked. Evie rolled her eyes, lifted her ridiculously long dress out of the car and watched as Maximilian whizzed away.
Evie shook her head and walked towards Ben and Josie’s ground-floor flat, listening to the familiar blurry chatter of thirty-odd people hosting their private conversations in a small, confined space. She knocked on the front door before realising it was already open.
Inside, the air in the room was thick with smoke and the smell of booze. She stepped on a crisp and heard it crunch underneath her heel. This party wasn’t the cool and sophisticated gathering she had just left; just a bunch of rowdy twenty-year-olds getting drunk on cheap wine, eating junk food, and gyrating awkwardly in small pockets of the flat.
It was perfect. The smell of vigorous sweat, the feeling of being young and free and happy. Evie suddenly felt giddy and more like herself than she had felt in a long time.
‘You’re here!’ Josie appeared behind her, drawing her in for a long, uncharacteristic hug. Her words were slurred: it was obvious she was drunk.
‘Hey Josie, having fun?’
‘I’m so glad you made it.’ She was still hugging Evie, swaying back and forth.
Evie awkwardly inched backwards in an attempt to break from Josie’s hold. ‘Do you know where Ben is?’ she asked tentatively, scanning the room but unable to see him.
‘Yeah. He’s outside. I think he’s waiting for you.’ Josie shrugged before stumbling towards the kitchen, presumably in search of another drink.
Ben’s outside. Waiting for me?
She walked cautiously to the courtyard and stepped outside, finally spotting Ben. Evie’s breath caught in her throat.
There he was, leaning against the wall of the flat, kissing Sami. Her long, slender arm was wrapped securely around his waist, and they seemed to fit in each other’s embrace perfectly. It was a scene straight out of When Harry Met Sally. It was a kiss from the movies. A kiss to write a whole screenplay about.
And so, as much as it pained her poor, dilapidated heart, Evie held back a gut-wrenching sob and walked away, knowing in the pit of her stomach that now she really, truly didn’t belong anywhere.
FORTY
Forty
Evie stepped out of the Underground station and walked down the street. The icy air cooled the sweat which had pooled under her armpits from the overheated train.