AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘It’s not you, for a change,’ he said, taking a seat on one of her breakfast stools.
‘Cool,’ she said, sliding his coffee towards him. On closer inspection, the man looked utterly miserable.
‘Jeez, Bryant, who died?’
‘No one, thank God. And…and…anything I say is going to sound anti-climactic now, isn’t it?’ he puffed.
There was something about his demeanour that was making her want to laugh. She knew there was nothing wrong with Laura or Jenny because he wouldn’t be sitting here if that was the case.
His hunched deportment and scowl was amusing her.
‘Bryant, are you sulking?’
‘Bloody hell, Kim, give me a break. Of course I’m not sulking.’
‘So what’s wrong?’
He took a sip of coffee and then sighed heavily. ‘I told you Laura and Josh were coming for dinner.’
‘You did.’
‘Well, the minute they came in, I knew something was different. They were all smoochy and googly-eyed with—’
‘Googly-eyed?’ she asked, raising an eyebrow.
‘You know what I mean. And then right before dessert, they dropped the bombshell.’
‘She’s pregnant?’ Kim asked.
‘God no. I wouldn’t be here right now. I’d still be chasing him with a sharp knife to cut off his—’
‘She’s twenty-five years of age. Gotta break it to you, buddy. She’s had sex.’
‘Ugh, shut up. They’re…they’re engaged.’
‘To each other?’ she asked, trying to detect the cause of his misery.
‘Of course each other. Who else?’
‘Still looking for the root of your distress,’ she said honestly.
‘It’s too soon.’
‘They’ve been together for almost three years and you like the guy.’
‘It’s too…it’s too permanent.’
‘Oh, I see. So, actually, you are sulking?’
‘I’m not sulking. It’s just so sudden. I wasn’t expecting it. I wasn’t ready for it.’
‘So what did you do, just leave in the middle of dinner?’ she asked. This wasn’t a problem they couldn’t solve.
‘No, I shook his hand and all that and wished them both well, but I didn’t mean a bloody word of it. The minute they’d gone, I told the missus I was going to grab a late pint.’
‘What did she say?’
‘Tell Kim I said hi.’
