Sisters by Michelle Frances

Author:Michelle Frances
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781509877188
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2020-07-22T18:30:00+00:00

FORTY-ONE

2018

The placard held up by the rep in arrivals read Someone Special Singles’ Holidays in bold black letters and Abby cringed. If it had been possible for her to turn back around and head through baggage reclaim to the plane, she might have done just that, but then she would’ve had to explain to her boss how she ended up not taking a holiday after all and he would go on at her and HR would send some officious email and it was all too much hassle. It wasn’t even really a holiday, it was a long weekend, Friday to Monday, and she’d picked that weekend purposely as the Monday was a bank holiday, which meant she only spent one day’s leave. (She wasn’t allowed to sell them all, there were regulations against it, but she certainly wanted to max out her allowance.)

She walked over to the beaming man with the sign and was directed to a minibus outside Florence airport. As she stepped on board her heart sank further as she noted a collection of . . . she didn’t want to say oddballs – that was unkind. In any event, she was there too, but it was becoming clear to her that people who booked a singles’ weekend were not necessarily busy high-flyers looking to make like-minded new friends.

Abby took a seat in an empty row, nodding hellos at those she passed. One or two of the girls looked at her with a sharp eye of appraisal, clearly summing up the competition, and all of the men’s gazes were open and hopeful.

As she sat down, the man opposite, dressed in a black T-shirt and ripped black jeans, leaned across the aisle.

‘Hi, I’m Sean.’

She shook his outstretched hand, noting it was slightly sweaty. ‘Abby.’

‘What do you do?’

Flipping heck, it was one hell of an opening question. No warm-up at all, and the way he’d said it, it sounded like a test. Abby had the distinct impression she was about to be defined by her job.

‘Business analyst.’

His eyes remained blank, then he quickly covered with a knowing smile. ‘Cool.’

You have no idea what that is, thought Abby.

‘You?’ she asked.

‘I’m a music producer,’ he said faux-casually as he attempted to cross his leg and rest an ankle on the other knee, but he was hampered by the tight leg room and had to drop it to the floor again.

‘Oh yes? What kind of music?’

‘Bit of grime, garage, jungle. Some hip hop. I did Shanga Weed’s debut – you heard of them?’

She shook her head. ‘Sorry.’

He looked downcast. Or was it relieved? She couldn’t tell. But then another female boarder, a not unattractive blonde who cast her eyes over the bus looking for a seat, took his attention. Sean was about to indicate the space next to him when she slid into one at the front. Did she just swerve him? thought Abby, hiding a smile.

The blonde was the last to board and the rep opened with his effervescent welcome as the bus drove off.

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