It Had to Be You (26 page)

‘This is a first,’ she commented. Elliot had set such a pace she practically had to sprint to keep up.

‘What’s a first?’ he asked.

‘You, deigning to walk down the street with me. Usually you up and leave me to pay while you go off in pursuit of some world exclusive.’

‘I don’t leave you to pay!’

‘I was
joking
.’ Elliot was actually very gentlemanly and always picked up the bill. ‘You’re very easy to wind up,’ Lizzy told him. ‘At least try and give me something to work against.’

She saw the look on his face. ‘I said it was a joke!’

Elliot was staring down the street. Lizzy followed his gaze and saw a tall, well-built man striding towards them. The piercing blue eyes looked very familiar. Hang on, it was that bloke Marcus from the art exhibition!

He stopped dead in their path. ‘Anderson,’ he said coldly. ‘I didn’t expect to see you in these parts.’

‘Yeah well, it’s turned out to be your lucky day.’

Lizzy stared up at the two men. Why were they speaking like they were in a fifties Western?

‘What brings you round here?’ Marcus enquired. ‘I can’t imagine it’s a house-hunting expedition, you couldn’t even afford to buy a doorbell round here.’

Lizzy watched Elliot’s jaw clench. They weren’t actually going to start fighting, were they?

‘Spoken to Amber lately?’ Marcus enquired.

Elliot’s glare faltered. ‘No.’ He swallowed. ‘Have you?’

‘Quite a bit, as it happens.’

‘How is she?’

‘Brilliant, mate. Hardly mentions your name at all.’ The smug smile widened. ‘In fact, she’s been leaning on me quite a lot.’

Elliot took a step forward. Lizzy put her hand on his arm.

‘Oh, look who it is,’ Marcus said. ‘Headbutt Girl. Don’t tell me you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel with
him.
’

‘You twat,’ Elliot said furiously.

Marcus smirked. ‘Now, now. I know you’re fond of rows in the street, but that’s not my style at all.’

He leaned in, his eyes as flat and cold as a shark’s. ‘Just stay away from her, all right, Anderson? If you know what’s good for you.’

Brushing unnecessarily past Elliot’s shoulder, he strode off.

Lizzy glanced nervously at Elliot. His face was tight with fury. ‘What was all that about?’

He didn’t reply for a moment. ‘Amber was engaged to that … Marcus before we got together.’

So that’s why they can’t stand each other!
‘Oh,’ Lizzy said inadequately. ‘That’s a bit awkward.’

Elliot was staring off stonily into the distance. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’ she asked.

He shot her a look. ‘No I bloody don’t. What are you, my counsellor? Actually, don’t answer that.’

A woman and a small girl on a scooter were coming towards them. Elliot stepped back and waited until they’d gone past. ‘Sorry,’ he sighed. ‘I just wasn’t expecting to see that … him.’ He checked his watch. ‘I’ve got to go.’

‘Are you sure you’re all right …?’ Lizzy started to say, but Elliot had already turned on his heel and was striding away down the street.

Lizzy tried Karen’s number again. ‘Hello,’ the cheery voice said. ‘You have reached the voicemail of Karen Jones at Night Night Baby.’

Lizzy left another message and hung up. It was very unlike her client not to return her calls. Lizzy was starting to get a bad feeling about this whole thing. The Christmas deadline to start paying the money back was only eight weeks away.

She was staring gloomily out of the window, wondering if she’d committed some kind of fraud when her email alert beeped. It was from Elliot.

I’ve been thinking. I don’t buy it you can’t find a man. Have you tried online dating?

Of course I have,
she wrote back.
It wasn’t a great success.

What about a singles night?

Why the sudden fascination with her love life?

Why? Are you going to come along and be my wingman?

Lizzy smiled to herself and pressed send. That would shut him up.

Go on then.

He had to be winding her up.

Are you being serious?

Yes.

Lizzy sat back. Was this the weirdest thing that had ever happened, or what? The next moment it hit her – Elliot was using her as cover because he wanted to go himself!

She shook her head. He was such a proud, prickly little thing. Why didn’t he just come out and say it was that?

OK, you’re on,
she wrote. She’d take pity on him – after all, this was a significant step.

Let me know the venue. I’m not exactly an expert on these things.

Lizzy went back through her inbox. One of the dating websites she had joined was always sending her newsletters about various events. She and Poppet kept meaning to go to one, but when it came round they ended up staying in the pub or going home to share an M&S meal deal and watch crap telly. No wonder they were both still single.

