The Sun in My Eyes

52 Old Flame, I Fell for Your Inferno

Rockin' everywhere, rockin' everywhere

Taking a deep breath, he picked up the phone. "Mornin'," he said, infusing his voice with chipper brightness.

"Hiya, la!" she chirped just as brightly. "I can't really chat too much today because I have to sit through three very boring group sessions about the new camp programmes. But I just wanted to remind you about your photo shoot."

Oh shite. He'd nearly forgotten about the shoot for Siobhan's new autumn collection.

"You forgot, didn't you?" she asked.

"Time is an illusion, Lil. Of course I did." He took a deep breath. "Thanks for reminding me. I appreciate it. I..." He wasn't sure what to say.

"Hey." Her voice lost the false cheer. "I know we need to talk about what happened."

"Yeah, we do."

"Last night was..." she trailed off.

Amazing? Miraculous? Best night he'd had in years? No, until he could read where this was going, it was best not to say any of that. "It was a thing," he said.

A breathy laugh that made him ache, whooshed from her. "A whole thing." She released a sigh in what might have been relief. "It was just a thing that happened, like."

"A glitch." His heart constricted painfully as he said it.

"Yeah, that's it. A glitch. It doesn't have to mean anything." She paused, and her voice lost its gentleness, becoming more business-like. "Obviously, there's a lot of history with us and maybe it was naive to think there wouldn't be any slip ups. But we don't have to let this change us or make it weird."

The words came out fast and smooth, as if she'd practised them ahead of time. Which... of course she would. The thought made him smile despite the swell of disappointment crashing through him. He tried to let that particular feeling crest and recede. If he couldn't have anything else, then this was what he wanted. For it to be nothing, so they could go back to being best friends.

But a part of him couldn't resist digging a little. "It does feel weird though right?" he asked as he returned to cutting the tiffin.

"Very." A soft laugh huffed from her and then evaporated. "I blame myself for what happened, like. I shouldn't have–"

"Don't do that," he said. "We did what we did. It happened. We just have to sort it out."

He could hear her nod through the phone. "Sound. Let's consider it sorted. It's not a thing unless we make it one. And we just won't."

"Sorted." He stared down at the jagged line he'd cut into the chocolate layer of the biscuit cakes. "It's not a thing."

They were quiet a moment. He could hear the click of Lili's heels. "Alright, well I'll see you on Friday!"

He shoved the pan aside and put his hands on the counter, trying to remember the person he'd been before a wank had spun his world into chaos. "Don't forget to bring me at least five birthday presents," he ordered her, hoping he sounded reasonably like himself.

"I'm buying you a sofa! How many more gifts do you want?"

"Clearly, at least four more. A man only turns twenty-seven once, Lil."

"Fine." Amusement glimmered in her voice. "You're getting nothing but socks. Two pairs. And I'm wrapping each sock individually."

The laugh that shot from him was genuine. He knew without a doubt she wasn't above doing something like that. "They'd better be silk," he said, channelling Lucas's ridiculous posh accent.