BooksBarbecue
Back Fancy Meeting You Here
Chapters (52)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. DEDICATION
  3. PART ONE
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. PART TWO
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. THIRTY-NINE
  44. FORTY
  45. FORTY-ONE
  46. FORTY-TWO
  47. FORTY-THREE
  48. FORTY-FOUR
  49. FORTY-FIVE
  50. FORTY-SIX
  51. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  52. ABOUT THE AUTHORS

‘What’s your favourite movie?’ he asked, out of nowhere. ‘We seem to have a lot in common—I want to see how far the similarities go.’ He shrugged. It was the cutest shrug she had ever seen.

‘It’s so hard to narrow it down. I love so many. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Forrest Gump, Garden State, but Casablanca and Bridget Jones’s Diary are probably my all-time favourites,’ she said, careful not to mention Lady Bird, Parasite or, of course, Henrietta’s Gift, which obviously hadn’t come out yet.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ Hugo said. ‘I love Casablanca too.’

Evie feigned shock.

‘Favourite food?’ Hugo asked.

‘Lasagne.’

‘Song?’

‘“Tiny Dancer”.’

‘Book character?’

Evie sighed. She knew this was where they differed. ‘Jo March.’

‘Oh, damn. We were on a roll. Mine’s Atticus Finch.’

‘Oh, too bad. We were this close to being soulmates.’

‘That is too bad,’ Hugo agreed, smiling.

Evie took a sip of her hot chocolate and Hugo turned back to his computer as if he’d been struck by an idea he urgently needed to write down. She secretly hoped her banter had inspired him; a girl could dream. She pretended to read for another half hour, looking up at Hugo every once in a while. He was totally focused on his writing. She wanted to talk to him again but decided not to push her luck. What else was there to say?

At 2pm, Hugo’s phone alarm went off. He closed his laptop and packed up his stuff. Not wanting to seem too eager, Evie kept her eyes on her novel, though her heart was racing. This is it. Will he leave without saying anything? Should I say something? she wondered.

‘So,’ Hugo said, stopping in front of her as he slung his bag over his shoulder. Evie looked up. ‘I know you probably think I’m some random man from a cafe, and you just wanted to have your hot chocolate and read in peace, but I feel like there’s some cosmic connection going on here. Would you mind if I asked for your number?’

‘Sure. Why not,’ Evie replied, as nonchalantly as she could muster.

SIX

Six

Evie felt as if she were walking on air on the way home. Apart from her excitement at actually meeting Hugo, and how well they’d seemed to get on, she also felt bolstered by what he had said about his writing process. Her obsession with getting every single word perfect was not only exhausting, but also preventing her from making any real progress. She was keen to see if writing more quickly and then going back to edit would work for her too.