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
Evie sat up, switching on her bedside lamp. What if she could redo her twenties with a thirty-year-old perspective, and finally make something of herself? She scrunched her face up in the way that always made Ben laugh. Why now? she wondered again. What had been so special about this year, of all the thirty-odd years she’d lived?
Checking the date on her phone, Evie’s heart started thudding. She was in her first year of university; she still had a little longer until she deferred. She was also yet to be burned by the disappointment of numerous dud dates, heartbreak and her ongoing friends-with-benefits arrangement with EverReady Freddy. And, as it suddenly occurred to her, if all the interviews and profiles of Hugo Hearst she’d obsessively pored over were correct, he would still be a regular at his favourite cafe in Primrose Hill—Deja Brew—where he’d be working on his soon-to-be-finished bestselling first novel, Henrietta’s Gift.
Evie smiled. A giant, glittering smile. Maybe, just maybe, being thrust back into her past wouldn’t be so terrible after all.
FIVE
Five
‘Hi. I’m Evie.’
‘Hello, can I buy you a drink?’
Evie silently brainstormed her opening line as she walked down Camden High Street. She couldn’t believe she was about to meet the Hugo Hearst. Then again, she reminded herself, he wasn’t yet the Hugo Hearst. He was just a twenty-eight-year-old humble actor-slash-writer from Surrey, working on his debut novel.
Wearing low-rise jeans, an oversized belt, ballet flats and toothin eyebrows (in hindsight, the fashion of her early twenties had been truly terrible), Evie practically skipped down the street, her worries about how, why and what she was doing back here much less intense. She took in the colourful clothing shops that had since shut down and the bus stop adverts for movies that had come out a decade ago. Some small part of her wished that the Ben of the future, the one who’d been so sceptical about Maximilian, could be here with her. She would grab him by the cheeks and say, ‘I can’t believe you ever doubted that crazy psychic! Because of him, I’m exactly where I need to be!’
Evie took her phone out of her bag and tapped the tiny screen.
Evie: Hey Ben. Sorry about running off yesterday. I wasn’t well. Feeling a lot better now. Xxxx
Ben: Glad to hear it x
Evie thought about telling Ben what was going on, but it was just too crazy. How could anybody—even her best friend—believe her?