She found the latest email and opened the link. Sure enough, there was one that Thursday at a pub in East London. She emailed the details over to Elliot, fully expecting him to back out now the deal was on the table, but he came back straight away.

Fine. As long as I don’t have to talk to anyone.

Er, that’s kind of the idea of these nights?
she wrote back.

I’m coming along as your wingman. That’s it.

Fine, if that was the game he wanted to play.

Two nights later they met outside the tube. Elliot was already there, waiting impatiently next to an
Evening Standard
seller. He was wearing another suit Lizzy hadn’t seen before – the guy had more suits than she had shoes – and an expensive-looking navy coat.

‘You look nice,’ she told him, trying to be encouraging.

Elliot gazed at her oddly. ‘I’ve just come from work.’

‘OK then, how do
I
look?’ It was a low point when you had to ask Elliot Anderson for a sartorial compliment.

He peered at Lizzy’s Topshop tunic, which she’d teamed with thick tights and ankle boots. ‘You’re not wearing animal print. I suppose that’s a start.’

When they reached the pub Elliot started to get twitchy. ‘I’m not sure this is a good idea after all,’ he muttered. ‘What if someone recognizes me?’ He shrank into the shadows as a group of people walked past them.

Lizzy didn’t need him to start dithering, she was nervous enough! ‘What are you complaining about? I’m the one who had 2.5 million hits on YouTube after my boyfriend dumped me!’

He stared at her, aghast. ‘Was it really that many?’

‘You’ve been on the
MailOnline
’s Sidebar of Shame as well, you know!’

Elliot looked pained. ‘Don’t remind me.’

Lizzy had to practically frogmarch him to the front door. There was a girl there with a clipboard, waiting to tick people off as they came in. ‘Hello,’ she said to them. ‘Are you here for the event?’

‘Yes,’ Lizzy said, at the same time as Elliot said: ‘No.’

Lizzy nudged him. ‘Lizzy Spellman and Elliot Anderson,’ she said with as much confidence as she could muster.

‘You gave them my real name?’ Elliot muttered.

The door girl’s eyebrows had shot up. ‘You’re really Lizzy Spellman? Me and my colleagues all thought it was a joke name! Who’d actually have thought it, “Girl Who Gets Jilted” turning up at a singles night …’ She trailed off.

‘Well here I am, in person,’ Lizzy said stiffly.

‘Great! You know how it works, right? You get a red straw if you’re single and available, or a green straw if you’re not.’

‘Two red ones please,’ Lizzy said, before Elliot had the chance to object.

A dozen pairs of eyes swivelled on them as they walked through the front door. Elliot dropped his straw on the floor as if it had burnt his fingers.

‘You’ll need that,’ she told him. ‘Or are you just going to rely on your looks and devastating charm?’

Elliot didn’t want to go to the bar, so he shoved a twenty-pound note in Lizzy’s hand and retreated to the nearest wall. Anyone would think he was expecting John Wayne to kick through the saloon doors any minute and let off a round of shots.

To her pleasant surprise, it was all rather relaxed. Groups of friends stood round having conversations instead of staring boggle-eyed at anyone who walked past. It almost felt like a normal night at the pub. Almost.

‘I was beginning to think you’d gone,’ Elliot grumbled when Lizzy got back from the bar.

‘I had to wait ages to get served, I think it’s the barman’s first shift.’ She handed Elliot a beer and watched his eyes skitter nervously around the room. It was astonishing. Here was a man who interviewed famous bigwigs and politicians for a living, reduced to skulking in the corner like a teenager at the school disco.

‘I knew it was a bad idea to come,’ he muttered.

Lizzy rolled her eyes. ‘It was your idea to go to a singles night in the first place!’

Trying to ignore the Grinch at her side, Lizzy took a sip of her vodka and looked round the room. She ended up catching the eye of a rather attractive bearded man who was rather comically drinking his pint through his red straw. He tentatively raised his eyebrows at her. Lizzy tentatively raised hers back. This could be easier than she’d thought.

The next moment Lizzy was blindsided as a girl with a huge lipsticked mouth and long blonde hair rushed up and threw herself at them.

‘Elliot! Oh my God! I thought it was you!’ She released him from her hold. ‘I didn’t expect to see you at one of these things.’

