The Wedding Pact

by Isla Gordon

  And now, he had a home. Even with a two-week delay before moving in, at least he had it sorted. It was strange and satisfying and sad all at once because he wouldn’t be living with Yui this time, but he would be living again, rather than in this strange twilight zone of jet lag and hotel room.

  August, this woman who had gone from stranger, to potential flatmate, to fake wife, and was now maybe a new friend, asked him, ‘What did you do with the rest of your day?’

  ‘I bought some shirts and a clean jumper to wear,’ Flynn said, gesturing to himself. ‘The last thing I needed was to drip melted cheese over my suit before my first day tomorrow.’

  ‘It looks nice,’ August commented, taking a seat and signalling to the waitress for a beer also. ‘I mean, it’s a nice jumper.’

  ‘Thanks. It’s a little too warm if I push the sleeves down though, and a little too cold if I push them up.’

  ‘Poor Goldilocks.’

  ‘I know, right? My life is so complicated.’ They smiled at each other, and there was a brief pause in the conversation. When August’s beer arrived, along with some smoked almonds to nibble on, they both made a comment about how the food ‘hit the spot’, and then fell quiet again after placing their pizza orders.

  Flynn leaned forward and said in a low voice, ‘We haven’t run out of things to talk about already, have we?’

  At that, August laughed, a big, head-thrown-back laugh. ‘Why are we being so weird?’ she said.

  ‘My mind has gone blank! I could tell you about my new jumper again?’

  ‘Oh my God, that was so fascinating, could you go over the parts about the temperature of your forearms one more time?’ They paused again, sipping their beers, and August said, ‘I don’t think we’ve run out of things to talk about, I think I just don’t know where to begin.’

  ‘I think you’re right. I keep nearly saying things and then thinking, did I already cover that this morning?’

  ‘We talked for a long time this morning. But … don’t take this the wrong way … ’ August hesitated. ‘I don’t remember a lot of what you said.’

  It was Flynn’s turn to laugh hard. ‘I thought it was just me! I can barely remember a thing from our conversations!’

  ‘I know I had fun talking to you, and I found you interesting, but most of the time I was just thinking about the open house.’

  ‘I’m really a good listener most of the time, I promise, I just need a good night’s sleep.’

  ‘Do you think you’ll get that tonight?’ August asked.

  ‘Almost certainly not, but I hope so. Just knowing I have a place lined up again now makes me feel a lot calmer. I can put up with another couple of weeks of the hotel now there’s an end in sight, and I don’t have to try and squeeze in house-hunting after hours.’

  They ordered another round of beers, and both relaxed into their surroundings. August looked at Flynn. ‘Let’s slow things down and start again from the beginning. If we go over old ground, so be it. Tell me again what happened to the house you were supposed to move into when you flew in from Japan – you said something about the owners splitting up?’

  ‘Yes, exactly that. Quite sad really. It happened while I was on the flight over, but I didn’t check my voicemail until I was already on the coach heading towards Bath, and they broke the news that they couldn’t take in a lodger anymore, and would I mind finding somewhere else at this time. They offered to pay for a hotel for me until I found a new home, but I didn’t want to do that to them. Divorce can be expensive enough, and I was supposed to be helping them out, money-wise, not costing them more.’

  ‘So, if you’d found out as soon as you got off the plane, would you have gone straight back to Japan?’

  ‘No,’ Flynn said, and for a moment he drifted to somewhere else, to the other side of the world, before he returned to the present. ‘No, but I might have just stayed at an airport hotel in London for the night instead.’

  ‘Do you miss Japan?’ August asked, catching Flynn’s faraway look.

  ‘I mean, I’ve only been back in England for forty-eight hours,’ he replied.

  ‘That doesn’t answer my question.’

  ‘It’s a hard question to answer at the moment.’

  ‘Fair enough. Did you miss England when you were out there?’

  ‘Yes,’ he considered this while he sipped on his beer. ‘I missed it, but not because I felt like I was missing out. I loved living in Japan, but loving Japan didn’t stop me from loving the UK too, and the same is true vice versa.’

