Amanda lay sprawled out across the single couch, her legs stretched out over the armrest. Louisa made herself cosy on the three-seater couch and Sabrina had taken blankets and cushions to the floor of the white, blush and gold washed living room. It was warm and snug and much to Sabrina’s delight there was pizza and an array of Italian cakes at arm’s reach and What’s Your Number? was playing on the TV. This had been their go-to movie for the past five years and these moments were what the girls lived for. Family was everything to them.
‘Could you get any dreamier than Chris Evans?’ Louisa sighed. Her eyes were glazing over with every word Chris Evans spoke.
‘Hmm, I’m more a Harry Styles circa 2015 girl myself,’ Amanda replied matter-of-fact, pulling her legs back over the armrest and tucking them under the blanket she had draped over her middle.
‘Ooh, tattoos and a man bun,’ Sabrina teased, grabbing another slice of pizza.
‘He kind of looks like Dan,’ Louisa piped up, causing Amanda to shove the whole slice of pizza into her mouth.
Sabrina noticed Amanda’s jaw tense. Something was up because Dan was usually more of a happy topic of conversation, apart from when Sabrina and Louisa pestered Amanda about her feelings for him and whether she liked him more than just as a friendly companion. Louisa hadn’t suggested anything of the sort tonight, just that Dan resembled Harry Styles, albeit a slightly more broad and bearded version of Harry Styles, but tattooed and luscious hair all the same, with a chiselled jaw and piercing eyes. But at that suggestion Amanda’s whole body had closed off.
For a while a calm silence enveloped the living room as the girls dug in to pizza and helpings of sfogliatelle, while gazing at the TV screen, as though it had them hypnotized. Chris Evans could have that effect on a person.
Amanda broke the silence. With her eyes firmly fixed on Chris Evans, she asked the question that Sabrina knew was burning on her lips. Amanda asked her every time she saw her, but this time it had taken her two whole days to bring it up and Sabrina wasn’t sure why.
‘Speaking of Dan, how’s he doing these days? And can we invite Chris Evans round for tea? Have you not bumped into him yet, Brina? Really you need to get on that. You can’t be all high-profile LA, getting into all these hip places and not have arranged some sort of meet-up for your dear, sweet sisters with all these gorgeous men.’ Her voice came out in a rush as she tried not to linger on the Dan question, clearly wanting to keep it more as a flyaway query.
Sabrina knew her sister too well. Something was definitely going on in that head of hers.
Sabrina fell about laughing. ‘I wish I could snap my fingers and make that happen. Jeez, Amanda, if I could do that, do you not think I would have done it already? And your darling Dan is doing fine – his usual focused self,’ Sabrina said, her voice softening. She kept her gaze on Amanda, but Amanda chose not to meet it and kept her own firmly on the TV.
Dan was Amanda’s best friend and lead singer of San Francisco Beat – music’s hottest act – and, thanks to Amanda, Sabrina was their manager. Sabrina hadn’t been able to believe her luck when Amanda had sent them her way two and a half years ago. In addition to Dan, there was bassist Dylan, who was the shy type with a sweet nature; guitarist James, who had a penchant for telling jokes and never took anything too seriously; and finally you had Levi, exceptional drummer and heartthrob to many across the world.
Levi was one to keep an eye on; though an absolute sweetheart, his charm, undeniable good looks and five-star flirting abilities could often lead to trouble. Sabrina had assured Amanda that she would be professional and always do right by the boys. Sabrina had been their big break, but they had also been her saving grace and she wasn’t about to screw it up. But there were times when keeping things professional was exhausting.
She enjoyed the banter between her and Levi and his playful nature so much. She found that with him she gave as good as she got. Sabrina hadn’t told her sisters about the night she and Levi had kissed. She had worried that it would further cement Louisa’s theory that her life was perfect. Though she ultimately knew her baby sister would be happy for her, she hadn’t wanted to add to her ammo for teasing her.
Furthermore, after Amanda’s last break-up Sabrina was all about encouraging Amanda to face her fears and not be afraid of love. Sabrina hadn’t wanted to confide in her big sister that she had run from Levi and her own feelings like a coward. It would set a bad example.
‘You do realize I have been in the country for over twenty-four hours and you are just asking me that question now. Is everything OK?’ Sabrina asked, Amanda’s fast-talking and intense gaze not going unnoticed.
‘Oh no, you haven’t broken up, have you?’ Louisa chimed in, picking at a piece of sfogliatelle they had brought back from the Christmas Markets. Sabrina cringed, wishing Louisa could read Amanda’s body language as well as she could. There were times to approach this subject with Amanda and tonight was not one of those times.
Amanda’s eyes grew narrow. ‘How many times do I have to tell you, Lou? You can’t break up with someone you’re not dating!’ Amanda said, her tone unfriendly. She rested her head back on her cushion and closed her eyes tight for a few moments.
‘Well how many times do we have to tell you, Amanda? You can’t just be friends with your soulmate,’ Louisa replied copying Amanda’s sarcastic and mean tone while using air quotes at the mention of ‘friends’.
‘Whatever, Lou. Everything’s fine – just wondered that’s all. The question slipped my mind for a few days, no big deal. You actually get to see him every day, so I just thought I’d check in as per usual, make sure he’s not giving you a hard time,’ Amanda said, absent-mindedly picking at a piece of basil on the top of her fifth pizza slice.
‘You know as well as I do that Dan couldn’t give anyone a hard time. He’s awesome, Amanda. I love working with them. The past two and a half years have been incredible,’ Sabrina said, eyeing up her sister, deciding whether she could push this topic further tonight and figure out what was bothering her.
Louisa had no filter when it came to pushing Amanda’s buttons about Dan, whereas Sabrina tried to be more tactful. Over the years, both she and Louisa had asked on many occasions why Amanda and Dan weren’t a couple. Neither the naive nor tactful approach had been very successful. The first year or two Amanda seemed perplexed by this question, genuinely confused as to how they could ask such a thing, so they had backed off. Amanda was happy, focused and more herself than they had ever seen her, and Sabrina and Louisa had concluded that whatever their relationship status was, they should just let it be – if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.
Gradually, though, Sabrina could see a flicker of sadness in Amanda’s eyes when she talked about Dan. After hours on the phone you could sense that she missed him and longed for more. Dan always asked about Amanda; in fact it had become routine. Whenever he entered Sabrina’s office he greeted her with a cheery hello and ‘How’s Amanda?’ before settling in to talk about work. Of course, Amanda did the very same with every Skype call or visit, always asking about Dan. It was frustrating and rather baffling to Sabrina that they couldn’t see what was in front of them, but she had faith that it would work out if it was meant to be.
‘Good to know,’ came Amanda’s response before she dug her spoon into the Nutella jar and took a huge scoop. Putting it to her mouth, she grinned at her sisters, clearly indicating she didn’t want to continue talking about Dan and most definitely looking like some sort of crazy chocolate fiend. Sabrina got the message and settled back against her pillow and blanket fort.
‘Speaking of working, do you actually get much work done when Levi’s around?’ Louisa asked Sabrina, her face creasing into a coy grin.
‘You sure are on a roll tonight with these questions, aren’t you?’ Sabrina said, grabbing a pillow and launching it at her little sister. ‘Right, no more boy talk unless we are talking about the American dream; plus, I don’t think I’m Levi’s type.’ She shrugged.
‘Aha, so you