The Wedding Pact

by Isla Gordon

  But –

  NO. Have some damned self-control.

  ‘I think we’d better leave it there,’ she answered, eventually, and Flynn nodded, dropping his arms, breathing a little sigh of relief.

  They stood beside each other for a moment, unsure what to say, until August broke the silence. ‘Well, thank you.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Flynn replied.

  ‘Fancy a cup of tea?’

  ‘Yes, please, that would be great.’

  ‘Great.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he said.

  ‘Thank you.’

  August went into the kitchen and made the tea, staring out of the window at absolutely nothing other than the memories dancing behind her eyes. She licked her bottom lip, tasting his imprint one last time.

  Time to pull herself together. It was done. He’d done as she’d asked, and now the job was completed. She knew she had to go back out there with a clear mind, and not one full of his lips, his hands, his eyes. Get a grip, Anderson, she scolded herself, and picked up the mugs.

  August entered the living room and slapped on her usual sunny smile, and Flynn stopped pacing in his tracks. He looked like he was going to say something. He was regretting it. He was going to tell her he had to move out. ‘Glad we got that ticked off the list!’ she said, a desperate attempt to play down what had happened. She wanted everything to go back to normal. Please, please, let everything go back to normal. They had such a good thing going.

  Chapter 38

  Flynn

  In the living room, Flynn had also been staring out of the window, hands on hips, a million miles away. What happened? Something had shifted, been dislodged, that was never meant to have moved. He knew that if she came back into the room now and asked him to kiss her again, he would do it, without hesitation. He hoped she did.

  Flynn, in contrast to August, had always been more of a thinker first, and only taken action when appropriate. But she was changing that about him, not through any intention on her part, but there was something about her that made him want to be spontaneous and reach for the stars, because that’s where she was, with the stars as her playground. And though his head was bellowing at him to put the brakes on and think this through, his heart wanted her. He paced the room, sure that when she came back in he would sweep her into his arms and kiss her again.

  When August re-entered with the teas, and declared their kiss as being ‘ticked off the list’, Flynn blinked, the adrenaline coursing through him screeching to a halt. She’d just been acting. Of course she had. And that’s all either of them was supposed to be doing.

  For a second they observed each other, both in the spotlight, until Flynn said, reaching for a tea, ‘Yes. Kissing done. Well done us.’

  He pushed down his bubbling feelings. He’d probably just got caught up in the moment anyway, hanging onto memories of happy relationships of the past and letting loneliness get the better of him for a moment. She would go back to being just his flatmate, August, to him, and he’d go back to being Just Flynn.

  Chapter 39

  August

  August thought she could hear a change of tone in Flynn’s voice, but figured hers was probably a bit off too; they had just made out, after all. It would be weird for them not to feel a little off-balance. She’d just have to try and restore natural order as quickly as possible.

  ‘I think we did well there,’ August proclaimed, handing Flynn his tea. ‘If the situation arises that for whatever reason we need to kiss, it won’t be weird anymore.’

  ‘I’m not sure what kind of situation would come up where we’d quite need to do that,’ he replied, taking the tea and perching on her armchair. She sat on the floor in front of the sofa, facing the window, the sunlight illuminating the pale greens in her eyes.

  ‘No, I suppose it’s unlikely, isn’t it?’ she mused. ‘But hey, better to be overprepared for the worst, than underprepared.’

  Flynn raised an eyebrow. ‘The worst? I can’t imagine a “worst” scenario where we’d have to kiss like that.’

  But August just laughed, her big, light laughter that softened the tension in the room. ‘Right? If something awful happening meant we had to snog, imagine what we’d have to do if the world was ending.’ She caught herself too late. ‘I mean, don’t imagine that!’

  Now it was Flynn’s turn to snort into his mug. He wiped the splashed tea off the end of his nose and rubbed his eyes, saying, ‘This has been a very strange afternoon.’

  ‘Just another day with the Miyoshi-Andersons.’ August drank her tea for a bit, and then said, ‘I guess we should stick to just a quick peck from now on, when strictly necessary.’

