chapter twenty-eight

The Answer

‘I think I’ve worked it out,’ Jessica said, stretching out on her sofa. ‘Finally.’

I sat on the floor, the soles of my feet touching, my knees splayed out.

‘I’m all ears,’ I said.

‘Actually,’ Jessica said, ‘you’re all heart.’

‘Hey! All right, I might not be the kindest person on earth all the time, but I do try. So less of the sarcasm.’

Jessica drew on her cigarette, exhaled, waved the cigarette smoke away from my direction. ‘No, no, I really mean it. Literally, you’re all heart. Basically, we can talk philosophically, or we can talk biologically, or we can talk physics, but the end result is the same.’

‘What the blinking flip are you on about?’ I replied.

Jessica smiled. ‘Remember how Craig said you advertised sex? He was right. Remember how I said you made men fancy me? I was right. And, remember how poor Ed got himself into that state before his date and he said he thought he’d got “bigger”, well he probably didn’t realise that you had something to do with it, too. And you know how everyone has been blaming you for all the changes in their lives? They’re right too. Basically, Ceri, you’re Cupid.’