It Had To Be You: An absolutely laugh-out-loud romance novel

by Keris Stainton

  ‘But do you? Because currently you’re dating someone you don’t even like because you think you had a recurring dream about him.’

  Georgie looks over at me, her eyebrows shooting up.

  ‘I did have a dream about him,’ I tell her. ‘And I do like him.’

  ‘You like him, but you don’t like like him,’ Freya argues. ‘And I worry that you’re pinning too much on this. On the dream.’

  I shake my head. ‘I’m just optimistic, what’s wrong with that?’

  ‘Nothing’s wrong with that. Of course it’s not. But… it was a dream. Do you really think you have, like, psychic powers? Because… I don’t know.’

  ‘I don’t… not exactly that. But I think I had the dream for a reason. I think I was meant to meet him. Dan,’ I add for Georgie’s benefit.

  ‘And you’re sure Dan was the man in your dream?’

  ‘Yes.’ I am. I think.

  Freya looks at me with one eyebrow raised. ‘Really? One hundred per cent?’

  ‘I mean… I don’t think I’m one hundred per cent about anything. Ever. Are you?’

  ‘Yes,’ she says. ‘Loads of things.’

  ‘Like?’

  ‘Gravity.’

  I roll my eyes. ‘Things in your life, I mean. Like… when you moved to London. Were you one hundred per cent confident it would work out? Or your job. Were you one hundred per cent confident it was the right one? Or even the right career?’

  ‘Maybe not. And no, I wasn’t about any of those things you mentioned. But I was confident enough. I knew I wanted to live in London because it made me happy when I came here. Same with my job. It felt like the thing I should be doing.’

  ‘She’s a hundred per cent about me,’ Georgie offers and Freya turns to kiss her.

  I take the opportunity to try and escape from the room.

  ‘Listen,’ Freya says, turning on the sofa so she’s facing me. ‘I believe you had a dream and it had a big impact on you. I believe you think Dan was the man in your dream.’

  ‘He was,’ I say from the doorway. ‘He is.’

  She waves her hand dismissively. ‘What if he’s not? What if he’s just a man you met in a park who’s nice, but not right for you?’

  ‘But he’s—’

  ‘If you’re about to say “the man of my dreams” I’m gonna smash this glass and stab you with it.’

  ‘I know,’ I say. ‘But he is.’

  Freya shakes her head, but her face softens. ‘Maybe you need bigger dreams.’

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I’m in the park. It’s busier than usual and quite noisy. At first I think it’s full of people but as I walk further along the path, I realise it’s full of pigeons. Pigeons in the trees and sitting on Dan’s bench. Pigeons on the deckchairs and the bandstand. Pigeons squawking and fluttering and shitting everywhere. I see Dan in the distance and I dodge numerous pigeons until I get to him. He keeps walking until he’s pressed right up against me. I slide my hands inside his jacket and as I lean in to kiss him, he pecks me instead.

  And then I wake up.

  * * *

  ‘Have you talked to Mum?’ Matt asks as soon as I answer my phone the following evening.

  My heart plummets and bile rises in my throat. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘It’s nothing bad, everyone’s OK,’ he says immediately. I wish he’d opened with that. ‘I mean,’ he continues. ‘It’s not great. But no one’s dead. No one’s ill.’

  ‘Tell me,’ I say. ‘You’re scaring me.’

  ‘You OK?’ Freya mouths at me across the living room, where she’s marking. Again. I shrug and realise I’m blinking back tears.

  ‘Tom’s business is being investigated,’ Matt says. ‘Some accounting irregularities, apparently.’

  My stomach lurches again. ‘Stuff I’ve done?’ I only record and categorise his expenses, but I know he uses the reports the software generates for tax and VAT.

  ‘I think it’s bigger than that,’ he says. ‘It may include stuff you’ve done, but that’s not all.’ I hear Matt suck in a breath and realise he’s smoking. I thought he’d given up.

  Freya comes over and squeezes my shoulder, then leaves the room.

  ‘So what does it mean?’ I ask Matt. ‘What’s happening?’

  ‘They’ve had to stop trading. This accountancy firm’s been instructed to, like, audit everything.’

