The Piano Man Project Page 0,47

with some personal stuff that’s come up …’ she trailed off as Nell placed her spoon abruptly down and Tash held up her hand as if to stop traffic.

‘Hold it right there, lady. Back up.’

Honey had sandwiched the relevant part of her speech in the middle, not because she didn’t want to tell them, but more because she didn’t really know what to tell them. On the one hand, there wasn’t really very much to tell. It wasn’t as if she and Hal were romantically involved on any level that could be deemed as normal; one kiss was hardly enough to call off the search. But then on the other hand, it wasn’t about the kiss at all, and that was where she could really use some advice.

‘Your neighbour?’ Nell said. ‘Not the angry one with blood all over his hands?’

Tash looked from Nell to Honey. ‘He sounds delightful. What have I missed here?’

Honey sighed heavily, unsure where to start. ‘Yeah, that one,’ she said, glancing at Nell, and then studiously lining up the bangles on her wrist as she decided how to put it.

‘Have you shagged him?’ Tash burst out, staring at Honey. ‘Oh my God, he made you orgasm, didn’t he?’

The beetroot-faced waiter, who’d just plucked up the courage to clear their plates, put them straight back down and walked away.

‘No! No. Tash, keep your voice down will you?’ Honey hissed, trying not to look at the suddenly silent couple at the next table. ‘Of course I haven’t shagged him. He’s … he’s complicated.’

‘The last time we talked about him you said he was vile,’ Nell said, looking unconvinced. ‘What changed?’

‘I got to know him,’ Honey said simply. ‘A bit, anyway.’

‘Have you been on a date?’ Nell said. Honey half laughed at the idea of a date with Hal. ‘God no. Not unless you count endless hours spent sitting outside his closed door being ignored or swore at.’

She didn’t miss the concerned look that passed between her friends, and she couldn’t blame them for their reticence. She wasn’t painting the best of pictures. She tried again.

‘The thing is, Hal’s not like most men. He’s going through a hard time, and he’s angry, and he’s blind, and he kisses me like there’s no air, and he doesn’t leave the house, and he drinks too much whisky.’

It was a toss up which of her friends looked more shocked.

‘He’s blind?’ Nell said softly.

‘You kissed him?’ Tash said, leaning forward.

‘Yes, and yes. I don’t know what happened to him, but I get the impression that his blindness is quite recent. He doesn’t like to talk about it. To be honest, most of the time he doesn’t like to talk about much at all.’

‘You’re not selling him, Honey,’ Nell said.

‘I know. It’s hard to explain,’ Honey said. ‘There’s just something about him that gets me. He’s a mass of contradictions. He’s a terrible grouch, but then he’s funny and endearing. He dresses like a rock star and acts like a recluse. He ignores me for days on end and then every now and then he is so, so incredible that he knocks the breath out of me.’

Tash ordered a bottle of wine. ‘Aside from the fact that he’s a hot kisser, he sounds like bloody hard work to me.’

Honey nodded. ‘I can see that. And he is, but I don’t think he means to be. But here’s the thing.’

Tash and Nell both sat statue-still as they waited to hear what ‘the thing’ was.

And so Honey let the thought out, the one that had lingered around in her subconscious like a squatter, refusing to leave until she gave it the attention it deserved.

‘I think he’s The One.’ Honey’s words came out barely above a whisper.

‘The One … as in the one who can make you orgasm?’ Tash said.

‘Or the one … as in The One?’ Nell said, her big brown eyes round and watchful.

Honey dropped her head in her hands, trying to make sense of her feelings along with her friends.

‘I don’t know,’ she said, and Nell and Tash moved around the table to squish on the sofa either side of her. She slumped back between them and took the glass of wine Tash offered. ‘I honestly don’t know, and it scares me stupid. Both, maybe?’

When she let herself into the house later that afternoon, Honey took the hall at a run in case Hal opened his door. She couldn’t face him yet, not after spending the last few hours dissecting her burgeoning feelings