The sound is faint and buzzy, but I can just about hear his voice.
“… totally wasn’t paying attention. ’Course, it turns out the bloody GPS has sent me to completely the wrong Notre Dame.” He gives her a charming grin and she giggles.
I almost want to leap up from my table, I’m so livid. That’s our anecdote! That happened to us! We ended up at the wrong Notre Dame in Paris and we never saw the real one. Has he forgotten he was with me? Is he just editing me out of his life?
“He looks very happy, don’t you think?” observes Sadie.
“He’s not happy!” I give her a venomous glare. “He’s in total denial.”
They’re ordering a bottle of wine. Great. Now I have to watch them get all merry. I take a few olives and munch disconsolately. Sadie has slid into the seat opposite and is watching me with a trace of pity.
“I warned you, never be a trailer.”
“I’m not being a trailer! I’m… trying to understand him.” I swirl my wine around a few times. “We ended so suddenly. He just cut me off. I wanted to work at our relationship, you know? I wanted to talk things through. Like, was it the commitment thing? Or was there something else? But he wouldn’t. He didn’t give me a chance.”
I glance over at Josh, who is smiling at Marie while the waiter uncorks a bottle. I could be watching our own first date. It was just the same, all smiles and amusing little stories and wine. Where did it go wrong? How did I end up sitting in a corner bugging him?
And then the solution hits me, with total clarity. I lean over toward Sadie with urgency.
“Go and ask him.”
“Ask him what?” She makes a face.
“Where it went wrong! Ask Josh what was wrong with me! Get him to speak out loud, the way you did with Ed Harrison. Then I’ll know!”
“I can’t do that!” she objects at once.
“Yes, you can! Get inside his head! Make him talk! This is the only way I can get to him-” I break off as a waitress approaches the table, her notepad out. “Oh, hi. I’d love some… um… soup. Thanks.”
As the waitress moves off, I gaze entreatingly at Sadie. “Please. I’ve come all this way. I’ve made all this effort.”
There’s a moment’s silence-then Sadie rolls her eyes. “Very well.”
She disappears, then a moment later reappears right by Josh’s table. I watch, my heart galloping. I push my earpiece more firmly into my ear, ignoring the buzz, and listen to Marie’s rippling laugh as she tells some story about horse riding. She’s got a faint Irish brogue, which I didn’t notice before. As I glance over, I see Josh topping up her glass of wine.
“Your childhood sounds amazing,” he’s saying. “You have to tell me more.”
“What do you want to know?” She breaks off a piece of bread. But doesn’t put it in her mouth, I notice.
“Everything.” He smiles.
“Could take a while.”
“I’m in no hurry.” Josh’s voice has deepened a smidgen. I’m watching in horror. They’ve got that whole eyes-meeting frissony thing going on. Any minute he’ll take her hand, or even worse. What’s Sadie waiting for?
“Well, I was born in Dublin.” She smiles. “Third of three.”
“Why did you break up with Lara?” Sadie’s voice is so piercing through my earpiece, I nearly jump out of my chair.
Josh has heard her, I can tell. His hand has stopped halfway through pouring out fizzy water.
“My two brothers tormented me, all through my childhood.” Marie is still speaking, obviously unaware of anything. “They were so evil…”
“Why did you break up with Lara? What went wrong? Talk to Marie about it! Talk, Josh!”
“… found frogs in my bed, in my satchel… once even in my cereal bowl!” Marie looks up at Josh, clearly expecting him to respond. But he’s frozen like a statue, as Sadie yells in his ear, “Say it, say it, say it!”
“Josh?” Marie waves her hand in front of his face. “Did you hear a word I said?”
“Sorry!” He rubs his face. “I don’t know what happened there. What were you saying?”
“Oh… nothing.” She shrugs. “Just telling you about my brothers.”
“Your brothers! Right!” With an obvious effort, he refocuses on her and smiles charmingly. “So, are they very protective of their little sister?”
“You’d better watch out!” She smiles back and takes a sip of wine. “How about you, any siblings?”