  ‘So what are they looking for? What do they think’s happened?’ I stare out through the window. It’s been raining all day, but it just looks grey and miserable now.

  ‘They think Tom’s been taking money from the business. Like, for personal stuff.’

  I shake my head. ‘He’s always really strict about that. He always makes sure any personal expenses are repaid. Once it was, like, a newspaper. It wasn’t even a quid. But he paid it back.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Matt says. ‘I think it’s much bigger than that. We’re talking thousands, not the odd quid for a paper or a coffee.’

  ‘Wait,’ I say – something in his voice is making me feel queasy. ‘You don’t think he really did this?’

  Matt sighs. ‘I don’t know. I don’t want to. But they don’t do this kind of thing randomly. It seems like he might’ve done. Maybe not intentionally, but… yeah.’

  ‘He wouldn’t though,’ I say, instantly. ‘Tom’s not dishonest. He’s the most honest person I know. Remember that time at the cashpoint? Someone had left their cash? And he handed it in?’

  ‘I know,’ Matt says. ‘It’s unbelievable. Maybe he just fucked up somehow. It happens.’

  Freya comes back and hands me a beer and I smile quickly at her before taking a long pull of it. I feel like I need something stronger: what do they give people for shock? Brandy. We haven’t got any brandy.

  ‘So what’s happening now?’ I ask Matt.

  ‘He’s at home. He’s really pissed off. He thought he could carry on trading while they did the investigation and it was only when they turned up they told him he’d have to shut down. So there’s like long-time clients he’s had to let down.’

  ‘That’s not good.’

  ‘Nope. I think his worry is that even if the investigation turns out in his favour, he’ll have lost some important clients.’

  ‘Shit! How long’s it going to take?’

  ‘Dunno. Could take months, apparently. I’ve been trying to find out, but it seems like it’s a long as a piece of string type of thing, you know?’

  ‘How’s Mum?’

  I wish I was at home. I’d feel better if I could hear what’s happening from Tom, have Mum tell me it’ll all be OK.

  ‘Oh, you know Mum. She’s furious. She thinks it’s all a stitch-up. She asked him if he has any enemies.’

  I laugh and then say, ‘God. This is awful.’

  ‘I know. But maybe it’s not as bad as it seems. Maybe it’ll turn out to be nothing.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  I ask him about work and life and Lydia, but he’s his usual non-committal self, offering only short, not very informative answers. I feel like now that he’s told me about Tom, he just wants to get off the phone. Eventually, I let him, after making him promise to ring me as soon as he knows anything.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ he says just before hanging up.

  Bit late for that now.

  * * *

  ‘You could ask Dan about it,’ Freya says, once I’ve told her everything Matt’s told me. ‘Like what usually happens in this kind of situation. What the process is.’

  ‘Do you think? I mean, he’s not qualified yet.’

  ‘No, but he’s worked in accountancy, right? He’s going to know more than we do, anyway.’

  ‘That wouldn’t be difficult.’

  ‘I’m sure he could ask someone he works with.’

  ‘He’s still looking for work.’ He had another interview today, actually. I need to text him and ask how it went.

  ‘Well, someone he’s worked with in the past then. Even knowing the right
terms to Google. Worth a try.’

  I nod. She’s right. It definitely is.

  ‘I’ll text him,’ I tell her.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I’m walking up the stairs at the station and I can see Dan waiting for me at the top. It’s bright outside so I can only see him in silhouette, his outline edged in gold. I get to the top and walk towards him, still sheltering my eyes against the sun, which is almost painfully bright. When I get there, it’s not Dan. It’s Henry.

  ‘Oh hey!’

  He smiles. ‘Hi.’

  ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you here.’

  ‘I thought I’d come and meet you.’

  He turns and we both walk out into the street.

  ‘I missed you,’ Henry says.

  I push him back against the wall and press my body up against his.

  And then I wake up.

  * * *

  ‘Are you nervous?’ Freya asks me. She’s sitting on my bed while I do my make-up in the long mirror that’s glued to the wall. (And I know this because I tried to take it down when I first moved in.)

  I shake my head. But I am. A bit. Also I still feel weird after dreaming about Henry. Again. I know it’s just because I spend so much time with him and it’s not like I haven’t dreamt about him before, but I’ve never dreamt about kissing him before. That is very much new. I don’t say any of this to Freya. I just carry on filling in my left eyebrow.

