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Ash had signed off with a kiss. Alice should’ve put a kiss, but she was trying not to flirt. Yet the absence of a kiss now seemed conspicuous.Does a text kiss even count as flirting? People put kisses all the time these days, don’t they?

As Alice tried to think of something else to say so she could add a kiss, another message from Ash pinged through.

Good luck tomorrow x

In her haste to even the kiss score, Alice quickly replied,

Thanks, you too x

Shit! No… not ‘you too’.

Lol. Goodnight, Alice. Get some rest, doctor’s orders xx

Alice cringed and took a sip of tea. It was so hot it stung the sore spots in her mouth.

She should use this time for planning her next steps, not for thinking about Ash, or Fran, ordoctor’s ordersor anything along those lines…focus,Alice!

She rummaged in her handbag and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper, which she smoothed flat on the table. She dived back into her bag for her pen; a shiny Montblanc ballpoint — courtesy of Fran, of course — gifted to Alice on their second ‘date’. It had seemed like such a thoughtful gift, something Alice would hold between her fingers most days and think of her beguiling lover.

Ex-lover.

Alice twisted the smooth metallic barrel until the nib poked out, then she crossed through the top line on her to-do list, which said ‘Hand in resignation letter’, and added ‘Buy new pens’ to the bottom. She didn’t need a fancy pen, especially not this one, as it was another reason to think about the Daltons. She’d dig out the velvet box from the darkest depths of her flat,probably under the bed or on top of the wardrobe, and she’d give the Montblanc to Maggie for being such a wonderfully supportive sister.

Alice sighed. Next stop — groceries. She scrawled out a second list on the reverse of the page, otherwise she’d end up with a basketful of crap and only half the ingredients to actually make a meal with. After shopping, she’d head home, put on her comfiest clothes and power up the laptop to tidy her resume.

The phone buzzed on the table, and an incoming text from Ash lit up the screen.

Morning! How did it go? X

Alice grinned.Big kiss!

Good, I resigned and got fired X

Three little dots bounced on the screen, then disappeared, to be replaced by an embarrassingly loud ringtone sounding from the handset and causing the — mostly grey-haired — heads of the other people in the café to turn and glare in her direction.

“Sorry,” she mouthed and snatched up the phone, nearly knocking over the teapot as she did.

“Hi,” she said in a loud whisper. “I wasn’t expecting you to call.”

“Sorry, not a good time?” Ash’s voice sounded groggy with sleep.

“No, yeah. I mean, it’s fine. I’m in Snoots having a cup of tea.”

“Oh, cool. Speaking’s easier than texting when I’ve just woken up. So, you’re jobless then? Well done on going through with it. That was brave.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Alice grinned. Yeah, she had been brave. It would’ve been so easy to keep her job, to stay with Fran and fall back into a rut. Jeremy had literally given her permission and offered her a pay rise. But she’d ripped off the plaster, and it was time to heal.

“Wanna fill me in over brunch?” Ash said through what sounded like a huge yawn.

“Er…” Alice looked down at her to-do list.

“I mean, if you have plans, that’s fine.” Ash gave a sweet, self-conscious laugh. “Tell me to mind my own business, of course, but I’m invested now. I want to find out what happened next, you know?”

“You mean you want the next instalment in my big fat mess of a life?”

“Yeah, it’s way better than anything on Netflix.”

Alice giggled. “Alright, you’re on.”