Chasing Daisy

half-expecting you to text me again.’
    I shake my head, resolutely. ‘Not with your girlfriend around. She might’ve found that a bit weird.’
    ‘Mmm,’ he says dryly, raising his eyebrows.
    ‘What?’ I ask, confused by his expression.
    ‘Oh, you don’t want to know,’ he brushes me off.
    ‘Tell me,’ I insist.
    ‘Ah, things are a bit strange between Laura and me at the moment.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ I ask cautiously.
    ‘Do you want a drink?’ He stands up and goes to the minibar, opening up the fridge and peering inside. He pulls out a bottle of water.
    ‘What is there?’ I ask.
    ‘Vodka, whisky, wine . . .’
    ‘I’ll just have a Diet Coke.’
    He pulls out a can and cracks it open, pouring it into a glass. He brings the glass over and hands it to me, then slumps down again and swigs water straight from the bottle.
    ‘You were saying about your girlfriend?’ I prompt, grabbing one of the pale-yellow cushions adorning the sofa and hugging it to my chest.
    He puts the bottle on the table.
    ‘Things are a bit weird?’
    ‘Yeah. You know, she doesn’t come to many races.’ He reaches down and scratches his knee. ‘So I’m not used to having her there.’
    Oh. Is that all?
    But then he sighs and leans back against the sofa, running his hands through his hair and peering up at the ceiling. ‘God, Daisy, this is really doing my head in.’ He stares at me and we hold eye contact until I break away.
    ‘What’s doing your head in?’ I ask warily, looking back to find he’s still watching me.
    He doesn’t answer immediately and I hold my nerve. ‘You.’ That’s all he says: ‘You.’
    ‘ I’m doing your head in?’ Oh, God. Is this really happening?
    He rests his head back on the sofa and continues to stare at me sideways as my heart begins to beat faster.
    ‘I don’t understand,’ I say to him, desperately needing him to spell it out and avoid any confusion.
    But he’s silent. And then he reaches over and touches the tips of my fingers with his, sending an electric shock shooting all the way up my arm and into my head. Then he pulls his hand away and stands up, pacing the room.
    ‘Shit, this is a really bad idea. I don’t know what I’m doing.’ His expression is anguished.
    ‘Do you want me to go?’ I ask hesitantly, my heart pounding so loud I can’t believe he can’t hear it.
    ‘Yes, I think you should go.’ He sounds determined.
    Shakily I get to my feet and step away from the sofa.
    ‘No, don’t.’ He comes over to me, but almost immediately walks away again. He looks so confused.
    My autopilot kicks in. ‘I’ll go.’
    ‘Yes, yes, that’s a good idea.’
    I walk to the door, my head spinning as I reach for the handle. Is he going to stop me? I pause, wavering, then pull on the door so that it opens a crack, letting the harsh fluorescent lighting from the corridor spill into the room. No. He doesn’t stop me.
    I walk out into the corridor to see one of the hotel’s catering staff wheeling a room service trolley in our direction. Never mind. I wouldn’t have been able to eat anyway.
    Needless to say I barely sleep that night. I cannot for the life of me believe what just happened. How the hell is he going to act now? My head hurts just thinking about it. I can’t let my heart hope. I just can’t. I keep unwittingly picturing him kissing me and I have to shake my head so it doesn’t run away with my thoughts.
    I hear Holly come in later, but pretend to be out cold, and that’s exactly what she is when I wake up the next morning. I get up quietly and go into the bathroom, feeling overwhelmingly surreal about the night before. She comes in while I’m brushing my teeth.
    ‘You alright?’ she murmurs sleepily.
    ‘Um, not really.’ If I felt sick with nerves yesterday, that’s nothing compared to how I feel now.
    ‘Why?’ She yawns. ‘What happened last night?’
    ‘Will told me he likes me.’ I spit toothpaste out into the basin and rinse my mouth out.
    ‘ What?! ’ That wakes her up.
    ‘Well, more or less.’
    ‘Shit! What did you do?’
    ‘Nothing.’ I lean back on the basin and cross my arms. ‘After that, he asked me to leave.’
    ‘ Really? ’
    ‘Yes. I think he’s confused.’
    ‘God.’ She stares at me, open-mouthed. ‘I wonder how this is going to pan out.’
    ‘You’re not the only one.’
    She perches on the side of the bath and looks up at me. ‘Do you think he’ll leave Laura?’
    ‘I don’t