The Minute I Saw You

by Paige Toon

‘I’ll get another one,’ I insist immediately, spying from here that it’s almost empty. ‘Do you mind looking after Bertie for me?’

  She all too gladly relieves me of the lead.

  ‘This is for you,’ I say to Archie before I go, handing him the paper bag with his present inside.

  I picked up a bottle of fancy gin from the Cambridge Distillery in Grantchester. I hope he likes it.

  ‘Aah, thank you!’ he exclaims.

  I wait while he unwraps his gift and makes all the right noises as he reads aloud from the label.

  Nessa is now shouting over Faith and the other girl, Keri.

  ‘Is Sonny coming?’ I ask Archie, wondering if the present company could be the reason for his absence.

  ‘I think so,’ he replies with a frown, checking his watch. ‘He said he’d aim to get here around five.’

  That was an hour ago.

  ‘I’m going to nip to the bar. What are you drinking?’ I ask.

  ‘Let me go!’

  ‘No, no! I’d rather get a bottle in early so I can chill for a bit. Drink?’ I prompt again.

  ‘I’m good, thanks,’ he replies, picking up one of the now not-quite-full-thanks-to-Matilda pint glasses from the table.

  ‘Back in a tick,’ I say with a smile, checking the whereabouts of Bertie. Matilda has taken her over to see Kev and Warren.

  I pull out my phone while I wait at the bar, but there’s no message. I resisted texting Sonny earlier, but now I type out a quick message to ask if he’s still coming.

  It’s a warm night and the air is scented by red geraniums in pots dotted around the beer garden.

  The outdoor room is basically a wooden cabin without a door and it’s the perfect place for a party. Even without the balloons, it looks festive, with fairy lights, colourful paper decorations and bunting hanging from the ceiling. Spaced around the walls are framed photographs of the Grantchester cricket team, past and present.

  Faith calls for me to sit down with her at the table. Matilda overhears and brings Bertie, pulling out a couple of chairs for us both while I get down to the serious business of filling glasses.

  I need something to take the edge off Nessa’s presence – and, if I’m being honest, Sonny’s absence.

  ‘What do you do, Hannah?’ the third girl at the table, Keri, asks.

  ‘I’m a dispensing optician,’ I reply.

  ‘Oh right! What’s the difference between a dispensing optician and a plain old optician, then?’

  Nessa appears bored out of her brain while I tell Keri as succinctly as possible, aware that it’s not the most stimulating of explanations.

  ‘What about you?’ I ask, relieved to turn the question around on them.

  ‘I’m a project manager and—’ Keri starts to say before Nessa cuts her off.

  ‘I’m a graphic designer. I work with Archie,’ she adds, smug in the knowledge that she does a cool creative job, something she deems worthy of boasting about to strangers. ‘Oh, I meant to tell you . . .’ She turns back to Keri and starts filling her in on something her boss did, not making any attempt to include the rest of us.

  I reach for my drink and take a large sip. Faith excuses herself to go to the bathroom.

  ‘Still coming to watch the cricket tomorrow?’ Matilda asks me.

  ‘That’s the plan.’

  ‘I need to come your way in the morning, actually.’

  ‘Why?’ I’m glad the others are talking amongst themselves – it’s nice to have her to myself for a bit.

  ‘I’m going to church,’ she replies.

  ‘Are you? I didn’t know you were religious?’

  ‘I’m not,’ she whispers. ‘Don’t tell the vicar.’

  ‘Why are you going to church then?’

  ‘I’d quite like us to get married at St Andrew and St Mary.’ That’s the name of the one in Grantchester. ‘I know that’s naughty. It should be about God and stuff, but it’s just such a gorgeous church, isn’t it?’

  ‘It is.’ I remember from when I used to attend the occasional service with Charles and June.

  ‘Is Archie going with you?’

  ‘Nah. He’s really not religious. He thinks I’m crazy, but I always imagined . . .’ Her voice trails off and her eyes take on a distant, faraway look. ‘Never mind,’ she says abruptly, reaching for her glass. ‘Yeah, maybe it’s not the best idea.’

  ‘I’m confused. You don’t want to go to church tomorrow? Or you don’t want to get married in one?’

  ‘No, I do. But I don’t. I don’t know what I want.’ Her eyes become clouded. ‘Oh dear, silly me,’ she mumbles, turning her back on the table and leaning down to pat Bertie.

