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
‘Lovely to see you too, Berry,’ Ben replied, his smile holding firm. ‘Steven, a pleasure to see you. Any word on that woodland series backdrop?’
Steven shook his head ruefully, catching Ben up with the latest on his intense eBay rivalry with his nemesis, @NextTopTrainModel67.
‘Ben, you left the toilet seat up again,’ Josie said, interrupting. From the sound of Josie’s banter, the pair were obviously still on good terms. They must have just started living together in their poky two-bedroom flat in Bethnal Green. Evie had set up the arrangement years ago, and it had lasted all of three summers before, if she remembered correctly, Josie had blamed Ben for killing all her plants and he was forced to move out in a hurry or suffer the wrath that was a woman bereft of her fiddle-leaf fig.
‘Ah sorry, Jose. Won’t happen again.’ Ben hung his head in mock shame.
‘Well, are you going to buy something or what?’ Josie said.
Ben laughed. ‘Josie, your customer service must be the talk of the town! Such poise, such grace, such enthusiasm for the pick ‘n’ mix.’ He fanned himself with a block of Cadbury Fruit and Nut he’d swiped from the bench.
‘Are you going to pay for that?’ Josie didn’t miss a beat.
Ben pulled out his wallet. ‘So, everyone okay?’
‘Evie’s got a new love interest,’ said Steven.
Ben’s eyes darted towards Evie. ‘Is that so? Who’s the lucky fella?’
‘Oh, just this actor guy I bumped into at a café,’ she mumbled. ‘But I haven’t heard a peep out of him, so he’s probably not interested.’
Ben’s face relaxed as he paid for his chocolate bar. ‘He’d be a fool not to be interested,’ he said kindly, before changing his tone. ‘Hey Steve, my laptop is throwing a wobbly. Is there any chance you could come and take a look at it over the weekend?’
Evie switched off as the two of them discussed why the ‘d’ on Ben’s keyboard came out as a ‘f’, which was causing lots of problems given he was trying to write an essay on The Mighty Ducks. Eventually, Ben said his goodbyes and wandered off to a screening of Exit Through the Gift Shop.
Evie’s phone vibrated and her heart leaped. Whipping out her phone, she tapped into the new message.
And right there in the middle of the Ad Lib Cinema, Evie let out a whoop, startling Steve and drawing an excited look from Josie. Evie nodded at her, beaming.
Hugo Hearst had texted to ask if she could meet him at Primrose Hill Park at 6pm for drinks.
SEVEN
Seven