Page 89 of All Our Missing Pieces

‘Livvie? I thought it was you. You were miles away.’

It was Samantha, my old housemate. She, too, was bundled up in a winter coat, a bright red scarf with reindeer faces knitted into its pattern wound tightly round her neck. A strand of hair clung to her lipgloss.

I anticipated the sinking feeling of anxiety I’d felt when I’d seen her in the past, but there was nothing.

‘Hi,’ I said, smiling as naturally as I would on seeing any other old acquaintance.

‘On your way to work, then?’ she asked. ‘Daily grind, nine to five?’

‘That’s right. You too?’

‘As per. I started a new job in October. Me and Mands are living in a flat just over there.’ She gestured. ‘I’m surprised I haven’t bumped into you before. Do you still go to the Crooked Billet on a Friday?’

‘Not really,’ I said.

‘Listen.’ She fell into step next to me. ‘About that night – that time you were there with your friends.’

It felt like a long time ago – but Samantha was capable of nursing a grudge for far more than a few months, I knew. If she’d held Beatrice’s actions that night against me, no doubt I was going to hear all about it.

‘Go on,’ I said.

‘Remember – your mate snogged Gary on the dance floor?’ To my surprise, she laughed, as if it was some hilarious memory we shared and dug out every now and again to giggle over together.

‘Yeah, I remember that.’

‘I broke up with him that night. I should have done it sooner – he was always a cheater. I don’t know why I couldn’t see it before. He treated me like shit, always trying to make me feel bad about myself, about other girls.’

‘Sounds like you’re well rid of him.’

‘Too right I am. What an arsehole! And you know what, I’ve got your friend to thank for making me realise it. That night – it was like the straw that broke the donkey’s back, you know.’

Camel, I thought. ‘It must have been hard at the time.’

She laughed. ‘He cried and everything. Loser. I chucked him out into the street and threw his stuff out the window. It was great.’

I couldn’t help smiling, imagining Samantha’s rage directed in the right direction for once.

Encouraged, she went on, ‘But anyway, Livvie. That whole thing made me realise how badly I’d behaved towards you. I was a right bitch. It was my own insecurities, the way he kept going on about you. Amanda tried to tell me but I wasn’t having any of it.’

‘Sometimes it’s hard to see these things when you’re in the middle of them.’

‘Yeah. You always were a wise owl, weren’t you? Anyway, I guess I owe you an apology. So, I’m, like, sorry. And everything.’

‘You don’t have to apologise.’ It was true, but I was touched all the same. I reached out and gave her a clumsy half-hug.

‘I’ve moved on,’ she said proudly. ‘I’m seeing such a nice guy now; he’s a branch manager at Tesco. Are you dating anyone?’

‘Not right now. I was, but not any more. We broke up.’

‘Dean’s got loads of single friends. We should have drinks down the Crooked Billet one evening – I’ll introduce you.’

‘That would be great,’ I said, knowing it would never happen.

‘And listen – I don’t suppose you’re looking for a place to stay? Only Mands and me have got a spare room in our flat. The girl who was living with us is moving in with her bloke. It’s lush – there’s an en-suite and everything, so you wouldn’t have to fish my hair out of the plughole.’

I laughed. ‘Sounds like an offer I couldn’t refuse. But I’m all sorted – I’m actually moving to West London, to live with my friend Emily.’

‘Ooooh, West London? Fancy.’