Page 28 of Love Unlocked

‘That should be interesting,’ Al says, tossing the letters aside, and waving Natasha out.

‘So,’ Al sits down at his desk and motions for her to sit. ‘Really, how can I help you?’

Melody thinks. ‘If you could be one bridge, any bridge in the world, which one would it be?’

He laughs again, as if against his own wishes. He’s trying to be professional here, but he licks his lips and she can’t take her eyes off them. She tries to centre herself.

‘Sorry. Okay. As you know, we talked about the love locks on the podcast.’

‘Yes, apparently I’m the bridge guy, the man after your own stone frozen cold heart.’ He messes with a fidget spinner while he watches her.

‘Right,’ she smiles, cheeks blushing suddenly. ‘I can’t tell you how many messages I’ve received from listeners all around the world who had locks on the bridge who have since broken up.’

‘Is it forty? Because that’s how many letters I’ve received.’

She doesn’t feel even the tiniest bit guilty.

‘There were thousands of locks on that bridge,’ Al says. ‘I’d say the odds of relationships ending are pretty high.’

‘True. But all of the relationships ended on the same day. The day you removed the locks.’

‘The forty-second day of January?’

‘Correct,’ she grins. ‘It’s been a long month.’

‘You have no idea.’

He sighs so deeply, a change in his character, she’s intrigued and wants to ask him more but tries to stay on topic.

‘I’ve been responding to people all morning and I put the question out on social media and most of the answers I’ve received all say the same date.’

‘So they say, on social media. Because people wouldn’t lie, on social media.’

‘Well why would they lie about this?’

‘For attention? To feel less alone? Or to feed into this nice romantic story?’

‘Romantic?’ Melody asks, face twisting. ‘No, it’s anti-romantic. That’s my role on the podcast. I talk about how it’s a dumb idea to use love locks.’

‘I agree. People in love are dumb. And people in love who put locks on bridges are even more dumb.’

She laughs, and he joins in. She enjoys his childish humour. Are they flirting? She feels like they’re flirting. Flirting about how dumb love is, clearly that’s the way to her heart.

‘But for someone who doesn’t believe in love, you seem pretty invested in the story.’

‘Of course I believe in love,’ she says. She thinks of how she felt about Sam, she most definitely loved him. But she’d broken his heart. ‘But I don’t want it. I don’t want the responsibility of it because it can break people. I don’t want to break people.’

He looks at her then, in a long silence. Surprisingly, tears prick the edges of his eyes. And then suddenly tears arrive in her eyes which, like in the trapped revolving door, is an oddly connecting moment.

Why is she talking to the bridge guy about love? Flirting with the bridge guy. Tearing up with the bridge guy. She doesn’t want to leave the office of the bridge guy. She feels right at home here in the low, wide, comfortable, 1950s office chair, a chair she wants to stay in and talk in.

‘Coffee,’ Natasha sings, her arrival breaking the moment. ‘I brought you the best biscuits before the others steal them.’ She sets the tray down on the desk.

‘You never give me biscuits.’

‘Because I hide them for the nice people. By the way, Prunella Maguire just emailed the office. She wants you to do an interview.’

Natasha can barely contain her excitement. She winks at Al and reverses out of the office.