Читать книгу The Forgotten Guide to Happiness: The unmissable debut, perfect for anyone who loved THE KEEPER OF LOST THINGS - Sophie Jenkins, Sophie Jenkins - Страница 14

‘Jack Buchanan.’

What the? Who?

What kind of trick was this?

My glittering bauble of happiness shattered into bits, irrevocably broken.

I squashed my bag against my face and screamed into it. It had all been a delusion. I was such an idiot. The worst thing about losing an imaginary future is that the lights go out and you stare into the blackness and you can’t see anything there. There’s no destination. It is a bleak and frightening feeling. Time heals, they say, without adding that it moves in a slow and arduous way, like sludge, and the only way to time-travel is to sleep.

‘Hello? Hello?’

‘It’s Lana Green,’ I said, unable to hide my frustration. ‘My agent said you were trying to get hold of me.’

‘Yes! I don’t know if you remember me – I met you at the Edinboro Castle. You’re a writer in need of a hero. I’m the dark-haired guy in the orange sweatshirt. I put that in Rush-Hour Crush. Don’t you read the Metro?’

‘What do you want?’ I asked, too disappointed to make an effort, watching dogs snuffle past my line of vision.

For some reason my lack of interest and gloomy tones didn’t put him off.

‘I emailed you on your author’s website but when you didn’t reply I called your agent because she was in the acknowledgements. Listen. I’ve been paragliding.’

‘So?’

‘So, if you’re still looking for a hero, I’m reapplying for the role.’

‘I don’t want—’

‘I’ve never done anything like that in my life. I’ve never felt so alive! Or,’ he added soberly, ‘so close to death. Look on YouTube if you don’t believe me.’

‘I do believe you.’ I just don’t care.

‘Well look at it anyway. By the way, just want to reassure you I haven’t suddenly grown boobs – that’s a water balloon down my shirt.’

It was like being licked by a labrador. ‘Jack, I’m not—’

‘Yes, I know, you’re going to say that going paragliding once is not enough.’

‘Actually that’s not what I was going to say.’

‘Good! Let’s pick a date. I’ll try my best to be aloof. What are you doing on Saturday?’

There is nothing worse than a person who is trying to engage you in conversation when you don’t feel like talking. Just at that moment I would have given anything for aloofness. It’s what gave Mark an air of superiority.

Women think that the one quality they want in a man is someone they can talk with. Bad mistake. Nowhere in the whole history of romantic fiction has a woman fallen in love with a talker. Talking is what girl friends are for. My advice is, always go for a man you fancy the pants off, it’s as simple as that.

However – what was there to lose? He might even buy me lunch and I’d get a free meal out of it.

‘All right,’ I sighed. ‘I’ll bring my notebook.’

‘Great! Twelve o’clock at the Edinboro Castle,’ he declared. Then he added in an undertone, ‘How did that sound?’

I smiled despite myself. ‘Decisive and masterful,’ I said.