mutuality | wroetoshaw

twenty nine

I have no idea where the timeline is currently so I'm going to take a wild guess in the dark and say it's somewhere in March. Enjoy!

MARCH 14TH, 2023

"This is very fancy," Kon comments, myself, him and Kirsty making our way to a very posh restaurant in central London. It was the meeting point for our first talk about the holiday, where hopefully the basis of a plan would be formed.

"JJ organised it, why are you surprised?" I reply, as we get to the front of the building. Outside, a hostess stands waiting, clearly clocking our arrival, smiling at all three of us as we stand before her.

"Booked under JJ," Kon says politely, and she nods, asking if we'll follow her in.

I felt a little scared, if I was being honest. Harry and I had planned to tell everyone about us today, if things went to plan. We'd decided it needed to be done before my birthday, because he wanted to spend it with me, no questions being asked. Everyone was together tonight, so it was the perfect opportunity.

We are led through the restaurant, and go through a set of double doors that leads to a completely separate part of the restaurant.

"This is your private dining room," she explains, holding open yet another door where voices flood the area. I notice that we are the last to arrive, despite being on time, which is unusual because a lot of the guys often arrive late.

"Finally!" JJ shouts, but it's laced with a laugh, and he motions to three open chairs on the side of the table near a window.

My heart skips a beat when one of them is next to Harry, and I realise that he had probably saved it for me. I smile at him, and he reciprocates it.

We all make our way over to the table, sitting down.

"I ordered you a gin. It's only a single, though," Harry whispers, pointing to the half full glass in front of me.

"Trying to get me drunk again? I'm afraid I'm out of confessions for the time being," I whisper back, sharing a grin with him.

"You're cute when you're drunk," he replies, and it really isn't even a whisper, even quieter if that was at all possible.

"Alright, so, first order of business. Where do we actually want to go? Who has any suggestions?" JJ asks, and it's clear he wants to get down to business.

"I wouldn't mind somewhere with a beach," Tobi offers, and it kickstarts a little discussion.

"Maldives?" Kirsty suggests next, and it's met with a plethora of responses.

Some people loved the idea, (me included), but others thought it was too coupley and romantic for a friends trip. All completely valid opinions.

"Napa?" James offers, but most of the guys had already been, and a few of us had only just been to Cyprus.

"Yeah, and only five of us are still single," JJ says, although in my head, I know that it's actually only two.

"Five?" Josh asks, looking around the table.

"Yeah, James, Jon, Tobi, Tilly and Harry," he says, looking confused as he looks back at Josh. "Am I wrong?"

No one says anything now. I don't risk looking at Harry just yet, but I can tell he's looking at me.

No, instead I subtly look over at Tobi, who looks at me with a slight grimace on his face. I give him a questioning tilt of my head, and he closes his eyes and nods before taking a deep breath in, then starting to speak.

"I've got a girlfriend. So that leaves four single people," he says, and everyone looks at Tobi now, so I calculate a much lower risk to look at Harry, who still looks at me.