It's Not You It's Me (25 page)

‘OK.’

‘And we’ll meet in London. In less than a month. Promise.’

Shane herds the last few stragglers onto the bus.

‘Ready, Miss Charlotte?’ Shane calls out, now he’s on the bus himself.

I look up at him, then turn to Jas, and do what I have to do before my brain kicks in—I reach out, grab his jacket and pull him towards me…

‘I’m coming to New York.’

‘Come to New York.’

We both laugh and take a moment or two to get ourselves together again. That is, before we go and do the speaking at the same time thing all over again…

‘I didn’t want to impose.’

‘Didn’t want to ask.’

Jas grabs me then, and hugs me long and hard before he pulls back. ‘Let’s get your bag,’ he says.

We call Shane back down off the bus and he obligingly
fishes out my bag from the bus’s storage space. While he’s doing this Jas sneaks up and puts a large wad of money into his tip jar. He deserves it.

‘Thanks for everything, Shane,’ I say, giving him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek after he puts my bag down on the footpath. ‘You’ve been great.’

‘Stellar,’ Jas adds, shaking his hand.

‘Least I could do,’ Shane says with a smile.

‘I hope the trip back’s OK,’ I tell him.

He groans. ‘Me too. There’s one more after this, and that’s it.’

Jas and I stare at him, unbelieving. ‘You’re coming back?’ I ask the question for both of us.

‘Two tours. Back to back. I’m sure you understand.’ He punches Jas on the arm and laughs before he heads back inside the bus. ‘You crazy kids have some fun for me. And don’t forget you have to name your firstborn after me now. It was the champagne that got you together in the end; I’m sure of it.’

‘What’s he talking about?’ Jas looks at me.

‘I’ll tell you later,’ I say, before turning my attention back to Shane. ‘We will have a good time—thanks. And good luck with uni,’ I call out. Shane sticks his head out. Puts his finger to his lips. ‘Oops. Sorry.’

He waves a hand and then grins evilly. ‘And we’re off—like a raped ape!’ he belts out, then sticks his head back inside the bus quick-smart.

‘That’s disgusting!’ I yell, pointing at him.

There’s another grin from Shane. This time from inside the bus, where he’s safe.

‘That’s
disgusting
!’ I turn to Jas, still pointing at Shane.

‘Especially if you’re the ape,’ Jas says.

We both watch as the bus pulls out and drives off down
the street to the faint strains of ‘Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi!’, which makes us laugh.

It’s a while before I look up at Jas. ‘So, what’re we going to do after New York?’

He claps his hands together and grins. ‘How about Italy? Hear you have some business to attend to.’

I size him up. ‘You’ll have to stay in hostels and stuff, though. No more Brown’s. I’m on a budget, remember?’

‘I remember.’

‘And no sneaking around paying for things.’

‘My line of credit will be seriously diminished after New York, don’t worry.’

‘And more talking. There has to be more talking.’

‘Yeah, definitely more talking. Between, er, other things, of course.’

‘Of course.’ I laugh.

‘Now. That bottle of champagne?’ Jas says. ‘The one I think might have been from Shane?’

‘Mmmm?’

‘It’s upstairs, isn’t it?’

I nod.

‘It’s unopened, isn’t it?’

I finally get where he’s going with this and grab his hand, dragging him back inside the hotel. ‘Not for long,’ I say, with a smile that almost cracks my face. ‘Not for long.’