Three Amazing Things About You(118)
‘Are you going to tell me where we’re going?’ said Tasha again.
Rory gave her knee a squeeze. ‘Don’t be so impatient. You’ll find out soon enough.’
‘Oh my God.’ Tasha started to laugh. ‘I don’t believe it.’
Rory had parked the car and led her through a rabbit warren of back streets. It wasn’t until they’d entered a shop via the back entrance, emerged through the front door and come out on to the main road that she realised where they were and why he’d brought her here.
The scene was exactly the same, the sound of Christmas songs being played was the same; the crowds were the same too. Only the first flakes of falling snow were missing, twelve months on.
Rory held her hand. ‘This is where we met, exactly one year ago.’
‘It is.’ Touched, Tasha leaned against him and kissed the side of his jaw.
‘Here’s our bin. It’ll always be our bin.’ Leading her over to it, Rory said, ‘If it wasn’t for this bin, we would never have met.’
Tasha pointed to a KFC carton, visible on top of the pile of rubbish. ‘Fancy a chip?’
‘Hmm, maybe not. Wouldn’t say no to a coffee, though. Excuse me . . .’ Rory turned to speak to a middle-aged man who was making his way past them. ‘Could I ask you a quick favour? Would you just take a photo of me and my fiancée?’
The man stopped and took the phone from him. ‘Move away from the bin, then.’ They were standing either side of it like proud parents of a beloved only child.
‘It’s fine, we want the bin in the picture,’ said Rory.
Seeing the bemused expression on the older man’s face, Tasha gave the cast-iron lid an affectionate pat. ‘It’s the whole reason we’re here,’ she explained.
‘He thinks we’re mad,’ said Rory when the man had taken the photo, handed back the phone and hurried off.
‘Who cares? Look at it.’ Tasha gazed down fondly. ‘Our lovely bin.’
‘Shall we get that coffee now? Remember the café?’ Leading her towards it, Rory said, ‘This is where I was when I first saw you rolling up your sleeves and digging around amongst the rubbish.’
‘Coleslaw and cigarette ends. Cold coffee and ketchup dripping from my hands. I’ll never forget it,’ said Tasha.
He pushed open the door of the steamy café, indicating for her to go in ahead of him, and Tasha saw Carmel and Joe sitting at the table by the window.
Holding hands.
Actual hands.
She stopped dead in her tracks and Rory bumped into her. She pointed. ‘Look!’
‘What?’
‘It’s Carmel and Joe!’
‘So it is.’
‘But . . . but . . . they’re holding hands.’
‘So they are.’
He wasn’t sounding surprised. Tasha realised she’d been royally set up. Turning, she said in disbelief, ‘You knew about this?’
‘About what?’
‘The hands!’
‘Joe told me last night.’
Joe and Carmel were watching her, laughing at the stunned expression on her face. Crossing the café with Rory, Tasha said, ‘OK, tell me everything.’
‘We thought we’d come here to share your anniversary,’ said Joe.
‘And this?’ She indicated the hands.
‘It’s our coming-out day.’ Carmel was wearing the biggest grin. ‘We’re officially a couple.’
‘Finally! Hooray.’ Tasha hugged them both. ‘About time too!’
‘She’s a lucky girl,’ Joe agreed.
‘And you just decided last night!’
‘We did.’ Carmel turned to Joe. ‘Didn’t we?’
‘Oh yes.’
‘Amazing,’ said Tasha.
‘Mind you,’ Joe added, ‘we’ve been sleeping together for months.’
‘What?’ Tasha stared at them both. ‘Are you kidding me?’
‘I kept asking her out, she kept turning me down.’ Joe winked. ‘As you know. For some reason she wasn’t sure she trusted me.’
‘I didn’t think it would work out,’ Carmel explained with a shrug. ‘He’s not my type.’
‘But in the end I wore her down. She couldn’t resist the lure of my body.’
‘Except I still didn’t want a relationship,’ Carmel rejoined.
‘So we settled for friends with benefits instead. Which suited us both,’ said Joe.
Tasha shook her head, marvelling at their subterfuge. ‘And you kept it a secret all this time?’
‘You had enough to worry about. Besides, I didn’t expect it to last,’ said Carmel. ‘I mean, it wasn’t a proper relationship. It was never meant to become one.’