  The pizzas arrived, Flynn’s a classic pepperoni, laden with mini bell peppers, a scattering of basil leaves and reams of stringy mozzarella. August had a Hawaiian, with fresh, grilled pineapple chunks scattered over big pieces of thick-cut bacon.

  ‘I get what you’re saying, that you like both countries and missing one doesn’t detract from valuing the other. But what caused you to swap Japan for England again?’

  ‘I guess it was time for a change,’ he said, eventually, and then looked her in the eye. ‘I can always go back, I guess.’

  ‘Of course,’ nodded August. ‘Just not for a while, okay?’

  Flynn picked up another slice. ‘You moved here from London, right? Did you say last year?’

  ‘Six months ago,’ she confirmed.

  ‘What made you decide to make the move?’

  August looked out of the window at Bath. ‘I just wanted to come home.’

  ‘This is where you grew up?’

  ‘Not really, but not far. It was more my grandma’s home, and my best friend Bel’s, but I only grew up maybe an hour or so away. For me it wasn’t that I wanted to come back home, but that this is the place I wanted to call home. Bath, for as long as I can remember, felt like it would be my home one day. I just knew it.’

  ‘What is it about Bath? You mentioned that you came back all the time for big life events. It can’t just be the house – your new flat – on Elizabeth Street?’

  ‘The whole place is perfect to me,’ replied August. ‘The architecture, the history, the way the past – both real, and fictional, thank you Jane Austen – feels like it’s soaked into the pavements of this city. It’s just inspiring, and feeling inspired makes me feel excited. And happy.’ She shrugged. ‘I wanted to be happy.’

  ‘That was a good answer, did you rehearse that?’ Flynn teased.

  ‘A little. You’d be amazed the number of people who seem surprised that I’d give up living in London to move to Bath.’

  ‘Really? How come?’

  ‘Because I’m an actress and I left a city with probably two hundred theatres to come to one with maybe a handful. But something you should know about me, Flynn, is that I like a challenge.’

  ‘I can tell,’ he laughed. ‘Remind me what kind of acting you do?’

  ‘Mainly voice work, which is just the most fun. I love it.’

  ‘It sounds really fun, and you have a nice voice.’ He cringed because that felt like an odd way to compliment someone, but she just smiled at him and continued.

  ‘I do a lot of audiobooks and educational material. “A lot” might be an overstatement though. And it’s been a while, to be honest, though I’m planning to change that. I also voiced a squirrel in a videogame once.’

  ‘That’s very cool!’

  ‘It was pretty awesome,’ August agreed with a sparkle of pride.

  From there, and over the remaining slices of their respective pizzas, the conversation between Flynn and August flowed easily again, as easy as it had that morning. He told her about his life in England before he had returned to Japan with his parents, then about his job, and his anxieties about his starting work the next day.

  Flynn had already been fully versed that morning about August’s long history with their new house, but chatting to her now over beers he understood what her grandmother meant to her, and began to see glimpses, like sunlight reflecting off glass, of who she wanted to become.

  When they were both full, August yawne
d and said, ‘Do you mind if we call it a night? I’m worn out from all the talking we’ve done today. And that’s coming from a voice actress.’

  ‘Ha, not at all, that’s fine,’ Flynn said, yawning also. They stood up, leaving money for the bill. ‘Shall I walk you back home?’

  August waved him away. ‘No, that’s fine, it’s not like we’re on a date. Go and get some sleep. And good luck tomorrow.’

  As they exited the pizzeria, Flynn asked, ‘Should we get rings? Prop ones, I mean?’

  August thought it about it for a moment and then chuckled. ‘No, I don’t think we should. You know we’d forget to put them on, or worse, we’d forget to take them off and then be unlucky in love for a year and be wondering why nobody was hitting on us.’

  ‘Good call. If the landlady comments about the lack of rings we can just say they’re being cleaned.’

  Outside, the air had grown cool, the streets close to empty, it being a Sunday night. A breeze ruffled the leaves of a nearby tree, and August and Flynn’s goodbye suddenly felt as awkward as their hello had.

  ‘I’m really glad I met you today,’ Flynn settled on. ‘You saved my bacon.’