‘I’m with a friend,’ Elliot said quickly. ‘Moral support.’

‘We all say that, right?’ The blonde girl gave Lizzy a smile and turned back. ‘I was sorry to hear about you and Amber,’ she told him. ‘It’s good to see you getting back out there.’

‘Who was that?’ Lizzy asked after the girl had rushed off to greet someone else.

‘A friend of my sister’s.’ Elliot looked like he couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.

With a few drinks inside her Lizzy had the confidence to start circulating. Annoyingly, the hot bearded guy from before had vanished. She had chatted to a divorcee with raging garlic breath, and a man who’d talked to her chest during an entire conversation about the over-gentrification of Hackney. Despite her best intentions, she was starting to flag.

Now she was talking to a guy who’d spent the last five minutes telling her about his job in IT.

‘How nice,’ she said absently.

‘How nice that my firm has just announced two hundred redundancies?’

Lizzy blinked. ‘What I mean is, how nice you’ve managed to keep your job!’

At that moment the crowd parted like the Red Sea. Lizzy saw Elliot still in the same spot she’d left him, clutching his pint protectively. He was wedged in between two separate groups of girls, all trying to make eye contact with him. He looked so out of his comfort zone that her heart went out to him.

‘Would you excuse me?’ she said. ‘I must go and save my friend.’

She went over to him. ‘You don’t look like you’re enjoying yourself.’

‘Aside from my father dying, I’d put this up there as one of the worst nights of my life.’

‘Why don’t you go and start chatting to some girls?’ Lizzy suggested. ‘I can introduce you if you want.’

‘I don’t want to talk to any girls.’

‘Then why are you here?’

‘I told you,’ he said sulkily. ‘I’m meant to be your wingman.’

‘Elliot, I thought you were just using me as an excuse because you wanted to meet some girls.’

He looked distinctly horrified. ‘What? I’m not that desperate.’

‘Oh thanks a lot!’

‘I didn’t … You know what I mean,’ he sighed.

Lizzy looked at the cross, awkward figure hunched against the wall. ‘You really came out tonight just to give me support?’

‘That’s what friends do, isn’t it?’ he muttered.

‘Lizzy? It is you, isn’t it?’

She turned round to see a dark-haired guy standing there. ‘Lizzy from Haven, right?’ he asked.

It took a moment to compute. ‘Greg! Oh my God!’ It was Greg! Cute Greg with the puppy-dog eyes who she’d flirted with heavily at the PR Awards! ‘Fancy seeing you here!’

Greg looked uncertainly between her and Elliot. ‘Are you two …?’

‘We’re not together,’ they both said in unison.

‘Oh, right.’ Greg looked back at Lizzy. ‘How’s it going? I mean after the whole …’

‘Getting myself back out there, as you can see,’ she said dryly. ‘What about you? Have you had any luck?’

Greg looked down at his red straw.

‘I’ve chatted to a few girls, but it’s all getting a bit feral.’

The understated decorum of earlier had gone, thanks to two hours of heavy drinking. The three of them watched a couple shake hands to introduce each other and then start snogging each other’s faces off. Lizzy glanced at Elliot; he was gazing at them with the look of someone who’d just had something unpleasant wafted under their nose.

‘Do you fancy going on somewhere else and getting a drink?’ Greg asked her.

‘Sure!’ Lizzy looked back at Elliot. ‘I take it you don’t mind getting out of here?’

‘I know this cool bar about five minutes away,’ Greg said once they were outside.

‘Sounds great.’ Lizzy smiled back at him. He really
did
have lovely eyes.

‘What about your, er, friend?’

Elliot had gone to stand pointedly a couple of metres away. Lizzy felt like a teenager on her first date being chaperoned by an over-protective father.

She went over to him. ‘We’re going for a drink. Do you fancy coming?’

‘Sorry, the last time I checked in the mirror I wasn’t bright green and covered in prickles.’

‘Fine,’ she sighed. ‘I was just checking.’

Elliot stopped her as she turned to go. ‘Email me to let me know you got home safely.’

‘I’m a grown woman, I think I can get home by myself.’

He shot Greg a suspicious look. ‘You barely know the guy. How do you know what he’s planning?’

‘He’s a really nice guy, I know him through my job, and I’m sure he’s not planning anything!’ Greg glanced over at her raised voice.
Sorry
, Lizzy mouthed apologetically.
One minute.