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This silence was going on too long. Tess needed to say something.

‘What are we going to do?’ Zara whispered in the dark.

Tess sighed. ‘What do you want to do?’ she whispered back.

Someone made a shush sound a few rows down. Tess was horrified. No one, in her entire life, had ever had to shush her in a movie. She was the shusher! What the hell was she doing? Why was she getting hot and heavy in the back row like some sweaty teen, another thing she’d never done before?

Zara was still so close, their breaths mingling in the dark, their hands still entwined. Tess’s heart pounded as she whispered, ‘What do you want to do?’

Zara’s fingers tightened around Tess’s, and for a moment, Tess thought she might pull her closer again, that they’d keep going, keep pretending the rest of the world didn’t exist.

‘We can’t…,’ Zara said softly, her voice breaking the spell that had wrapped around them. ‘Not here.’

Tess knew Zara was right, though she wished she didn’t. ‘What happens now?’ she asked, keeping her voice low as the trailers flickered on the screen.

Zara exhaled slowly, her hand slipping from Tess’s, leaving behind a warmth that Tess immediately missed. She looked like she was fighting herself as much as the situation. ‘What do you think should happen?’

Tess smirked, but it was tinged with bitterness. ‘You’re playing chicken with me?’

‘I’m just a bit confused right now,’ Zara said.

Tess stood and held out a hand. ‘Let’s go to my place,’ she said, her voice firm, cutting through the uncertainty.

Zara blinked in surprise. ‘Your place?’

‘Yeah, it’s around the corner. We can talk there.’

Zara hesitated, but only for a second. ‘OK. Let’s go.’

They got up and shuffled out, a few people standing to let them go, and they were out in the light of the lobby.

Tess glanced toward the concessions, and Fi was standing behind it, flicking Dylan in the forehead. He didn’t react.

‘How about this?’ she asked, flicking him on the tip of his nose.

He shrugged. ‘Nope.’

‘That’s too high to be at work, Dylan,’ Fi told him without reproach.

He nodded slowly. ‘I know.’

‘I mean, I can’t leave you alone with this popcorn, can I?’ Fi asked him. ‘You’d be grabbing it by the fistful.’

‘I want to climb in,’ he agreed, looking with a big, slow smile at the popcorn’s warm glow.

Tess kept walking, hoping not to be spotted. But of course, Fi’s eyes flicked over to Tess and Zara, and a curious look crossed her face.

Tess braced herself. This was about to be awkward.

As they neared her, Fi raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching into the beginnings of a smirk.

Tess had to nip this in the bud. ‘Fi, can you manage the place for a bit? Zara and I have… a meeting to attend,’ she said, doing her best to sound professional.

Fi’s smile grew wider, amusement dancing in her eyes. ‘A meeting? This late?’

Tess felt her face heat up. ‘Yes, a meeting. It’s important.’

Fi, grinning like a Cheshire cat, nodded slowly. ‘Of course. You two have your “meeting.”

I’ll keep things running smoothly here.’ She gave Zara a quick, knowing glance before turning back to the concession stand.

For Fi, that was positively subtle. ‘Thanks,’ Tess muttered, meaning it. She glanced at her stoned employee. ‘Oh, Dylan?’

‘Mmm?’ he replied dreamily.

‘Maybe cut back a bit?’ she told him.

‘You’re right, man,’ he said, looking slightly to the left of Tess. ‘I know you’re right.’

As they exited the cinema, Zara cast Tess a sidelong glance, a small smile tugging at her lips. ‘She knows this isn’t a business meeting, doesn’t she?’

Tess laughed. ‘Not at all. We couldn’t have been more subtle.’

Tess and Zara walked in silence to Tess’s flat. Tess was doing her best to keep her cool, but every time she glanced sideways at Zara, she could feel her insides doing a little dance. Great, she thought. Just what I need—more reasons to feel like a teenage twat.

As they reached the front door, Tess fumbled for her keys. ‘Just a sec,’ she said, trying to sound nonchalant as she got it in the lock. It didn’t open the door.

‘Need me to call a locksmith?’ Zara teased, raising an eyebrow.

‘I’ve got it, thanks,’ Tess replied dryly, finally managing to unlock the door. She’d been twisting in the wrong direction. What was it with her and doors lately?

Tess realised as soon as she opened the door to her slightly too cosy one-bed that the place was a mess. Sight and Sound magazines piled sloppily next to a chair, wine bottles spilling out of the recycling, dishes in the sink.

Zara walked in as Tess closed the door behind her. ‘Welcome to my shithole,’ Tess said.

Zara looked around her. ‘It’s very you.’

‘A ramshackle mess?’

‘Real,’ Zara said firmly.

That made Tess feel suddenly nervous again.

It had been alright for a minute; Tess had laid out the plan. They were going to hers. Then that was what they were doing. One foot in front of the other, simple.

But now they were here and supposed to talk. Ten feet from a bedroom. Tess had to wonder if she was really here to define the relationship verbally.

‘So…’ she began, hoping Zara would fill the space she’d left hanging.

But Zara just waited for Tess to complete her own sentence. It was so annoying.

‘You’re not going to help me out?’ Tess asked.

‘I thought you were going to say something. I didn’t want to break your flow,’ Zara said.

