Page 56 of The Best Ex of My Life

Teddy sniffs. ‘Yeah. That’s exactly what he did, and I just gave it to him. I hate this job, and I hate him, but I need to work. I couldn’t say no.’

‘Couldn’t you?’ I ask. ‘Couldn’t you tell him to take his poxy job and shove it up his arse?’

‘No. Shitty as it is, I need my wage, and future employers are going to need a reference which he wouldn’t give out of spite. I’m stuck.’ Tears begin to fall down her face. Teddy is the last person you’d expect to cry over a job. The last person to be so demoralised by a boss. I’ve lost count of the number of times she’s given us pep talks about not giving a shit about anyone else. It’s horrible to see the effect Ed’s had on her.

‘Oh, Ted. I hate seeing you like this. You can’t keep going this way,’ I gently tell her.

‘I know,’ she says. ‘Something’s got to change.’

‘Well then, let’s work out what we can do as soon as possible because one thing’s for sure, you can’t go back to work for that man. Until you’re away from him and we have a plan for what happens next, this is our number one priority. Agreed?’ I ask them.

‘Agreed,’ Karina says immediately.

And after a long pause, in a shaky voice that is so far from her own, Teddy quietly says, ‘Agreed.’

Chapter 22

We organise an emergency summit at Karina’s flat that evening.

Ordinarily, the idea of spending my Saturday night with two loved-up couples when I’m anything but wouldn’t scream best plan ever, but I don’t care. Tonight is about Teddy, and I want to put into place a plan that will help her get away from her awful boss so badly, I end up arriving a full half hour before I said I would.

Matthew opens the door and to his credit, doesn’t seem at all horrified by how early I am. He gives me a big hug before taking my wicker bag off me.

‘Woah,’ he says, feeling the weight of it. ‘Let me unload all this, and I’ll bring you and Kar a wine.’

‘Thank you. Make sure to use Karina’s giant glasses.’

‘Duh,’ he says, walking to the kitchen.

I wander down the hall into Karina’s lounge. It’s different in here now Matthew has pretty much moved in. He’ll be living with her permanently in a few weeks when he moves out of his rented flat. For years, this place has been my sanctuary, the place we’ve come together to talk about boys or shit dates and to pick ourselves back up. It’s still the same, only now there’s a pile of Matthew’s books in the corner, a jumper of his on the sofa and a different diffuser that’s less feminine.

‘Karina told me to start with you while she’s finishing off drying her hair.’ Matthew hands me an ice-cold glass of wine and sits on the chair, leaving the sofa free for me and Karina when she joins us.

‘I don’t think I ever fully appreciated how many hours of my life were going to be taken up waiting for Karina to finish getting ready when I agreed to marry her,’ he teases.

‘Yep. If you need to be anywhere, I find it helps telling her you need to meet half an hour earlier than you really do, that way there’s a chance she won’t be late for the real time.’

Matthew bats his hands away. ‘I’m onto that already. And making sure I bring her snacks and drinks while she’s getting ready, so she doesn’t appear at the door ready to go before deciding to turn back to the kitchen as she’s starving.’

‘Nice. Sounds like you’ve got it all sussed out. And I bet you wouldn’t have it any other way.’

A pink tint appears on his cheek. ‘No. I don’t think I would.’

I’m smiling at his words, at how full of love they are, but Matthew must also pick something else up in my expression as his face grows serious and he asks, ‘How are you getting on?’

‘I’m good.’

‘Yeah? I’m sorry about you and Jordan. Have you met anyone since?’

‘No, I’m not sure I can face going back to online dating again, not for a while at least.’ Truthfully, I’ve barely thought about it. I’ve been too busy worrying about Elliot and then Teddy that finding the time to chat for hours online and go on date after date seems impossible.

‘Fair enough. How about in real life, though? I might know some guys.’ He wriggles his eyebrows at me, making me laugh.

‘I’ll bear that in mind.’

Karina comes in and tells me that whatever happens I shouldn’t ever take Matthew up on the offer as his friends, nice as they are, are not dating material. Before she has chance to join me on the sofa, the buzzer to her flat goes and she rushes to let Teddy and Elliot in. I take a giant sip of wine and ready myself.

Matthew jumps up to meet them and leads Elliot off to the kitchen, and Teddy and Karina join me on the sofa. When Elliot and Matthew do come in, there’s some rearranging so Elliot can sit next to Teddy, but they aren’t all over each other like I feared. Teddy rests a hand on Elliot’s knee, but she keeps her body turned towards me. Karina moves on to the floor next to my feet, and Matthew takes the armchair next to Elliot. Instead of being a gooseberry like I’d thought I might be, I’m in the middle of it all.