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“Great. Sure. Um, Jeremy, this is my mum.” I nod towards Mum, who’s sitting with a huge smile on her face. I only introduced her because I didn’t want him to leave.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs Rose,” Jeremy says as if it’s just the easiest thing in the world. “Enjoy the rest of your night.”
He walks off, and the rest of his party seems to file out in dribs and drabs behind him.
“Come on, eat. That lobster’s getting cold.” She nods at the food in front of me.
“Hang on, did I just get a date with Jeremy Archer?” I whisper across the table at her.
“Well, I maybe wouldn’t go that far, sweetheart.” She squints her nose up at me.
“Mum, seriously, did you not hear him.” My head is spinning. I’ve got to tell Sammy about this.
“Yes, I did.” She sniggers.
“What?” I dig my fork into the juicy lobster meat.
“I’ve just never seen you like this. You’re usually so calm. It’s nice to see you all coy.”
“Coy?” I frown at her and take my first bite. “Oh god, this is delicious.”
After confirming he’s left, I calm down and enjoy the rest of the meal. It’s the best thing I think I’ve ever eaten. And we finish the night off with ice cream. It’s fancy, with a homemade combination of flavours, but it’s perfect. We even get to go out and look at the lights across the harbour.
It would have been a special night without Jeremy Archer but seeing him and knowing he was here too is the cherry on top of my birthday.
Chapter Four
The smile I left the restaurant with stayed with me all the way home, and I woke up with it the next morning. It was a new day, and it was going to be a brilliant one. I could feel it.
It was late when we got in last night, and I only gave Sammy the highlights, so after breakfast, I go upstairs and videocall her.
“Only for you am I up this early in the holidays, Anna.”
“Oh, shut up, you want to know the details.” I get comfy lying out on my bed.
“Yes. Of course! I can’t believe, of all the places and all the boys, you run into Archer.”
“I know, right? Like it’s fate.”
“Oh, Anna,” she says dreamily, and I know it’s because I have an unrealistic expectation and vision of what love might look like. “Fate is a big word. But I’m excited that he’s there and said you guys should meet up.”
With the wisdom of looking back on the conversation, I might have overstated what was actually said. Saying he’d text wasn’t quite the same as agreeing to a date.
“About that. He actually just said he’d text.” I suck my lip behind my teeth, a little embarrassed at how it all spun out in my mind.
“Okay, okay, that’s still good. It’s still Archer actually talking to you. He never does that. It’s a good sign. He didn’t have to talk to you, right?”
“No. Of course, he didn’t.”
“Has he texted you yet?” she asks.
“No. But it’s early. I mean, nobody would text this fast, certainly not him.”
“Good point. Okay, what are you doing today?”
“Sitting in and waiting for him to message me?” I grin and then roll over and cover my face.
“No, Anna. No, you need to get your butt out and do something, or you’ll go mad. Get that head out of the clouds and into reality.”
