You Can't Hurry Love

Chapter Six

'Stop being mardy, it was funny!'

'Come on babe, we've come to keep you company. You can't ignore us all night.'

But this was Ben we were talking about and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Since storming into the apartment a good twenty minutes after Isaac and I had, Ben had taken it upon himself to pretend as if neither of us existed and although it was funny for the first few hours, I was actually starting to miss his smart mouth. I can't believe I'm going to say this . . . I would rather have him telling us off than this awful silent treatment we were currently getting. Anything would be better than this. But Ben was really mad at us for leaving him in the clutches of our doddery old neighbour and as I've said before, when he has a bee in his bonnet, you do not want to be in the firing line.

He'd refused to join in when we decorated the tree we'd so grievously lugged halfway across London. (Not even when we blared his go-to karaoke song, Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You.) This is what it took to make us realise the severity of the situation. Never, in the five years that I have known and lived with this boy, has he ever failed to sing along to this absolute classic.

So now Isaac and I are sitting at the end of the bar whilst he works, doing our best to get his attention so we could try to make amends.

'Well Isaac,' I project across the bar, knowing fully well that Ben could hear me because I catch his back straightening in displeasure at the sound of my voice. 'I don't know what to say to you.' I shrug my shoulders animatedly. 'I guess we'll just have to go out on our own this weekend which is such a shame because I managed to get tickets from work to that brand new club opening everyone's been talking about. I mean, I could see if Lizzie wants the spare . . .'

Sneaking a glance out of the corner of my eye I find Ben standing stock still with his mouth agape, polishing the same spot on a wine glass over and over again and I wink at Isaac who quickly picks up on my cue.

'Oh, I'd love to meet Lizzie, she sounds like she'd be a right laugh. Why don't you call her now and see if she's keen?' He struggles to keep the laughter from his voice as Ben's arm's drop to his side in horror.

Slowly reaching into my bag I draw out my phone, pretending to search for her number and after checking he was still listening in, I say, 'Lizzie? Hey, how are you?' I take a deliberate pause before continuing. 'So, I was meaning to ask you, what are you up to this Friday?'

'NO!' The phone is violently whipped from my ear and replaced with Ben's hands as he grabs my face and he pulls it close to his, hauling me halfway across the bar in a desperate bid to stop me from carrying on with my fake conversation. 'It's mine!' he screams frantically. 'I forgive you, both of you. Do not give my ticket away, I'm begging you!'

'Okay, okay, relax,' I gasp, trying with fierce determination to escape his grasp as I was pretty sure my knickers were on full display for the entire restaurant to see. 'Just put me down Ben, now!'

'Dottie, are you telling the truth? Did you really get us tickets?'

'Yes! Now let go, Ben, seriously!'

My panic was turning into a frenzied hysteria by this point as I spot Lincoln in the mirror behind Ben, heading straight in our direction.

'I could just kiss you right now, do you know that?' And he does, planting a massive smacker right on my lips before finally letting me go and he does a little jig of happiness, earning a celebratory whoop from a family eating nearby.

Blushing furiously, I rearrange my dress and resume my seat just as Isaac nudges me eagerly in the ribs, indicating over my shoulder. 'Is that him?' he asks, his excited whisper not as quiet as he'd intended it to be.