Free Fairytale of New York by Miranda Dickinson

now. I get it.’
    ‘What is that supposed to mean?’
    ‘This isn’t about you being embarrassed. Or about Kowalski’s growing too big too soon. This is about you facing the danger of having to open up, for once. You’re scared,’ he taunted, jabbing his finger at me.
    ‘I am not scared—’
    ‘Yes, Rosie, you are. You’ve read this kind of interview before: name, age and favourite colour isn’t enough for journalists these days. Maybe they’ll be content to cover the basicsabout you. But then again, maybe they won’t. And that’s what scares you the most.’
    ‘Ed, I can’t believe you’re making such an issue out of this—’
    ‘And I can’t believe you think I’d fall for your “I’m too humble to court fame” line. I know you too well, Rosie.’
    ‘Well, obviously you don’t know me as well as you think. Because if you did you’d understand why I don’t want to do the interview.’
    Ed’s eyes widened and his cheeks flushed as he squared up to me. ‘OK, so tell me why.’
    Halfway between tears and righteous indignation, I struggled to reply. I hate it when Ed and I fight. He always knows how to get right under my skin and it’s so annoying that he’s better at the whole shebang than I am.
    ‘I…I don’t know. I just don’t want to do it. So stop bugging me and leave it now, OK?’ I looked away.
    Ed threw his hands up. ‘Ha! Exactly what I thought! You have no good reason. Except maybe one.’
    ‘Would you just leave it? And since when does my supposed reluctance to share every single detail of my life with everyone have anything to do with you?’
    ‘Because it stops you doing so much.’
    ‘Like what? Like spending my entire life on a never-ending rollercoaster of one-off dates? A million identical conversations, the only difference being the new face on the other side of the table? Oh, yeah, I’m really missing out on that one.’
    Ed let out a groan of frustration. ‘What I choose to do on my own dates is up to me, don’t you think?’
    ‘Absolutely. I just feel sorry for the girls who date you, that’s all.’
    ‘Well at least I have a ready supply of willing volunteers tobe let down by me,’ he returned, looking hot under the collar. ‘I don’t hear any of them complaining.’
    ‘Maybe that’s because you never stick around long enough to find out the truth. You’re a tart, Ed Steinmann. A singledate, commitment-phobic tart!’
    ‘Well, at least I’m not hiding away pretending I’m happy,’ he shot back. ‘At least I have a life outside this store. And sure, it may not be the kind of life you’d choose, Miss Highly Principled Florist, but I get by.’
    I snorted and looked away. ‘Whatever.’
    Ed shook his head. ‘I don’t get you, Rosie. I’m sorry, I just don’t. You obviously have stuff you don’t want to share with other people—I mean, heck, who doesn’t have things hidden in their past they’d rather keep concealed? But you don’t even open up to your closest friends. Marnie and I still don’t know why you came to New York. It’s like there’s a whole side of you we know nothing about.’
    ‘You don’t need to know,’ I replied, pushing the rising fear away at the mention of the subject. ‘I am not my past. I don’t look back. So just accept me for who I am or don’t bother at all.’
    Ed crossed his arms. ‘Do the interview, Rosie.’
    ‘No. I don’t want to.’
    Ed’s stare narrowed. ‘Fine. You don’t want to tell the story? Maybe I’ll just do it for you, right now.’ He strode over to the door and flung it open. ‘Ladies and gentlemen of Manhattan, may I present, for your consideration, the great Rosie Duncan, who thrives on each and every challenge her business throws at her, but is so damn scared of sharing her heart with anyone…’
    ‘You idiot!’ I grabbed his arm and dragged him inside, slamming the door shut. Wounded, but certainly not down yet,I found a renewed impetus to fight and promptly returned fire.