well, that cleared that up…
Determined to match his nonchalance, I continued constructing the sandwich and said lightly, "I can honestly say that I don't have plans to go to Papua New Guinea next week."
He nudged my hip, making me look at him in surprise, and then grinned so suddenly I was momentarily blinded by the dazzling display of his bright white teeth.
"Yeah," he said, while I was still trying to recover from this blast of charm, "but I do. Wanna come?"
There was a ringing silence, broken only by a wet slap as the salami slice I'd been holding hit the tiled floor.
" I'm sorry…did you just…?" It wasn't that I couldn't put the words together properly; it was more that I didn't even know what words I needed.
"Was that an invitation ?" I finally managed to choke out.
He shrugged unconcernedly. "Yeah, guess it was."
"To Papua New Guinea?"
"Yeah."
"With you ?" My voice was strangled and the last word came out as little more than a squeak.
"Yeah," he said again, although, just as my eyes started to narrow at his thoroughly unhelpful repetition of that one word, he added, "well, me and a bunch of other guys. And Abi's going."
Of all the ridiculous things he'd said so far, this struck me as by far the most out there and I snorted. "No, she's not."
"Yeah, she is."
Right. That was it.
I reached down to snatch up the salami slice I'd dropped and then thwacked Elliot in the forehead with it. As he blinked in surprise at the, admittedly odd, processed meat attack, I repeated, "No. She's. Not."
I threw the meat into the bin and wiped my hand on the tea-towel, while he rubbed his sleeve across his forehead and stared at me incredulously.
"Trust me on this, Sinclair," I continued crossly, "I know my best friend and I know she's not going anywhere next week. One of her pieces is being displayed at a gallery in town and I don't think she's going to leave its side, let alone the country."
Elliot still seemed focused on the fact that I'd just hit him with a sandwich filling which was perhaps why he sounded so vague as he replied, "Maybe Jonah hasn't asked her yet."
Salami to the face or not, who the hell was this blasé about the idea of no more than a couple of days advance notice of going overseas? It was this 'whatever' attitude that really made my blood start to boil. Of course, why hadn't I realised it before? Elliot really didn't see anything strange about impromptu international travel.
"God, you're from a different planet, you know that?" I said loudly, any sort of nonchalance well and truly behind me. "You and Jonah both. You can't just drop a trip to Papua New Guinea on someone the week before! People need to prepare for travel, they need to organise shifts at work and save up and-" I stopped abruptly as my whole body went suddenly cold.
"How exactly were you suggesting I'd pay for this trip to Papua New Guinea?" I asked slowly, my voice becoming so incredibly dangerous that Elliot instinctively straightened up and away from where he'd been slouched against the counter.
As if knowing the actual words 'I'd pay for you' would be the ones that would see him run through with a bread knife, he simply levelled a long, serious look at me that said it all.
The rustling of the thin plastic hygiene gloves I wore told me that I'd actually started to shake with fury.
"Out," I said fiercely. "Get out, right now."
He looked for a moment like he wanted to argue, but then he shook his head as if deciding it wasn't worth it, and started for the door. Still, I saw that momentary defiance and it blew away any of my desire to finish this so early. How dare he get to leave this thinking that I was the unreasonable one?
"Wait," I said, running past him and putting myself firmly back into his path, blocking the doorway. "I've changed my mind, you don't get off that easily. I want to shout at you for a bit."
I saw the tiniest flicker of what better not have been amusement cross his face, but then he just lifted his
Determined to match his nonchalance, I continued constructing the sandwich and said lightly, "I can honestly say that I don't have plans to go to Papua New Guinea next week."
He nudged my hip, making me look at him in surprise, and then grinned so suddenly I was momentarily blinded by the dazzling display of his bright white teeth.
"Yeah," he said, while I was still trying to recover from this blast of charm, "but I do. Wanna come?"
There was a ringing silence, broken only by a wet slap as the salami slice I'd been holding hit the tiled floor.
" I'm sorry…did you just…?" It wasn't that I couldn't put the words together properly; it was more that I didn't even know what words I needed.
"Was that an invitation ?" I finally managed to choke out.
He shrugged unconcernedly. "Yeah, guess it was."
"To Papua New Guinea?"
"Yeah."
"With you ?" My voice was strangled and the last word came out as little more than a squeak.
"Yeah," he said again, although, just as my eyes started to narrow at his thoroughly unhelpful repetition of that one word, he added, "well, me and a bunch of other guys. And Abi's going."
Of all the ridiculous things he'd said so far, this struck me as by far the most out there and I snorted. "No, she's not."
"Yeah, she is."
Right. That was it.
I reached down to snatch up the salami slice I'd dropped and then thwacked Elliot in the forehead with it. As he blinked in surprise at the, admittedly odd, processed meat attack, I repeated, "No. She's. Not."
I threw the meat into the bin and wiped my hand on the tea-towel, while he rubbed his sleeve across his forehead and stared at me incredulously.
"Trust me on this, Sinclair," I continued crossly, "I know my best friend and I know she's not going anywhere next week. One of her pieces is being displayed at a gallery in town and I don't think she's going to leave its side, let alone the country."
Elliot still seemed focused on the fact that I'd just hit him with a sandwich filling which was perhaps why he sounded so vague as he replied, "Maybe Jonah hasn't asked her yet."
Salami to the face or not, who the hell was this blasé about the idea of no more than a couple of days advance notice of going overseas? It was this 'whatever' attitude that really made my blood start to boil. Of course, why hadn't I realised it before? Elliot really didn't see anything strange about impromptu international travel.
"God, you're from a different planet, you know that?" I said loudly, any sort of nonchalance well and truly behind me. "You and Jonah both. You can't just drop a trip to Papua New Guinea on someone the week before! People need to prepare for travel, they need to organise shifts at work and save up and-" I stopped abruptly as my whole body went suddenly cold.
"How exactly were you suggesting I'd pay for this trip to Papua New Guinea?" I asked slowly, my voice becoming so incredibly dangerous that Elliot instinctively straightened up and away from where he'd been slouched against the counter.
As if knowing the actual words 'I'd pay for you' would be the ones that would see him run through with a bread knife, he simply levelled a long, serious look at me that said it all.
The rustling of the thin plastic hygiene gloves I wore told me that I'd actually started to shake with fury.
"Out," I said fiercely. "Get out, right now."
He looked for a moment like he wanted to argue, but then he shook his head as if deciding it wasn't worth it, and started for the door. Still, I saw that momentary defiance and it blew away any of my desire to finish this so early. How dare he get to leave this thinking that I was the unreasonable one?
"Wait," I said, running past him and putting myself firmly back into his path, blocking the doorway. "I've changed my mind, you don't get off that easily. I want to shout at you for a bit."
I saw the tiniest flicker of what better not have been amusement cross his face, but then he just lifted his
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