I think I nod a couple of times, but I don’t say it back. She leaves her tea sitting on the table, untouched.

CHAPTER 13

The few weeks after my ‘exchange’ with Mia were not the best of weeks in Bea Land. I ended up escaping home so much that my mum now knows something is up, and texts me first thing every morning with a chirpy ‘hello’ to make sure I’m OK. Things have been going badly at work, where I was so distracted that I included the wrong selection of customers in an email about pregnancy vitamins. Things have been going badly with my cards, because the stores they’re in have decided to add more card stockists, meaning my orders are going to decrease. My personal life is going badly, because I’ve halted all dating activities since the chilli drama, and things are still really weird between me and Mia. And then on Tuesday morning the boiler broke. On hair-wash day! Just as the temperature was due to be unseasonably cold for April. Just when I had fucked up at work, making it super awkward to ask to work from home. Why does this always happen?

But nevertheless, here I am on Wednesday morning, working from home (thanks to Penny and her cover stories), waiting for Colin the boiler man, as my actual work goes up in flames and my card business peters out.

Turns out Colin is very prompt, but even so I jump when he knocks and slightly spill my coffee on the couch.

I open the door.

Holy shit, Colin is kinda hot.

‘Bea?’

‘Uh huh.’

‘Hi, I’m Colin, come to fix your boiler.’

‘Uh huh.’

‘Can I come in?’

Finally my brain kicks back into gear.

‘Yes, thank you so much for coming. Please do come in.’ Who talks like that? ‘Can I get you something to drink? I have some cookies.’ What? What am I saying? Why am I offering him cookies? I only have some old, crumb-covered custard creams and my favourite chocolate ones that I keep in the freezer.

‘No cookies, thank you, but coffee would be great. Milk, two sugars.’

I am visibly relieved. ‘No problem.’ I walk through to the kitchen-cum-lounge-cum-dining room-cum-laundry area-cum-storage space-cum-office, and point to a door. ‘The boiler is in there.’

He puts down a useful-looking bag and gets closer.

‘Let’s have a look at what’s going on.’

What’s going on is perfect bone structure.

When the kettle finishes boiling I snap, painfully, back to reality. I cannot hit on the boiler man. Even if I knew how to flirt, I cannot hit on the boiler man. But what if this is the person who will show me that life really is better shared with someone else? What if it was fate that made my boiler break and bring me Colin? I shouldn’t ignore fate.

I am totally going to try to hit on the boiler man.

‘So, how’s it looking?’ My game needs work.

‘Fine, but it does need a service and a clean. Looks like there might be some build-up.’