  Flynn met her eye, as if trying to read her. ‘I guess so.’

  ‘We don’t want to make things … blurry.’

  ‘No, definitely not.’

  ‘I’m sorry I got a little carried away,’ she admitted.

  ‘Don’t be, I think we just both needed it, you know, for what it was – a one-time thing.’

  ‘That’s true,’ agreed August, wondering if there was a hint of him attempting to sound more convincing than he felt, or whether she imagined it. For her, she was a helium balloon, drifting downwards from the clouds she’d touched for a while.

  But while Flynn was under the impression she’d been acting when she kissed him, to August, it was only now that she was acting her heart out.

  Chapter 40

  August

  August booked an emergency dental appointment with Bel the next day.

  ‘You can’t keep booking emergency appointments with me just to bypass the system,’ Bel said, on closing her examination room door. ‘There’s nothing wrong with your teeth.’

  ‘Hi, Kenny,’ August said, hopping up on the reclining chair.

  ‘Hi, sweets. How’s the husband?’

  ‘Well, I don’t know about my teeth, but my mouth feels a little overworked,’ she hooted to Bel, and fanned herself, her voice portraying quite the golden era starlet.

  Bel gasped and Kenny sent a dental probe clattering to the ground. ‘Did you kiss?’ Kenny practically shouted down at her.

  ‘Kenny, shhh,’ said Bel. ‘Did you kiss? Did you kiss your fake husband but very real flatmate?’

  ‘It was all just in the name of research.’

  ‘Researching what, exactly?’

  August sat up and took a sip out of the plastic cup of mouthwash beside her, swilled it around in her mouth while she thought, and spat it into the tiny sink.

  Bel put her hands on her hips. ‘You know, this isn’t a bar. The mouthwash is for actual patients.’

  ‘I am a patient; I still have to pay for this appointment so I’m going to make full use of the facilities. Kenny, could you pass me some of those big sunglasses? I fancy lying back under this lovely warm lamp.’

  ‘Fine, I might as well give you a check while you’re here, then.’

  ‘Ooh, how about a little dose of that teeth whitening instead?’

  ‘Now you’re pushing it. Lie back and tell me what the hell happened.’

  August snuggled down on the seat, the huge plastic protective glasses on her face. ‘We decided it would be a really good idea to try kissing each other on our own terms, in our own flat, in case the situation ever occurred that we needed to put on a kissing display. Then we’d be able to do it, no big deal, rather than it being this weird, awkward thing we’d never done before.’

  ‘We decided?’ said Bel, standing in front of August, holding one of those tiny mirrors on a stainless-steel rod. ‘That sounds like a classic “August” decision to me.’

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ August challenged. ‘Actually, that’s probably fair. And it was me who suggested it.’

  ‘When would you ever “have” to put on a kissing display?’ Kenny piped up, coming into August’s eyeline.

  ‘Sounds like an excuse to snog your hot flatmate,’ said Bel.

  ‘And I don’t blame you for a second.’ Kenny agreed.

&
nbsp; ‘It was not that at all, it was purely part of the act. An extra scene that needed writing, that’s all.’

  Bel brought her mask up to her cover her mouth and nose, and said through it, ‘So what was it like?’

  ‘It was good, he’s a good kisser. Whoever dates him is a lucky girl.’

  From over the top of her mask, August could see Bel’s eyebrows raise towards Kenny.

  ‘Hey, what’s that look for?’ she said, before Bel pushed open her mouth and started counting along her teeth, tapping on them with a metal thing.

  ‘Nothing, three, two, one, one, two, three. Just happy for you that your fake husband makes you fake happy. Four, five, six, seven and eight.’

  As Bel continued with the examination of her teeth and gums, August kept quiet (she had no choice), listening to Kenny humming along to the radio, which aptly was playing ‘Can I Have A Kiss’ by Kelly Clarkson.

  Bel’s face was close to August’s, and their eyes met through the plastic glasses. The corners of Bel’s eyes crinkled, and August knew she was smiling from behind the mask, which made her start to smile, and then laugh, and she nearly choked on the probe in her mouth.

