Page 135 of The Wedding Forecast

‘Sixty-three.’

‘Oh wow, that’s great.’

‘I was very pleased.’

She smiles at me, and then her eyes slide between Patrick and Mac, and she walks out behind Jean and my parents.

‘So we thought we’d go back to our place and get some drinks,’ Hayley says.

We, I think. Who is we, exactly?

We pay and walk outside to wait for a cab, and when one appears, everyone starts climbing in and I realise we won’t all fit.

‘We need another one,’ I say.

‘No, it’s fine, I’m going to head back to my sister’s place,’ Mac says. ‘I’ll get the tram. Luke, I’ll catch up with you tomorrow, yeah?’

‘Yeah mate,’ Luke says.

Everyone is in the cab now except me and Mac. He takes a few steps away, tilting his head at me, and I follow him.

‘Anna,’ he says. ‘Goodbye.’

Be numb, be numb, be numb.

‘Thank you for coming to my launch,’ I say, as if he drove twenty minutes rather than flew across the world. ‘It means a lot to me.’

‘Well, I can’t wait to read the book,’ he says.

Maybe we’re both just going to pretend what he said in the toilet never happened.

I look over my shoulder, and Hayley is leaning out of the cab window.

‘You coming?’ she says to me.

‘Yes,’ I say, turning back to Mac. ‘Deja vu,’ I say to him. ‘First the restaurant, now Hayley and the cab.’

‘Our greatest hits,’ he says. ‘Except this time you’re getting in the cab and leaving me.’

‘I am.’

‘It was good to see you one last time.’

I can’t help myself, I have to hug him. He’s thinking the same thing, and we step into each other’s arms.

‘Why are we always saying goodbye?’ I whisper to him.

Be numb, be numb, be numb, you are not going to cry.

‘Do you love him?’ Mac whispers to me. ‘Because if you do, just tell me, and you’ll never hear from me again, I promise.’

‘Mac, don’t.’

‘Because I love you so much, Anna.’

Tears prickle my eyes and I press my face into his shoulder, hard, trying to get a grip on myself.

‘Stop saying it,’ I say. ‘I can’t bear hearing it.’ I step back from the hug and wipe my eyes quickly.