  ‘It’s a big step, meeting the friends,’ she says. ‘And you don’t usually wear make-up to brunch.’

  ‘He hasn’t seen me without make-up yet. And he’s already met Henry. And it wasn’t a big deal when Georgie met us – she was naked the first time Henry saw her.’

  ‘Meh,’ she says. ‘That’s different.’

  I start on the other eyebrow. ‘Why is it?’

  ‘Because Georgie’s my girlfriend. But Dan is The Man of Your Dreams.’ She says this in a portentous voice. Like a movie trailer voiceover.

  ‘Oh god.’ I turn and look at her. ‘Please don’t say that to him.’

  ‘You still haven’t told him?’ She clasps her hands in front of her chest. ‘That he is your destiny?’

  ‘No. And you can’t tell him either.’ I drop the eyebrow pencil back in my make-up bag and take out my mascara.

  ‘You know you do need to tell him at some point though, right?’ Freya says. She’s lying down on my bed now.

  ‘Why do I?’

  ‘Because!’

  ‘Convincing argument.’

  ‘Because if you are going to be together forever, you can’t keep something like that from him. Literally the reason you asked him out! The reason you were in London! The reason you were lurking in the park like a creeper!’

  ‘See, this is why I don’t want to tell him.’

  ‘And yet…’

  ‘I know. Shut up. Not today though. He’s got enough to deal with meeting you lot.’

  ‘You make a good point,’ she says, rolling onto her back. She hasn’t bothered getting dressed up to meet him. She’s wearing ripped jeans and a sweatshirt that she usually only wears when she’s hungover or on her period. Her hair is in a high ponytail, she’s wearing her glasses, not her contacts, and she still looks great. Annoying.

  ‘When are you going to do something about this room?’ she asks. ‘You’ve seen the stain on the ceiling, right?’

  ‘Yeah.’ I put the mascara down and pout at myself in the mirror. ‘I’m going to ask Henry to ask his dad to do something about that.’

  ‘I could do the whole room,’ Freya says. ‘I’ll do it for cost. It’ll be fun.’

  I decide I look as good as I’m going to look and zip up my make-up bag. ‘Thanks, but I can’t even afford the materials. And it doesn’t matter anyway. I only really sleep in here, I don’t need it to be fancy.’

  ‘But if you’re going to be bringing men back here…’ She circles her hand over the duvet cover.

  ‘It’s not men, it’s one man. And I really don’t think Dan will care.’

  ‘You’re hopeless,’ she says. ‘You have to put in a bit of effort every now and then.’

  ‘I have!’ I say, fanning my hands underneath my chin and batting my eyelashes.

  She stands up and kisses me quickly on the lips. ‘And you look gorgeous. Let’s go. I could eat the crotch out of a low-flying duck.’

  * * *

  Dan has Freya charmed within less than a minute. He’s waiting outside Mr C’s when we get there, introduces himself and shakes everyone’s hand, and then makes a rubbish, but endearing, joke about being scared to meet everyone. As we walk into the cafe, Freya grins at me and gives me two thumbs up behind Dan’s back. And then Mrs C comes over to take our order and says, ‘Oh! Handsome boy!’ and actually strokes his hair. He smiles at her and asks what she recommends on the menu and then actually orders it.

  ‘Ohhhh,’ she says to me. ‘This one is a good one.’

  He is. He is a good one. I would never have brought Anthony here. I didn’t even introduce him to my friends. And if I’d known Freya then, he one hundred per cent would have made a dodgy comment about lesbian sex and she’d have stabbed him with a fork.

  ‘So how do you all know each other?’ Dan asks, once we’ve all got drinks.

  ‘From the house,’ Adam tells him. ‘Henry was there first and then Freya, and then me and Celine moved in. And then…’ He clicks his fingers and points at me.

  Dan smiles at me. ‘And you all get on? That’s good.’

  ‘It took a while to get the right group though,’ Henry says. ‘We had some nightmares along the way.’

  ‘Right,’ Dan says. ‘It’s tough sharing with strangers.’