‘All I said was “So…”. That’s not flow.’

‘Then what is it?’ Zara asked with a small smile.

‘A woman floundering,’ Tess admitted. She shoved a book off the couch and sat down.

‘You’re floundering?’ Zara asked, perching next to her.

‘Floundering might be a bit much,’ Tess said quickly.

‘Look, someone’s got to say something here. If you want it to be you, then it can be,’ Zara said in a way that Tess found a bit too sexy. She was not going to be able to say important stuff for a second.

‘I don’t want it to be me,’ Tess admitted.

‘So, I need to talk?’ Zara asked.

‘If you would, please,’ Tess asked.

Zara took a moment to gather her thoughts, took a deep breath, and spoke. ‘I like you. And clearly, I’m attracted to you. But I don’t think this is a good idea for obvious reasons. I had decided that it shouldn’t go any further before I saw you tonight. But then I did see you and I couldn’t seem to stop myself. That’s where I am.’

Her speech sounded very honest, which Tess liked. But it didn’t have anything definite about it, which Tess didn’t like. All she could do was follow suit.

‘I like you too,’ Tess said, trying to keep eye contact with Zara despite how bloody hard it suddenly was. ‘And I also see that there are reasons we shouldn’t. But you keep kissing me. And if you kiss me, I’m going to kiss you back. That’s where I am,’ Tess said, putting it out there as much as she knew how.

Though she hadn’t meant it to, the word kiss seemed to inject electricity into the air. Because this was the first time that they’d been alone in a real way. If they did that again, no one would stop them this time.

No, this was a talking time, not a kissing time, Tess told herself. She was an adult, and Zara was an adult, and they needed to exercise some self-control.

‘So, where does that leave us?’ Tess asked, forcing herself to cut through the tension with plain speaking.

‘We could flip a coin?’ Zara said, looking suddenly weary.

It was clear to Tess at that moment that this situation had been a strain on her. She was truly conflicted. Maybe even a little scared. She decided to back off. ‘I don’t want to push this if it’s—’

‘No, I’m serious,’ Zara said, straightening up. ‘Let’s flip a coin.’

Tess didn’t know if this was a joke or not. She looked oddly sincere about it. ‘You want us to decide if we should try to make this into something with a game of chance?’

‘Why not?’ Zara shrugged. ‘I can’t use the data to calculate the answer. It’s impossible. We need a new variable. It’s the only way forward.’

The Zara-speak made Tess smile. ‘The chaos of a coin flip.’

‘It’s actually not as random as you might think. If we had perfect information about the conditions of the flip and the coin, air resistance, angle, you could, in theory, predict…’ Zara started to say and then shook her head at herself. ‘Sorry, that’s not the point, is it?’

Tess smiled at the momentary dorkiness. Then it was back to business. ‘What if it says yes?’

Zara swallowed nervously. ‘Then that’s it.’

‘It?’ Tess checked.

‘Yes. If the coin says yes, I’ll ask you out. On a date.’

Tess felt a little thrill shoot through her body. ‘And if it says no, we just shut this down,’ Tess agreed, warming to the idea. Why were they breaking their backs? Let the coin decide.

Zara nodded, her expression shifting from uncertainty to determination. ‘Exactly. If it says no, we walk away from this. We just pretend like it never happened. A clean break.’

‘A clean break,’ Tess repeated, a mixture of excitement and apprehension flooding her. ‘And what if it lands on the edge? Do we just keep going like this forever?’

‘Then we enter a realm of infinite possibilities,’ Zara said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. ‘Or we just flip again.’

Tess couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. ‘So here we are, two adults standing in my living room, about to flip a coin to decide our fate. This is not how I pictured my evening going.’

‘It’s that or hash out feelings for the next hour,’ Zara said.

Fucking hell, Tess wasn’t doing that. ‘OK, let’s do it. Do you have a coin?’

Zara blinked. ‘No. You got one?’

Tess frowned. Where would she have a coin? ‘Ummm…’

‘I could download a coin flip app?’ Zara suggested.

That seemed too grim somehow. ‘Please don’t do that. There’s got to be some actual currency somewhere in this flat,’ Tess said.

Tess went to the crap drawer in the kitchen and yanked it open. It got stuck on something and only opened halfway, which was hopefully enough. She dug her hand in, feeling around the detritus. Old pens, batteries, paperclips and old charger cables were pushed aside in the hunt for the method of determining her fate. Finally, her hand closed around something hard and round and she pulled it out. A pound coin.

‘Aha!’ she cried triumphantly. She placed it on the kitchen counter and Zara joined her to inspect the item. ‘So, heads for yes and tails for no?’

‘That works,’ Zara said.

Tess held out the coin.

‘You’re not gonna do it?’ Zara asked.

‘I can’t flip a coin,’ Tess admitted. ‘I never could.’

Zara smiled and took the coin. She inhaled deeply before expertly flipping the coin into the air, watching it spin and glint in the light. For a moment, it felt like time had slowed down. The coin reached its apex, hanging for a heartbeat before descending.

‘OK, here we go,’ Zara said, her voice barely above a whisper as they both leaned in, eyes fixed on the coin as it landed in Zara’s palm.