  I do the same so we’re in easy earshot. ‘You okay?’

  ‘Yep. Let’s talk some other time.’

  ‘Why don’t you come over in the morning?’ I suggest. ‘Before or after church, whatever suits.’

  ‘Don’t suppose you fancy coming with me?’ she asks hopefully.

  ‘To the service?’ I shrug and nod, sensing she needs this. ‘Of course I can do that. But come over for a cuppa too.’

  ‘Okay.’ She smiles gratefully.

  ‘Oh great,’ I hear Nessa say sarcastically. ‘Look what the cat dragged in.’

  I bolt upright quickly and expectantly and, sure enough, Sonny is crossing the garden. Even Nessa’s sarky comment can’t prevent my heart from flipping.

  He looks no different to how I’ve seen him in the past – light-grey shorts and a white T-shirt – but something about the sight of him tonight has my pulse racing that little bit faster.

  He makes a beeline for Archie and I tear my eyes away from their endearingly joyful greeting to hear Nessa grumbling, ‘Wonder whose pants he’ll try to get into tonight, then. Be careful,’ she warns Keri. ‘He’s already screwed Faith so you’re next in line.’

  ‘Ew,’ Keri says.

  Nessa looks pleased at this reaction. Faith hasn’t come back from the bathroom yet so can’t stand up for herself, but if Nessa is trying to put Keri off Sonny, she’s doing a decent job.

  Nessa looks at me directly. ‘Has he tried it on with you yet?’

  I want to crawl under the table.

  ‘Sonny and Hannah are good friends, actually,’ Matilda says.

  Nessa scoffs and grabs the bottle out of the ice bucket.

  ‘He’s different from how he was,’ Matilda insists in a lovely, earnest way as Nessa pours herself a glass of fizz. ‘Archie and I have spent a lot of time with him recently and he’s a changed man.’

  I’m surprised and pleased to hear her defending him. She even sounds faintly sober.

  But Nessa, who has been shaking her head with disbelief, now barks out a laugh.

  ‘Whatever you say.’ She passes the bottle to Keri, not going to the trouble of filling her friend’s glass herself. ‘Well, hello!’ she says brashly and unpleasantly, eyeing someone over the top of my head.

  I twist around to see that Sonny has made his way over.

  ‘Hi,’ he says, briefly placing his hand on my shoulder. His eyes flit from me to Nessa, Keri and Matilda.

  Matilda gets up to give him a hug and I want to do the same, but Nessa has made me feel grossly uncomfortable so I stay where I am.

  ‘Anyone want a drink?’ Sonny offers and I can tell he’s keen to escape.

  ‘I’ll have a bottle of Prosecco!’ Nessa shouts rudely.

  I see him clock the glasses on the table and he nods, coming to the conclusion that we’re all drinking the same thing.

  ‘Back in a bit.’

  ‘Thanks,’ I call, watching him go with a pang.

  Matilda gives Nessa a dirty look.

  ‘Buying a bottle of booze is the least he can do,’ Nessa snaps at her dismissively.

  ‘I might take Bertie for a quick toilet break,’ I say to Matilda, pushing my chair out from the table.

  She nods, understanding.

  I go straight to the bar.

  Sonny is already ordering.
I wait for him to finish and for the bartender to move away before running my forefinger down his taut back.

  He jumps and looks over his shoulder at me with alarm.

  I laugh and his expression relaxes. ‘You’re on edge tonight.’

  ‘I was half expecting it to be Nessa with a knife,’ he admits sheepishly, turning to face me.

  ‘She’s a fun one, isn’t she?’

  ‘Mm.’

  He gives me a wry smile. The moment stretches on with neither of us speaking nor looking away. My nerviness ramps up a notch.

  ‘Thanks for your text,’ he says at last. ‘It woke me up.’

  ‘Is that why you were late?’

  ‘Fell asleep on the sofa,’ he explains.

  ‘Bed,’ I correct him.

  ‘Sofabed,’ he corrects in turn, grinning. ‘All-night flights suck.’

  ‘How was New York?’ I ask, pulling Bertie back from the fireplace. It’s not lit, but I don’t think she should be rummaging her snout around in it.

  ‘Fine.’