  Bel sat back and removed her gloves, throwing them in the bin, and brought down her mask. ‘Everything looks great, just as it did before. No cavities, no plaque build-up, no loose dentures, all good.’

  Kenny started dragging a stool over and paused to check with Bel, ‘Are we done? Can we discuss the kiss more now?’

  ‘Sure,’ Bel wheeled over her own stool as well, and August removed the glasses and sat up, cross-legged, on the reclining chair, and took the cup of mouthwash in her hands like she was cradling a cup of tea. ‘So how did you feel afterwards?’

  ‘Wait,’ said Kenny. ‘First I want to know what the actual kiss was like.’

  August laughed. ‘He was a gentleman.’

  ‘Speaking of, did you see the new receptionist when you came in? Mark?’

  ‘I did, he seemed really nice. Did you kiss him yet?’

  ‘Kenny,’ scolded Bel, trying to keep the focus during the limited time they had. ‘August, go on, tell us about the kiss.’

  ‘It was … ’ she lapsed into a smile before shaking herself out of it. ‘It was very good and very professional. I think it would be believable.’

  ‘Did you believe it?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ August asked her friend.

  ‘Do you think he was just acting, or was he kissing you kissing you?’

  That’s the million-dollar question, thought August. ‘I think it was ultimately just acting, but that we got quite into the scene.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ laughed Bel. ‘Wait, did you go further than kissing?’

  Kenny gaped.

  ‘No, no, no, just kissing, but it was a big kiss, in a nice way, not like, tongues-and-grinding, just quite … smooshed?’

  ‘I think I know what you mean,’ said Bel. ‘So no tongues?’

  ‘A tiny bit of tongues,’ August whispered.

  ‘Are you going to do it again?’

  ‘No,’ said August, quickly. ‘I think he was a little embarrassed, and I think he regretted it a bit, you know, crossing over that line for a minute between flatmate-slash-friends to friends-with-benefits. We’ve agreed to just keep things as they were.’

  ‘Unless a public kissing display is needed,’ clarified Kenny.

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘Are you okay with that?’ asked Bel.

  ‘Of course. It’s the right thing to do.’ She was okay with it, really. Sure, she’d enjoyed the kiss – maybe a little too much – and sure, she’d have kept kissing him all day if he’d wanted to. But it was just a bit of fun, a yummy distraction, and it had to stay that way. He’d made it pretty clear he didn’t want to be living with a girlfriend, and she agreed that hooking up with your flatmate was a bad idea. At least, she had felt that way. But would it really be so bad … ?

  Bel looked unconvinced, but moved on. ‘I do have something I wanted to talk to you about, actually, and now seems as good a time as any.’ She thought about that for a moment. ‘Or maybe it’s the worst time.’

  ‘Well, you have to tell me now.’

  ‘Should I leave?’ Kenny asked.

  Bel shook her head. ‘No, it’s fine.’

  ‘Good, because I had literally no intention of leaving. Ooh, unless you need anything from reception? August, do you need some toothpaste samples?’

  ‘No, I’m good.’

  ‘I’ll get you some anyway.’ He high-tailed out of the room.

  ‘What do you want to talk about?’ asked August.

  ‘Now we’ve decided the wedding will be next summer, we’ll soon start sending out save the dates. Do you want a plus one, or do you want Flynn to come with you, or should I invite Flynn separately and give him a plus one too?’

  ‘Oh, I hadn’t thought about that. Flynn won’t be expecting an invite, you know, you don’t need to invite him and a plus one to be polite, it all adds up, money-wise.’

  ‘No, I know, but I feel like we’ve been getting to know him and he’s a nice guy, a nice friend. We’d like him there.’

  August mulled this for a moment. This was sweet of Bel, and she knew it would make Flynn happy. ‘He could just be my plus one – or, you know, you could just invite the two of us together. Because I’ll be on bridesmaid’s duties for much of the day anyway.’

  ‘All right.’

  ‘Although, will he be lonely, then? Maybe he needs a plus one to keep him company?’

