Page 37 of The Life Experiment

In the corner booth of his favourite French restaurant, Angus read the document Layla had emailed for a second time. He knew from their FaceTime earlier that she wanted feedback.

‘Seriously, whatever you say, I can take it,’ she said. ‘Whether it’s something small, like a missed piece of punctuation, or something big, like you hate any of the ideas, tell me. I trust you.’

‘You do?’ Angus had replied, flashing his cheekiest smile. Hearing Layla say she trusted him made him feel giddy, but he forced himself to concentrate on her ideas for improving workplace conditions.

Last week, Layla and Angus had seen each other four times: first for an ice-skating adventure on Monday, followed by Angus teaching Layla how to cook vegetarian lasagne on Wednesday. Thursday evening they made a post-work trip to the cinema, and on Saturday they went for a walk and some drinks.

Each time they’d seen each other, Angus watched Layla come to life as she talked about the project.

‘This is only the beginning,’ she said the other night in the cocktail bar.

‘But if it helps one person access a fairer, safer, more supportive workplace, it will be worth it. No one should have to fight to get through the day like my dad did. When he couldn’t do manual work because of his injuries, the company he’d been working at for years just let him go.

All those hours he’d put in for them meant nothing.

No one should be made to feel so worthless. ’

‘I couldn’t agree more,’ Angus had replied, marvelling at the woman opposite him. ‘It’s amazing listening to you, you know. You really care about effecting meaningful change.’

Layla’s cheeks tinged pink as she nodded. ‘We should all care about making things better for others. It’s why I got into law in the first place, but I think I forgot that somewhere along the way.’

‘Well,’ Angus said as he reached for his glass to toast the sentiment. ‘There is no doubt in my mind that your work is going to benefit many people.’

Angus had been sure of that as they clinked glasses, but reading Layla’s ideas now, he was surer than ever.

The ideas she had collated were good. They were excellent, actually.

Flexible working, support through life-changing moments, incentives for high-performing staff…

Angus knew this project had the potential to change her colleagues’ lives for the better.

Honestly, it’s brilliant , he typed. My only suggestion would be to add that you deserve a huge pay rise for all your hard work x

Angus smiled as he imagined Layla giggling and shaking her head at him. Pressing send, he looked up across the restaurant.

His parents were late. Only by five minutes, but that was unusual for the Fairview-Whitleys. Sticklers for good manners, being on time, if not a minute or two early, was vital in their eyes.

Opening his messages again, Angus fired off a reply to Jasper confirming his attendance at badminton later, then checked his thread with Peter. Their last exchange confirmed their lunch plans. Since then, nothing.

There wasn’t a message from his mother, either. Chewing his lip, Angus wondered if his charity idea was to blame. Gilly still wasn’t on board with Hugo’s House, but the purpose of this lunch was to sway her.

Beside Angus was a folder of research. It had been his secret project for the last week.

He worked on it whenever he wasn’t volunteering at Haven or seeing Layla.

Collating businesses he could partner with and generating a list of potential donors…

it was the biggest project Angus had ever worked on.

While he wished he could have asked Layla to cast her discerning eye over it, Angus knew he couldn’t.

She still had no idea of his plans. He had no idea how he was going to tell her without unveiling his list of lies, but that was a problem for another day.

Today was all about impressing his parents.

They just needed to show up first.

When Angus craned his neck to check his parents weren’t waiting at the bar, a waiter approached him. ‘Is everything okay, sir? Can I get you a top-up, perhaps?’ he said, nodding to Angus’s almost empty whisky glass.

‘I’m fine, thank you. Although perhaps you could bring a bottle of champagne for the table.’

As soon as the words left his mouth, Angus regretted them. Champagne was a celebratory drink. He didn’t want his mother to think that he wasn’t taking this seriously or that he was partying before he’d crossed the finish line.

‘Actually, make that a bottle of white. Sommelier’s choice,’ he corrected.

‘Right away, sir,’ the waiter replied before retreating.

But by the time the wine was brought to the table, Angus’s parents still hadn’t arrived.

Taking his phone from his pocket once more, Angus called Peter.

The phone rang three times before cutting to voicemail.

When Angus tried Gilly, the same thing happened.

Embarrassment singed Angus’s cheeks. Scanning the restaurant, he saw that no one was looking, but Angus felt as if every eye were on him, laughing that he had been stood up.

On the table, Angus’s phone pinged with a message.

Sorry son, something came up. Your mother

and I will have to miss lunch.

A disbelieving laugh escaped Angus. Closing the message without replying, he set his phone down and glanced at the folder beside him.

How stupid could he have been to think that he could create something like Hugo’s House? A project like that wasn’t for a fuck-up like him. It was for someone who knew what they were doing. Someone people could get behind and support.

Someone like Layla.

It was as if thinking her name had conjured her, because Layla chose that moment to call.

‘Hey,’ Angus said, snatching his phone from the table to answer it.

‘Hey yourself,’ she replied. Her voice sounded echoey, as if she was speaking from the bottom of a well.

‘Where are you?’ Angus asked with a laugh. ‘The sound quality is so bad it’s like you’re calling from the 1950s.’

Layla responded with a giggle. ‘I’m in the stairwell at work.’

‘What are you doing in there?’

‘I didn’t want anyone to hear me make a personal call, but I couldn’t not thank you for reading my ideas. I really appreciate it.’

The knot that had tightened Angus’s chest unfurled. ‘You don’t have to thank me. I’ll check anything you want, you know that.’

‘Anything? Even under my bed for monsters?’

Now it was Angus’s turn to laugh. ‘Name the day and I will be there with a sword and a suit of armour.’

‘How chivalrous. Noble costume choice, too,’ Layla teased. ‘In all seriousness, though, thank you for making the time for me. It means a lot.’

As Angus’s eyes travelled to the door that his parents hadn’t walked through, his smile widened.

So what if his parents didn’t value him enough to show up to an important lunch?

So what if walking out of this restaurant was going to be embarrassing?

Layla appreciated his time. Layla wanted him around.

Layla doesn’t know who you are, remember? his brain snarled. She thinks you work in IT.

But no matter how dark Angus’s thoughts got, he shook them off. Those worries were for another day. Another Angus. The Angus he was right now was too busy enjoying sitting in a restaurant, sipping wine and talking to a woman who coloured his every waking thought.