  The bartender places his fourth and last pint down and Sonny turns around to settle up. ‘I need more hands,’ he murmurs, shoving his wallet back in his pocket while eyeing the number of drinks on the bar top.

  ‘I can carry a glass if Bertie behaves.’ I’m not really taking her outside. I was only using it as an excuse to get away. ‘And I guess I could also manage the bottle of Prosecco.’

  ‘Don’t sound so enthusiastic. I thought you were drinking it?’

  ‘I am. But I’d rather not go back to that table.’

  ‘She scares you too?’ He’s amused.

  I nod. ‘For a while there I didn’t think you were going to show up.’

  He frowns. ‘I wouldn’t have missed Archie’s birthday. Not on Nessa’s account.’

  ‘How does Matilda even know her?’ I’m baffled as to how they could be friends.

  ‘She’s actually a pal of Archie’s sister,’ Sonny responds, reaching for one of the drinks lined up. He necks about a third of the pint and places it back on the bar. ‘I needed that.’

  ‘I didn’t know Archie had a sister.’

  Neither of us is making any attempt to return to the others.

  He nods, brushing the froth away from his upper lip. ‘Ursula.’

  I narrow my eyes at him.

  ‘No,’ he states adamantly, knowing exactly the direction my mind was taking me. ‘There are lines I draw. Anyway, she has a long-term boyfriend.’

  I roll my eyes and wrap Bertie’s lead around my wrist to make her more secure as Sonny continues.

  ‘Ursula’s boyfriend Sean used to go to university here in Cambridge, so Nessa and Ursula would come up from London to visit. And Archie lived here too, of course. According to Matilda, Nessa once had the hots for Archie so I don’t think she was too happy when Nessa sweet-talked Archie’s boss into giving her a job after university.’ He begins to gather three pint glasses together, leaving the one he’s been drinking on the bar.

  ‘You seem to know a lot about her,’ I mutter as I grab the bottle of Prosecco with the hand that’s also holding Bertie’s lead, picking up his pint glass with my free hand.

  ‘I do usually tend to talk to people before I sleep with them,’ he replies, and although it’s an irreverent comment designed to entertain, I find I’ve lost my sense of humour.

  I lead the way back through the pub and into the beer garden, plonking the bottle of Prosecco in the ice bucket and making Nessa and Keri jump before swiping my glass from the table.

  ‘Cheers,’ I mutter to Matilda, knocking back a mouthful. I presume it was she who refilled it. I hand Sonny his own glass once he’s distributed the others and choose to ignore the odd, quizzical look he gives me before turning my back on him. ‘I might go and chat to Faith,’ I tell Matilda. She’s now on the other side of the cabin with Cameron and Kev.

  ‘I’ll join you in a bit,’ she promises.

  Chapter 29

  The more I drink, the less I care about Nessa and Sonny. I can still hear Nessa cackling and shouting over Keri and the other two girls from Archie’s work who have now turned up, but I’m kinda content here on my side of the cabin. All I need to remember is that Bertie is right behind me and I must not step on her. She’s sprawled out with her back against the wall and is clearly exhausted. I regret not leaving her at home, poor old girl.

  Archie’s cricket pals and Faith are making me laugh and now Matilda has joined us too, having swiped the bottle of Prosecco to refill our glasses.

  ‘She’s fine when she’s had a couple of drinks,’ she’s saying, still on a mission to defend Nessa. ‘She’s kind of bitchy but funny with it, you know?’

  ‘She’s deplorable,’ Faith states, deadpan.

  Matilda giggles and raises her palms to the ceiling. ‘I give up.’

  One of Archie’s mates – a cute twenty-something with the curliest blond hair I’ve ever seen on a guy – reels backwards at something Kev has said.

  ‘Careful!’ I put my hands on his waist to stop him from stumbling over Bertie.

  He swivels around to look at me, his eyebrows jumping up.

  I point at Bertie, who’s blissfully ignorant and quite likely snoring.

  ‘Oh, sorry!’ he exclaims, turning to face me. ‘Is she yours?’

  ‘I’m her bodyguard,’ I tell him, mock-seriously.

  He grins and holds out his hand. ‘Keane,’ he says.

  ‘Keen as in, you’re keen? Or is Keane your name?’

  ‘Keane’s my name, but I’m pretty keen too, to be honest.’

  I can’t help but laugh at his brazen flirtatiousness.

  ‘And you are?’ he asks with a self-assured grin.

