Nadia broke out into a nervous giggle as they stood up.
‘I don’t know why I said hi,’ she said. ‘I felt for a minute that I knew you. Sorry.’
Her friend stood beside her, watching the interaction unfold, amused.
‘Here,’ Daniel said, holding out the phone back to Nadia. ‘I hope I didn’t break it.’
‘It’s got a case,’ Nadia said, not even looking at it. ‘I’m clumsy. I drop it all the time. Don’t ever give me a baby to hold!’ she added, giggling again. And then, straight-faced: ‘That was a weird thing to say. Sorry. Again.’
Daniel saw Nadia’s friend smile to the right of him, to where Jeremy was smiling back. It was as if they were agreeing to let the scene play out, content to both act as the audience.
Daniel and Nadia looked at each other.
Daniel repeated: ‘So, this is yours.’ He handed over the phone. He couldn’t help but notice it was open on notes. He wondered what she had been writing.
Nadia took the phone, and grinned.
Daniel’s heart raced. His breathing got faster. This was it – this was his chance. His opportunity to say something smart and charming and clever that would make it okay to then say: It’s me. I stood you up after writing to you in the paper. Can we try again?
Don’t fuck this up, he told himself. Come on!