Lunchtime, in a pub in Dorset.
Rowan: I never went out with anyone with longer hair than me before.
Jake: Does it bother you?
Rowan: No, just saying…why, would you get it cut if it did?
Jake: No. How come you’re so wary about getting involved?
Rowan: That’s quite a change of subject.
Jake: Well, I just wondered. I thought maybe someone hurt you.
Rowan: Everyone gets hurt, at some point…I dunno, I think partly it’s because of Mum and Dad.
Jake: I don’t understand – I thought they were really happy?
Rowan: They are – they’ve been married twenty eight years and they still love each other to bits. I think Will and Effs are like that too. Well – that’s what I want – but what if I can’t manage it? What if it all went wrong?
Jake: You can’t keep everyone at a distance just in case you get hurt. It doesn’t make you a failure if a relationship doesn’t work out.
Rowan: I know, but…what’s the longest relationship you were ever in? Mine was just a year!
Jake: Three years – and we were married for two and a half of them.
Rowan: Oh – ! What happened?
Jake: It was a bit of a whirlwind romance. I think we both realised pretty soon we’d made a mistake. We tried to make it work, but – well… It was nearly four years ago now. It hurt for a long time but it doesn’t mean I’ve given up.
Rowan: At least you know you’re not getting a whirlwind romance with me…the thing is, I feel like I could just go rushing in with you, it would be easy. But I just want to go slowly and make sure –
Jake: That’s okay! You said from the start that you want to take it slow – and I’m very patient.
Rowan: I think, though, that I’m going to move my chair over there, next to yours…
Rowan: …because I would really like it if you put your arm round me.
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