  ‘Do you get on with your flatmates?’ Henry asks him.

  Dan’s just taken a sip of coffee, so he nods, then swallows and says, ‘They’re great, yeah. I don’t see much of them, which is good. They both work long hours. But they’re tidy enough, you know? I’ve no complaints. Well, Anton never flushes the loo, but other than that.’

  While we wait for our food, he chats with Adam about sport, asks Celine questions about her job – and not the stupid questions that wind her up, like whether she’s ever shouted ‘This whole court’s out of order!’ but actual interesting, insightful questions. He asks Henry about the bookshop, but it’s a bit of a conversational dead end since Dan doesn’t read. But then he and Freya realise they’re both big horror film fans and get overexcited about some seventies remake that’s about to hit cinemas.

  Mrs C brings our food and then just stands there, smiling at Dan.

  ‘Getting jealous here, Mrs C,’ Adam says, raising one eyebrow at her.

  She laughs and flutters and says, ‘You are a bad boy.’

  ‘You’re an idiot,’ Celine tells him, once Mrs C has gone.

  ‘You won’t get Bea to watch horror movies with you,’ Freya tells Dan, reaching over and pinching a bit of his toast (which is how I know she likes him). ‘She only watches romantic comedies.’

  ‘I don’t only watch romantic comedies,’ I say, turning to see if I can spot Mrs C – I need another coffee, but I got distracted by her fussing over Dan and forgot to ask.

  ‘What was the last film you watched that wasn’t a romcom?’ Freya asks me.

  I frown, trying to remember. I try to mentally scroll Netflix.

  ‘Mystic Pizza!’ I say, eventually. ‘And Legally Blonde! They’re not romcoms. You’re a Legally Blonde fan, right, Henry?’

  ‘Who isn’t?’ Henry says and I grin at him. I think he’s actually more of a Reese Witherspoon fan, but still.

  ‘Eh, they’re chick flicks though,’ Dan says.

  ‘Ugh,’ I manage to catch Mrs C’s eye and she waves and heads back over. ‘I hate that expression. Exactly what in either of them makes them inappropriate for men? Feelings? Don’t men have feelings?’

  ‘I don’t,’ Adam says. ‘Not from the waist up anyway.’

  I look around the table for something to throw at hi
m and have to make do with a rolled up sugar sachet wrapper. He just grins at me.

  ‘I don’t know what your problem is,’ Adam says. ‘Chick flicks for the ladies – about feelings and love and… shoes. And dick flicks for the men: explosions, sex, guns and cars.’

  ‘No sex for the ladies?’ Freya asks him, one eyebrow raised. (Celine is ignoring him. She’s on her phone.)

  ‘You can have a bit of sex—’ Adam says.

  ‘Ooh, can I?’ Mrs C replies, arriving at the table. ‘Do you want me now or will you finish breakfast first?’

  We all laugh and Adam does something I’ve never seen him do before: he blushes.

  ‘Oh my god,’ Celine says, turning in her seat. ‘You are bright red.’

  She quickly takes a photo and Adam roars at her before grabbing her wrist and trying to take the phone. She still hasn’t told him about the baby. She says she’s working up to it. She’ll know when it’s the right time.

  While the two of them wrestle, I order another coffee from Mrs C and she winks at me before she goes.

  * * *

  Dan comes back to the house with me. With all of us. But as soon as we’re through the door, the others disperse to their rooms. I think about just taking Dan to the living room, but I know that would end up being weird because the others would pop in and out, so instead I take him up to my room. I’m conscious all the way up the stairs that we’re going to my room. Where my bed is. Where there actually isn’t much more than my bed. Me and Dan in a room full of bed.

  ‘Your friends are really great,’ he says, as soon as the door is closed behind us.

  ‘They are,’ I agree. ‘And you were a big hit. Especially with Mrs C.’

  He laughs, his eyes crinkling. ‘How lovely is she?’

  Freya and I have actually talked about a Mrs C test in the past – if you introduce someone to Mrs C and they don’t think she’s wonderful, the relationship can go no further. Dan has passed with flying colours.

  ‘So this is your room,’ Dan says then.

  We’re both still just standing there. I feel like the bed is glowing or flashing arrows.