Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

Halfway through the song, other couples joined them so that they were
partially obscured from view, and I got distracted by Mary talking about carers’
allowances, until suddenly I looked up and there she was, standing right in front
of us, the supermodel in her white silk dress. My heart lodged in my throat.
Alicia nodded a greeting to Mary, and dipped a little from her waist so that
Will could hear her over the music. Her face was a little tense, as if she had had
to prime herself to come over.
‘Thank you for coming, Will. Really.’ She glanced sideways at me but said
nothing.
‘Pleasure,’ Will said, smoothly. ‘You look lovely, Alicia. It was a great day.’
A flicker of surprise passed across her face. And then a faint wistfulness.
‘Really? You really think so? I do think … I mean, there’s so much I want to say
–’
‘Really,’ Will said. ‘There’s no need. You remember Louisa?’
‘I do.’
There was a brief silence.
I could see Rupert hovering in the background, eyeing us all warily. She
glanced back at him, and then held out a hand in a half-wave. ‘Well, thank you
anyway, Will. You are a superstar for coming. And thank you for the … ’
‘Mirror.’
‘Of course. I absolutely loved the mirror.’ She stood up and walked back to
her husband, who turned away, already clasping her arm.
We watched them cross the dance floor.
‘You didn’t buy her a mirror.’
‘I know.’
They were still talking, Rupert’s gaze flickering back to us. It was as if he
couldn’t believe Will had simply been nice. Mind you, neither could I.
‘Does it … did it bother you?’ I said to him.
He looked away from them. ‘No,’ he said, and he smiled at me. His smile had
gone a bit lopsided with drink and his eyes were sad and contemplative at the
same time.
And then, as the dance floor briefly emptied for the next dance, I found myself
saying, ‘What do you say, Will? Going to give me a whirl?’
‘What?’