through
Style
magazine.
âHey, have you seen your exâs latest chart position in this yearâs Rich List?â said Max, throwing the supplement in her direction.
âOh god.â Jennifer rolled her eyes. âGo on then, letâs feel sick for a second.â
âreUNIon floated this year,â Max informed Ted, almost proudly. âHeâs worth a billion now.â
âYou are having a laugh,â said Jennifer, though soon she knew it to be true for there it was in black and white, accompanied by a picture of him. Tim Purcell. The ex-boyfriend sheâd put up with for two and a half years, now worth a billion quid. She scrutinised the picture of him. His blond hair was slightly silvery around the edges, but only slightly. He was a little more jowly but on the whole looked remarkably similar to how he had done fifteen years ago. He was good looking in a Nordic sort of way and had always had incredibly good skin, though his blue eyes were flinty and rather too deep set and his nose was a little too sharp. His face couldnât have been more different to the one sheâd eventually married. Maxâs mop of brown hair and friendly face may not have been anywhere near as chiselled but it was one that overall she far preferred staring at.
She wondered what it would be like to see Tim now, after all these years. Would they get on? Theyâd had astrange relationship really. Sheâd always felt as if more than anything sheâd
amused
him. Sheâd known heâd found her funny and sweet but sheâd never got the impression that he massively fancied her. Then again, for her, it hadnât necessarily been a relationship based on physical attraction either. Sheâd just been so terribly impressed by him, by his flair, and had liked being associated with someone who everyone on campus was aware of. If she did ever meet up with him again sheâd love to ask him what heâd seen in her. She doubted they ever would though. They were hardly likely to bump into one another. They mixed in totally different circles. Plus theyâd never kept in touch due to the fact that theyâd broken up on such desperately bad terms, which ironically was the one time heâd demonstrated that actually she had got under his skin. Or had it just been his ego making him so angry and upset when sheâd told him she wanted to split up?
âWhat Iâd do with a billion quid,â mused Ted.
Buy yourself a Sky Sports subscription hopefully, Jennifer thought to herself, smiling blankly at him.
âPerhaps I should get in contact with Tim and ask him if I can have a thousand pounds that I could use to get the tumble dryer fixed, pay some bills and have a splurge in Whistles eh? It would be pocket money to him,â she joked.
âBet you wish youâd stuck with him, eh Jen? Instead of hooking up with this here loser,â said Ted.
Jennifer smiled and shook her head. âNot at all, Ted. He may be rich but he was a bit of a cold shit really.â
âBloody clever though,â said Max, âI mean, who hasnât been on reUNIon at some point or another? Apart from my parents, who are literally the only people I can think of.â
It always struck Jennifer as slightly strange when Max went on about how clever Tim was. It was almost as if he was proud of the fact sheâd gone out with him yet sheâd have preferred it if he was a little bit jealous. As it was she suspected heâd probably love to meet him, have dinner with him, be able to discuss his career with him. In fact, given the choice, these days it wouldnât surprise her if he were to choose going to dinner with him over dinner with her.
Jenniferâs phone beeped. It was a text from Esther, saying she was round the corner at the park with Sophie and could she pop in for a cuppa.
Jennifer phoned straight away. âPlease come round. Max and Ted are here watching footy and I would