LITMIR.BIZ

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conquests. That night, however, while waiting for Flin’s father to come and pick them up, Flin had been cock-a-hoop.

      ‘What a great fucking party that was,’ he said ecstatically and then turned to Geordie and added with great deliberation: ‘literally.’ Geordie clearly remembered Flin’s smug expression.

      ‘What do you mean by that?’

      ‘Well, I, er, got my oats, didn’t I?’

      ‘No way!’

      ‘Way, man, you better believe it. I shagged Sophie Stewart by the edge of the grandstand.’ Geordie had felt intensely jealous, infuriated that his friend had one up on him. From then on it had seemed of paramount importance that he lose his own virginity as quickly as possible.

      He went back to reading his Tintin wistfully. Those days had been fun. No careers to worry about and the future seemed all mapped out. How times had changed. Now he was developing lines on his face. And when he’d last had his hair cut, he’d discovered some grey amongst the otherwise blond locks. And what was even worse, he had a sneaking suspicion his hair was thinning a little. His golden youth was fading.

      The following evening, he announced to Flin and Jessica that the time had come to phone Molly.

      ‘Do you want us to make ourselves scarce? I’d hate to put you off,’ offered Jessica helpfully.

      Geordie thanked her – he could feel his heart beating loudly enough without having the other two there to distract and make him feel even more nervous.

      ‘Do you think we should listen in?’ Flin suggested to Jessica in the hall.

      ‘Don’t be so rotten, Flin. Come on, leave him to it.’

      They pressed their ears to the door.

      It was so embarrassing making the first call. Geordie knew that she knew that he fancied her, otherwise he wouldn’t be calling. But at the same time, they both had to pretend that this was not so obviously the case. With a deep breath he rang the number. Come on, come on, he thought impatiently as the phone began to ring with no response. After about ten rings, there was an answer.

      ‘Hi! Molly?’ Geordie said, quick as a shot.

      ‘No, sorry, this is Lizzie. Molly’s not here.’

      ‘Oh, um, sorry.’

      ‘It’s not your fault.’ Smart-arse, thought Geordie, sending a false laugh down the line.

      ‘Well, could I leave a message for her please?’

      ‘Sure – just let me find a pen.’ Geordie could hear the receiver being put down and some rattling about from the other end. ‘Fire away.’

      ‘Could you ask her to call Geordie.’

      ‘Oh yes, Geordie. Sure thing. She met you the other night, didn’t she? I was wondering when you’d call.’

      Geordie had absolutely no idea how to respond to such brazen upfrontness. ‘Were you? Well, if you could ask her to call me that would be great. I’m in all night. Thanks a lot.’

      ‘Aren’t you forgetting something?’

      ‘Am I?’ Geordie really was too taken aback.

      ‘Your number.’

      He told her and said goodbye and then slowly stomped through to the kitchen.

      ‘Well?’ asked Flin, in an innocent tone.

      Geordie relayed his conversation with Lizzie. He thought it a good sign that Molly had obviously mentioned him to her, and felt encouraged.

      ‘That’s fantastic. She’s clearly been waiting for you to call. She must be keen, darling, take it from me,’ Jessica assured him.

      ‘Are you sure? That’s good, is it?’

      ‘Definitely.’

      An hour later they were all eating their way through a ready-to-cook Thai montage meal when the phone rang.

      ‘That’ll be it, old sport,’ said Flin, patting Geordie on the back. It was. Geordie’s mind raced. He felt quite heady with excitement.

      ‘Hello, Geordie. It’s Molly. Sorry I wasn’t in when you called earlier.’

      ‘It doesn’t matter at all. Thanks for phoning back. How are you?’

      ‘Fine, thank you. How are you?’

      ‘Good, thanks, great. Molly?’

      ‘Geordie.’

      ‘I was wondering whether you might be around on Saturday afternoon.’

      ‘No, I’m not. No, hang on a minute, that’s Sunday. Yes, I am.’

      ‘I thought it might be fun to do something.’

      ‘OK, sure.’

      So far, so good.

      Geordie gingerly suggested that they meet in Richmond – he had thought it might be romantic to walk along the river, have lunch and maybe stop in at Ham House. Much to his delight, Molly agreed and arranged to meet him at Richmond station at midday.

      After ringing off, Geordie clenched his fist in triumph. ‘Yes, you little beauty!’ he shouted. She must be keen. Well, quite keen. She must be, she must be. It was only Monday. Five days to contain his excitement. He prayed it would be sunny.

      His Thai was almost cold and both Flin and Jessica had finished theirs.

      ‘Just what I need,’ said Flin ruefully, ‘a delirious loved-up housemate.’

      ‘This is very thrilling,’ announced Jessica, then thought of her own situation. Despite her vows, she’d enjoyed Tommy’s attentions. Perhaps she would go to the cricket match on Saturday and see him then. She could ask Lucie to come with her and then she’d have someone to talk to while the boys were fielding. Cricket matches could be quite fun if it was a warm and sunny day and there were plenty of people she knew. Add a bottle of wine or two and it made for quite a relaxing day out. She felt rather pleased with her plan, and smiled to herself at the prospect.

       chapter seven Money – Or the Lack of It

      Despite the enormity of the events that had occurred to him since he’d last been in the office, Flin had arrived back at work to discover nothing much had changed; he felt as though he’d never been away. Thanks to Tiffany, both his e-mail and voicemail had been regularly checked and his in-tray neatly sorted. She was away his first day back, but on her return had made a beeline for his desk and flashed him one of her huge dimpled grins.

      ‘Hi, you’re back! How was it? I’ve been itching to know.’

      ‘It was terrible. Worse than terrible,’ he confessed, the humiliation returning once again.

      ‘No way – why?’ She was sitting on the edge of his desk, her out-sized shirtsleeves reaching her knuckles, and thick rubber-soled pumps dangling from the end of her legs.

      ‘I don’t know if I can tell you. I’m too embarrassed.’ He was too, but somehow couldn’t help smiling at her look of utter incredulity.

      ‘Oh, Flin, you have to!’

      He acquiesced, giving her the Geordie Heavily Edited Version. ‘So as you can imagine, I’m almost glad to be back at work.’

      ‘I’m so sorry. What a bitch – honestly.’ She bit her bottom lip for a moment, then added, ‘Well, it’s nice to have you back. It’s been really boring without you.’

      Her sincerity was genuine and spontaneous. Flin felt cheered – this was the nicest thing anyone had said to him in a long time. ‘Thank you – and thanks for clearing the deck.’

      ‘Oh,

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