  ‘Right back atcha,’ August said. And with that, they turned to go their separate ways, before she called after him, ‘Flynn?’

  ‘Yep?’

  ‘I’m sure you’re going to be kept super-busy with your new job and all your new workmates, but if you need someone to hang out with over the next couple of weeks, just drop me a message.’

  Sadly, he feared he wouldn’t have much time for hanging out at all, but it was something he didn’t want to dismiss out of hand. So he simply smiled, nodded, and said, ‘I’d like that.’

  Chapter 17

  August

  There was a breakfast spot in Bath that August could always count on to make great coffee, and even better pancakes. On Monday morning she’d hauled herself out of bed super-early in order to meet Bel before her friend had to get to the practice where she worked as a dentist. For two self-proclaimed morning people, both had arrived late, dashing in the door and making snap-decision orders at the counter.

  ‘I’m starving,’ declared Bel, sitting down at the table by the window, the dawn light just beginning to paint the pane of glass a soft peach.

  ‘Same,’ August answered. ‘I had a piece of toast to keep me going before I left home, but now I’m famished again.’

  ‘I just had, like, a tiny bowl of cereal. Just in case the food took a while.’

  ‘That’s good thinking. I mean you’ve probably got a busy day at work and breakfast is important. I had peanut butter on one of my bits of toast and cherry curd on the other. Oh, I guess I had two bits.’

  ‘Cherry curd sounds nice. I had an apple too, just for some vitamins. Oh and a Pop Tart but that’s just like having a biscuit with a cuppa.’

  ‘Exactly,’ nodded August. ‘Let’s hope our food arrives soon.’

  Bel removed her jumper as the waiter set down two big white mugs full of creamy coffee. ‘It’s hot out today. So what did you want to chat about? How are you doing?’

  ‘I am good.’

  ‘You are?’ Bel looked puzzled. ‘Did you and James get back together over the weekend?’

  August sipped her coffee and shrugged her shoulders. ‘James who?’

  ‘Yas, James who!’ Bel laughed. ‘But seriously, when we spoke on the phone on Saturday you were pretty cut up about him dumping you—’

  August cleared her throat pointedly.

  ‘Sorry, about you dumping him. Now you’re all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Are you drunk already?’

  ‘No, it’s like seven-thirty in the morning! I wait until at least nine.’

  ‘Then what is it? What changed?’

  Their pancakes arrived, two steaming stacks on wide white plates. ‘I had some time to think,’ August explained. ‘James was but a blip and not worth wasting any more energy on.’ Even though the words were coming from her mouth, August wasn’t entirely convinced by them. She and James had been growing closer over the four months since their first date, and it still stung her heart, and her pride, that he’d broken the news that he was done with getting to know her. So yes, in theory, she was grateful not to be wasting energy on someone who wasn’t genuinely interested in a future with her, but her soul still needed a little feeding before it caught up. With that in mind, she became impatient for the bottle of syrup Bel was hogging. ‘You know, for a dentist you eat more sugar than anyone I know.’

  ‘I know, right?’ She continued to pour on the syrup for what felt like an age, before relinquishing it to August. ‘But don’t shame me, and don’t tell my patients.’

  ‘Oh, I’m not shaming you,’ August said, starting her own waterfall of syrup upon her pancakes. ‘And I am one of your patients.’

  ‘Don’t tell the ones that pay.’

  ‘Deal. So, I have news … ’ August declared, diving into her stack, finally. ‘I’m moving.’

  ‘No! Not back to London? You only returned to Bath six months ago!’

  ‘Nope, not back to London, I’m staying here, I just got a new flat.’

  ‘But not with James?’ Bel clarified.

  ‘No, not with James.’

  Bel hesitated, realising why her friend had that familiar, excitable bounce about her. She’d done something a little crazy. ‘Wait, is this to do with the house on Elizabeth Street?’

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘Are you renting that apartment you told me about? The one you couldn’t afford to rent alone?’

  ‘Yes!’ August was grinning.

  ‘But you can’t afford to rent it alone … Did you come into some money? Are you planning to squat? Aug, I’ve told you that’s not the way—’

  ‘Relax, I’m not squatting, I’m renting, all above board and legitimately, pretty much.’

