lair. Patrick Batewoman.’ He rinses a chamois under the tap, which is on one of those bendy arms you usually see in industrial kitchens. ‘In a good way.’
As Mindy potters around in vermilion ankle boots, taking it all in for a second time, Ivor gingerly dabs at the damage. He turns to me and nods, to say it’s coming off, and gestures for me to join Mindy.
‘Drink?’ I ask, wondering as I say it where my kettle is and what I’m going to do for milk.
‘I can’t stay actually, I’ve got a date,’ Mindy says.
‘Bo … Robert?’ I ask.
‘Bobby Trendy’s been given his cards,’ Ivor interjects, breaking off from his cleaning up.
Robert was always head-to-toe in All Saints with bicycle chains hanging out of his back pocket and got the nickname ‘Bobby Trendy’ from Ivor. Unfortunately, once uttered, it was hard to un-stick it from your mind.
‘Yeah, he sacked my family dinner off for a paintballing thing with his brother-in-law.’ Mindy waves her hand. ‘Enough was enough. There should be a TripAdvisor on dates, so you can give feedback. Nice view. Bad service. Book waaaay in advance.’
‘Small portions,’ Ivor coughs into his fist.
‘Who’s this one from, Guardian Soulmates?’ I say.
‘My Single Friend.’
‘Is that the one where a friend recommends you?’
‘Yeah. I posed as a man and sold myself as a low-maintenance mamacita who “works as hard as she plays”.’
I make an ‘oh dear’ face.
‘It only means solvent, not a clinger, potential for sex,’ Mindy adds. Ivor grimaces.
‘Yes, I know,’ I say. ‘Isn’t someone else supposed to do it?’
‘How could anyone else describe me better than I can describe myself?’
‘Why join a site where that’s the point then?’
Mindy shrugs. ‘Men trust tips from other men. Recommendations from other women are like, “bubbly, great social life” and they think, ho hum, hooched-up woofer.’
‘Narcissism and deception, the classic inceptors of healthy relationships,’ Ivor says, dropping down on the sofa next to us.
‘Anyway. I’ve kind of over-fished on Guardian Soul Destroyers. Waiting for stocks to replenish. This one’s twenty-three.’ Mindy chews her lip. ‘And he likes grime. The music, you know, not dirt. God knows what we’re going to talk about.’
‘Well, him, if your previous experiences are anything to go by,’ I say, and Ivor laughs.
‘But his profile picture – young John Cusack,’ Mindy sighs.
Ivor gives me a look. I return it. Neither of us say anything. Mindy has a theory of compatibility and none of us have ever been able to persuade her out of it. She says instant physical attraction is a pre-requisite for any successful relationship – it’s either identifiably there, or not, from the start. Thus she’s only ever bothered with boys who she thinks are good-looking, reasoning she needs to find a handsome man with whom she has other things in common. No amount of contradictory examples or criticism about being shallow has ever moved Mindy an inch on this. Of course, it means she’s dated a procession of vain Prince Charmings with the souls of frogs.
I check my watch.
‘When is this date? Are you going for high tea?’
‘It’s not until eight but I’ve got to get ready. I’m going to get some pure oxygen and have my eyebrows threaded.’
‘You know how it works. Mindy goes into pre-production, like an over-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Development hell,’ Ivor says.
‘Obviously, I should just change my t-shirt and pour a bottle of Lynx Caveman all over myself,’ Mindy snaps back, standing up.
‘I wouldn’t do that,’ Ivor says, mildly, ‘Lynx is for men.’
Mindy shakes her head at Ivor and gives me a hug. ‘Start planning the party. Who knows, if this goes well, I might bring Jake.’
‘Jake,’ Ivor scoffs. ‘He’s even got a name that dates him as post-1985.’
‘Says Ivor.’
‘My name’s never been in fashion so it can’t go out. It only dates me as post ninth century, dear.’
‘Whevs! Bye, Rach.’
‘Good luck with the Relic Hunter!’ Ivor shouts, as I show her out.
Mindy turns in the doorway and gives him two fingers.
‘Do you think,’ I drop down on the sofa and squeeze an oyster coloured cushion to my body, then feel the shop-fresh plump starchy newness of it and realise these cushions aren’t for squeezing and put it back, ‘Mindy will ever revise this ruthless policy of looks first, personality a distant second, compatibility irrelevant?’
‘Probably not.’
We shake our heads.
‘What’re your plans? Want me to stay?’ Ivor asks, and I wonder why today feels like a series of polite rejections. ‘Or go?’
‘Erm,’ I say, trying to work out what he wants me to say. I feel as if a strange stigma is clinging to me. I have some insight into how the newly bereaved crave people who don’t walk on eggshells around them.
‘I was going to make use of Katya being away for the weekend and have a Grand Theft Auto marathon and eat vacuum-packed pork products,’ he continues. ‘You’re welcome to join me.’
‘Hah, no, thanks, I’m fine. Enjoy killing all those hookers.’
I see Ivor out and tell myself sternly that I’m very lucky to have supportive friends, and being single means getting used to your own company and not inventing excuses to keep people around you. None of which makes me feel any less bereft. The latest revelation: you have to relearn being on your own again. Rhys and I had separate interests. We didn’t live in each other’s pockets. Yet the empty quiet of the flat stretches like an island around me, and the city an ocean beyond that.
I do some more unpacking until the discovery of the old framed photo from university starts me crying, and the intensity of the urge to call Rhys and say I’ve changed my mind is like Class A withdrawal. I sit scrolling up and down to his name in my mobile phone address book. I wouldn’t have to say anything desperate: all I’d be doing is checking in on him. I stop. However he’s getting through today, I need to let him get on with it. I’ve put myself beyond being able to help him, on this. I imagine him alone in that bed tonight and think: I’m lucky. I get a fresh start in new surroundings. He has the site of our old life, minus me.
Unbidden, my mind starts playing me a montage of our edited highlights. The first night we spent together at his old flat and me falling out of bed and
