bag, after giving it a final scan for messages but drawing a blank. With an attempt at nonchalance, I strolled towards the door. I had an hour to kill between a work meeting and cocktails with some of my glamorous, fascinating friends, I told myself. I enjoy a glass of wine alone in bars all the time. It doesn’t faze me in the slightest. I’m independent Aquarius, among the crowd but not of it.
If I’d had a bit longer to work on my technique, I might just have convinced myself that all that was true. But I didn’t – and I’d failed to convince someone else.
‘Excuse me,’ a voice said, just before I reached the door.
‘What?’ I snapped, as unlike a nonchalant, independent haver of fascinating friends as it was possible to get.
Spinning around so fast I practically put my back out, I found myself face to face with a man who definitely wasn’t Dominic. He was tall and lanky; my should-have-been-date had been sturdy and shortish. He was fair; Dominic’s photos had shown a man so dark-haired and olive-skinned he looked almost Mediterranean.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I don’t mean to intrude. It’s just, I was meant to be meeting a Tinder date here, and she hasn’t shown up. I may have this totally wrong, but I was watching you and I kind of wondered if that was what was going on with you too.’
For a second, I thought about drawing myself up to my full height, giving him a haughty stare and telling him not to be absurd, who would have the gall to stand me up? But five foot three isn’t much full height to speak of, and my dignity was so tattered by that point that I simply didn’t have enough of it to cloak myself in.
‘Actually,’ I said, ‘it is. You’ve got me bang to rights.’
He smiled ruefully. ‘I’m sorry. It sucks, right? However many times it happens. But – and I know this is kind of left field – maybe we could have a drink together? A kind of un-date?’
I looked at him. His eyes behind his thick glasses looked kind. He was smiling in a cautious, self-effacing sort of way, and the smile showed clean, even teeth. His denim shirt looked freshly ironed, and he smelled of some kind of mildly floral, slightly earthy cologne.
I’d have scored him a high seven and a half, maybe even eight if I was feeling generous. But I had different standards to uphold.
‘Just one thing,’ I said. ‘Do you mind me asking what your star sign is?’
‘My what? I’m sorry, I don’t really follow all of that.’
‘That doesn’t matter. Just tell me when your birthday is.’
‘Ninth of September – 1992, if that matters. And my name’s Justin.’
‘Zoë,’ I replied, frantically trying to remember whether that date fell within the sign of Virgo, and realising that it did. ‘And you’re on. What can I get you?’
Six
Following your dreams doesn’t always mean getting what you desire. But you’re not going to give up that easily – are you?
‘Oh my God!’ Dani lowered her barbell, its ends loaded with metal plates, back onto the squat rack. ‘Fuck me, that hurt. But that’s so romantic! I can’t believe it! That’s a meet-cute straight out of a movie. It’s almost as good as if he’d rescued your cat from a tree or you’d met each other’s eyes in a Tube station going in different directions and he’d run down the up escalator to find you and get your number. You’ll be able to tell your grandchildren! I’ll use it in my speech at your wedding!’
‘Steady on! It was only the one date.’
‘So what happened next?’
I moved some of her weights off the bar and positioned myself underneath it. I hadn’t needed her to tell me – this was going to hurt. But it would be worth it; already, I could feel my hangover receding a bit, and I was pretty sure I was sweating pure sauvignon blanc. After this, I promised myself, I’d head for the local café that did vegan breakfasts and have a massive stack of pancakes with blueberries and coconut yoghurt, and then I’d feel as good as new.
I hoped so, anyway, because after that I needed to go to work, and there was no prospect of the long nap I so badly needed.
‘So, after that,’ I stepped carefully back from the rack, the weight on my shoulders, lowered myself into a squat, then straightened up again, my thighs already