  ‘ … All right.’

  ‘But I don’t think he has anyone he thinks of like that at the moment. And weddings are good places to meet people, perhaps he’d make more friends if he came on his own, he might meet a nice girl.’ August was putting way too much thought into this; she could feel it. And how did she know Flynn didn’t already have a string of women in his office queueing up to be his date? He was certainly good looking enough, and charming enough, and kind enough.

  If she let herself … yes. She could very much see what women would see in Flynn. Maybe she was beginning to see it herself.

  Bel stood up. ‘How about you just talk to him about it? We’re happy either way you want to play it, just let us know when you know.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes. Let’s just give it a little time and see where the dust has settled after a couple of weeks. I can hold back your invites for now. You’re both on the B-list anyway, so you’re only in if other people decline.’

  ‘Ha ha.’

  August left Bel’s dental practice with clean teeth, a spring in her step, and lips that still tingled happily from yesterday’s kiss, fake or not.

  Chapter 41

  Flynn

  While August was having her teeth checked and her soul searched by Bel, Flynn was across Bath, on the verge of getting in touch with Poppy. He was taking a short break at work, twirling his phone in his hand while her contact details lit up his display.

  He’d not thought much about the redhead from the pub, and maybe shutting out all thoughts of romance, from Yui to August, would be the right thing to do. But she’d seemed nice, and fun and, like he’d thought just before he’d met Poppy, perhaps the misguided feelings he was having for August were just loneliness. So maybe he should give happiness a chance instead.

  Convincing himself, at least partially, he sent her a text asking if she’d like to meet in the pub sometime over the next couple of weeks, if she was free.

  *

  During a still-warm evening in mid-October, Flynn waited for Poppy, waving to her across the pub with a little more confidence this time.

  ‘I owe you a drink,’ she declared, wandering over to him. ‘Several, probably, thanks to you getting me out of that pickle with the hens!’

  ‘You could have got away without – I didn’t expect to see you again,’ Flynn replied. ‘I thought you must be part of a visiting hen group, to wreak havoc in this cathedral city and then head back to y
our homes across the country.’

  Poppy tilted her head to the side, shielding her eyes from the last glare of the evening sun, her face lit up golden and her hair seeming fierier than it had before. ‘Is that why you never got in touch before now?’

  ‘Ah,’ he laughed. ‘Sorry about that.’

  ‘It’s fine, we shared, like, three minutes of conversation.’ Poppy smiled at him.

  He wasn’t sure what to say to her, teetering on the edge of wanting to walk away and wanting to find out more about her, and then she spoke again.

  ‘Let me get you that drink, Flynn, and then maybe you can tell me some of those very deep thoughts going on in there.’

  Half an hour later, he and Poppy were sitting on one side of a bench in the pub garden, the furthest end from the live music, facing each other. They were onto their second drink, and Flynn was enjoying how easy it felt.

  She’d asked about his situation, but not wanting to start thinking about Yui, or what was or wasn’t happening with August, he simply told her things were complicated, and that he wasn’t with anyone right now, but it hadn’t been long that he’d been single.

  She seemed to understand – she too had recently broken up with someone and had needed to move out of where they lived. But she didn’t want to talk about it. Instead they discussed simple, happy things like TV, the hen do, books, music. Talking with Poppy was like winding down after a long week, and he realised that was exactly what he was doing.

  When the hour came for her to leave, this time he promised he would get in touch with her, and he meant it.

  Poppy stood up, swinging her legs over the bench seat and brushed herself off. Then she fixed Flynn with a look. ‘Look, I’m not looking for a boyfriend, and I think I’m right that you don’t want a girlfriend, but I’m enjoying getting to know you. And I want to get to know you more, okay?’

  ‘All right,’ he replied. She had a flash of August about her in her assertiveness, Yui too for that matter, and perhaps that’s what attracted him to all three women. And then, maybe in attempt to stop his mind wandering back towards his ex-girlfriend and his pretend-wife, he blurted out, ‘Do you get a lunch break?’