  ‘Hannah,’ I reply, indulging him.

  ‘How do you know Archie?’

  ‘Through Matilda. You?’

  ‘We used to work together.’

  ‘You live in Cambridge?’

  ‘No, York. I’m down for the weekend. Haven’t seen Arch in a while.’

  As we chat, I become aware that we have Sonny’s attention. I can see him out of the corner of my eye, surrounded by Archie’s cricketing pals, and he keeps looking over.

  I don’t know what my motivation is – I’m too drunk to think about it – but I have a horrible urge to make him jealous. And I suspect that me getting chatted up by another guy will do exactly that.

  ‘Are you local?’ Keane asks.

  ‘Yep. I live up the road.’

  He arches one eyebrow. ‘That’s convenient.’

  ‘Isn’t it?’

  He grins. ‘I’m supposed to be kipping on Mal’s sofa.’

  ‘Who’s Mal?’

  He leans his head close to mine and points at a tall skinny guy standing outside the cabin.

  We’ve long since spilled out into the rest of the beer garden. Archie has a lot of friends. Not that I’m surprised. He’s that kind of guy.

  After a while, Faith interrupts us to say goodbye. She and Cameron are going on holiday to Mauritius first thing in the morning so won’t be at the cricket match tomorrow.

  ‘See you soon,’ she says, but as she leans in to give me a hug, Cameron accidentally steps on Bertie’s tail, causing her to yelp and leap to her feet.

  Cameron clearly feels awful, and although Bertie is almost immediately wagging her tail again, I’ve got a serious case of the guilts. I should take her home. She settles back on her haunches, not daring to sprawl out again. I distractedly stroke her head while trying to concentrate on what Keane is saying.

  Sonny materialises at my side.

  ‘Do you want me to run her home?’ he asks, his gaze steady on mine.

  It’s a lovely, genuine offer and it makes me feel terrible for trying to hurt him.

  ‘I was thinking about doing that,’ I reply.

  ‘It’ll take me two minutes,’ he insists, underestimating or perhaps under-exaggerating the distance – he’ll be at least five-to-ten.

  ‘Are you sure?’ We bot
h know it’ll take me substantially longer in my sandals.

  ‘Yep. Keys?’

  I go and get them from my bag, which I left over by the table. When I return, Keane has moved outside to join his friend.

  Sonny follows the line of my sight. ‘I might’ve frightened him off, sorry.’

  He doesn’t sound in the least bit apologetic.

  ‘How did you manage that?’ I ask drily.

  ‘I think he accidentally assumed we’re living together.’ He pulls a face, pursing his lips in a comical ‘whoops’ kind of gesture.

  His phrasing was quite clever, now that I think about it, offering to run Bertie ‘home’. That could have easily meant ‘our’ home.

  ‘It’s a shame,’ he adds with an insincere frown. ‘I reckon you could’ve been in there.’

  ‘The night is young,’ I say saccharinely, pressing Bertie’s lead into his hand. ‘And he’s only here for one night.’

  ‘Perfect. No strings attached.’ His nonchalance is unquestionably fake. ‘If you like the whole Justin Timberlake-in-the-late-nineties-poodle-hair thing,’ he adds disdainfully.

  ‘I knew he reminded me of someone!’ I play-punch his arm.

  His lips tilt upwards, just a little, but the crease on his brow remains. And then his smile fades until he’s simply staring at me with dark unfathomable eyes, seemingly trying to work me out.

  ‘Are you taking her home or what?’ I mumble.

  He nods and shakes himself, breaking the eye contact. ‘Come on, girl.’

  Bertie dutifully follows him out of the cabin.

  ‘Is he running Bertie home?’ Matilda asks, tracking their journey across the beer garden.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘That’s nice of him.’

  I nod because I can’t speak. I feel as though I’ve swallowed a stone.

  Why, why, why am I trying to hurt him? He’s been nothing but kind to me. I’m too tipsy to understand. Too confused.

  I look over at the table and catch Nessa and Keri’s eye. They’re huddled together, and I assume they’re bitching from the way they’re smirking at each other.

  I feel like the only thing that makes sense right now is to have another drink.

  *

  Last orders have been and gone and everyone is outside on the pavement, deciding what to do next. Some people are talking about heading into town to go to a club, but I’m simply trying to stay upright.