  ‘Oh God. What does that mean?’

  ‘Can you believe I’m finally going to live in that house?’ August said by way of reply.

  ‘I mean, it’s about time,’ Bel agreed. ‘Most people’s dream home is some mansion in Beverly Hills, but you’ve been banging on about that place since school.’

  ‘I’m obsessed with it, and I have no problem admitting it. And now I can live there!’

  ‘How come though? Like I’ve been saying … Isn’t it too expensive? Did you find someone to rent with?’

  ‘Exactly. I’m going to give notice on my place today and I should be able to start moving in within a couple of weeks.’ August took a big, satisfied gobble of her pancakes.

  ‘Who are you moving in with?’

  ‘How are your pancakes?’

  ‘Incredible, but who are you moving in with?’ Bel pressed.

  ‘Just this guy.’

  Bel put down her knife and fork and sat back in her chair.

  ‘ “Just this guy?” “Just this guy”, she says. Which guy?’

  ‘A guy called Flynn.’

  ‘Flynn?’

  ‘Yes, Flynn. It’s a cute name, huh? Don’t you want any more of those?’ August reached across the table but Bel slapped her away.

  ‘People called Flynn aren’t just “some guy”. Flynns are bad boys. Flynns wear leather jackets, and will ask to put their hands up your blouse at the drive-in. Flynns are Casanovas.’

  ‘Okay,’ August scoffed. ‘I’ll be on guard at the next drive-in I go to. You don’t even know any Flynns.’

  ‘I know hundreds of Flynns.’

  Now August put down her utensils and folded her arms, sitting back in amusement. ‘Name one Flynn who fits this Casanova theory of yours. In fact, name just one Flynn you know.’

  ‘Flynn Rider.’

  ‘The guy from Tangled?’

  ‘He was a wanted criminal.’

  ‘He was the hero! I mean along with her.’ August added, ‘Plus he was a cartoon, so I’m discounting him. Who else have you got?’

  ‘Jerome Flynn.’

  ‘That’s a surname, and he’s a national treas
ure.’

  Bel thought for a moment. ‘Well, his character in Game of Thrones was quite the ladies’ man.’

  August rolled her eyes. ‘Next.’

  ‘Oh, I know,’ Bel leant forward, clicking her fingers. ‘That guy I went on a couple of dates with before I met Steve. The one who tried to take me on a ski holiday for the second date.’

  ‘Wasn’t he called Jordan?’

  ‘Yeah, but he was such a Flynn.’

  Laughter popped out of August. ‘You have nothing, your evidence isn’t even circumstantial. This case is dismissed and you have to go to prison for filing a false claim.’

  ‘All right, all right, so who is this “Flynn” and how come you’re moving in with him?’

  August resumed her pancake eating. ‘He’s really nice, and I met him just before the open house yesterday morning—’

  ‘You just met him?’

  ‘Yes, I just met him, but that doesn’t automatically mean I’ll let him feel me up at a drive-in movie.’

  ‘I need more coffee,’ Bel signalled for the waiter. ‘May we get two more coffees, please, and can you double-shot the hazelnut syrup in them? Thanks.’ She turned back to August. ‘How do you know he won’t do that, or worse, if you’ve only just met him?’

  ‘Because I asked him if he was a murderer, and he said no.’

  ‘Oh well, that’s fine, then.’

  ‘And I told him I wasn’t one either. Seriously though, he seems like a really nice man, and I would have had to advertise for a flatmate anyway. They would have probably been a stranger.’

  ‘Not … necessarily.’ Bel said.

  August looked at her. ‘Well, were you about to leave your fiancé to live on his own so you could shack up with me?’

  ‘No … But I could have put some feelers out. We could still find you someone who’s maybe a friend of a friend.’

  ‘No, it has to be Flynn.’

  Bel raised an eyebrow. ‘Why? Why does it have to be him?’

  ‘I want it to be Flynn. We talked for hours yesterday, before the open house even started, and then we went out for pizza in the evening to get to know each other more.’ She still felt as though she was only scratching the surface of why he’d left the Land of the Rising Sun for the Land of the Infrequent Sun, maybe over time she’d get there.