Free The Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook by Matt Dunn

then?’
    And while I worry that Natasha might be right, I don’t have anything else to go on.
    1.07 p.m.
    I’m sitting on the 12.19 to London, reading through the second copy of the Big Issue that I’ve had to buy from Billy in as many days, as, unfortunately, while I’d been nervously primping myself in the toilet, the cleaners had come and emptied my bin of the one I’d been planning to take with me. I’ve already had a dilemma about what to wear, but realized I’d left it too late to go home and change, so the jeans and jumper I wore into work today have had to do.
    I get to Victoria a little early for our rendezvous, so lean on the window outside WH Smiths and scan the crowd, trying to spot her. The station’s pretty busy, Smiths turns out to have two ‘fronts’ and, as I feared, there seem to be lots of people carrying magazines, so I’m wishing my choice of a meeting place had been a little bit more specific. Never mind how I’ve changed, will I still recognize her , I wonder? What does ten years do to any of us, unless you’re Dan and you dedicate your life towards the pursuit of youth? Female youth, that is.
    I’m a little nervous, I must admit, not to mention cold, and I’m cursing the fact that my leather jacket has seen better days, so I’m hopping about, trying to keep myself from shivering, while simultaneously trying to display my magazine as prominently as possible. All of a sudden, I hear a female voice.
    ‘I’ll take one of those. Your last one, is it?’
    I look up, startled, to find a pretty young girl standing in front of me. She’s dressed smartly, and holding a Starbucks cup in one hand. For a second, I think it might be Sally, but if so, she’s been spending even more time on her appearance than Dan.
    ‘Pardon?’
    ‘It’s one pound forty, isn’t it?’ she says, reaching into to her purse.
    ‘What is?’
    She points to the magazine I’m holding. ‘The Big Issue . One pound forty.’
    ‘Yes,’ I answer without hesitating—after all, I’ve bought enough copies to know—before even wondering why on earth she’s asking. But just as it occurs to me to say something, the girl smiles at me sympathetically, and presses a couple of coins into my palm.
    ‘Here’s one pound fifty. Keep the change.’
    I unthinkingly take the money she’s offered me before my brain finally clicks into gear, and I try to give it back to her. ‘No, I’m not…’
    She clasps my outstretched hand. ‘You poor thing. You’re freezing. Here—a nice hot cup of coffee for you too.’
    As she grabs hold of my Big Issue and tries to exchange it for her cup, I suddenly realize what’s happening.
    ‘What are you doing? Let go.’
    I pull the magazine out of her grasp with a sharp tug, nearly spilling coffee on her shoes in the process.
    ‘I’ve just paid you for it,’ she protests, starting to look a little alarmed.
    ‘But it’s not for sale. Here.’
    I try and hand her money back, but it’s too late, and she just backs away from me. As the words die in my throat, I feel a tap on my shoulder, and turn round to see Sally standing next to me. She looks good—a little older, sure, plus she wears glasses now, although I’m pleased to see that her figure’s still the same. But it’s her expression I can’t seem to work out, as it’s hardly the friendly recognition I was expecting.
    ‘My God, Edward. Has it come to this? I know you said on the phone that you’d been through something, but…’
    ‘No, you don’t understand. I’m not homeless.’
    Sally frowns at me. ‘Well, what are you doing selling the Big Issue , then?’
    ‘I’m not selling it.’
    ‘You just sold one to that girl. And then snatched it straight back off her.’
    ‘No, I didn’t sell it to her.’
    ‘Yes you did. I saw you.’
    ‘No. She…tried to buy it from me. But it’s not the same thing.’
    Sally shakes her head slowly. ‘And she tried to give you a nice cup of coffee too. Which you practically threw