Somewhere Only We Know: The bestselling laugh out loud millenial romantic comedy. Erin Lawless

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СКАЧАТЬ always wanted to go over the bar when I was a kid," Nadia told him, looking wistfully up at the pole above them.

      "That can't actually happen," Alex scoffed.

      "Yes it can!" Nadia insisted. "I've seen it on YouTube."

      "It defies the laws of physics," Alex argued.

      "God!" Nadia laughed. She finally submitted to her perilous height by looping the arm that held her almost-finished drink around one of the swing chains. "Let's just put it this way. I sure hope my kids are the sort of kids that want to go over the bar, rather than automatically believe it's impossible."

      "Are you saying that all of humanity splits into those who want to go over the bar and those who don't?" Alex teased. “That’s deep, man!”

      "No," Nadia shook her head emphatically. "But maybe I'm saying that humanity splits into those who dream about going over the bar and those that are too scared to try for it."

      "Well." Alex laughed shortly. "That's a pretty damning assessment of my personality. And we've only just met!"

      Nadia laughed too, looking sideways at him as she pushed herself higher and higher yet. "Okay, so that's a little black and white. But, it's true. I do think you could benefit from living life on the edge a little more, if you don't mind me saying."

      "On the edge? Look at me. I'm trespassing, drinking some weird drink I've never even heard of before today, sitting on a swing and – okay, I'll admit it – I haven't been on a swing for at least ten years…"

      "Really?" Nadia genuinely sounded surprised. "God, Alex! What do you do with your time?"

      And Alex didn't answer, because he found he didn't really have one. They swung for a few moments in silence before Nadia broke the stalemate by dropping her now-empty plastic cup to the ground; the remaining ice clattered inside it.

      "You know, Holly and I thought that Lila was your girlfriend, at first," she told him.

      "I know," was all Alex replied.

      "But, looking back, you didn't seem like a proper couple," Nadia continued. Alex flinched.

      "Why's that?" he couldn't help but ask. "Do you think Lila is one of the 'over the bar'-type people, or something?"

      Nadia laughed. "No, it’s not that. But it didn't seem like…" She paused to choose her words carefully. "Like you were particularly comfortable, you know?"

      Yup, Alex knew. He kicked off the ground a little harder, swinging completely forward for the first time, the soles of his shoes reaching free from the chipping. Ahead of him the sky was coral and pink as it chased the setting sun, all but disappeared into the west, sending their shadows yawning outwards behind them. It was still a tad too light for any stars to be visible, but it was getting late all the same. I must go home in a minute Alex told himself sternly. Instead:

      "If you'd have told me when I first graduated and moved to London that I'd be doing all this overtime, I would have laughed in your face," Alex found himself admitting.

      "Why?" Nadia asked, curious.

      "Well, for a start, the Home Office was just meant to be CV filler, a good-looking first job, you know? I was meant to be doing something else by now."

      "Like what?"

      "I don't know. Something else.” He couldn’t seem to stop himself talking all of a sudden. “I used to live with a whole bunch of guys,” he continued. “It was a five-room house-share." Alex laughed at Nadia's exaggerated wince. "It wasn't that bad. It was a laugh. But one by one they all either moved out of London or shacked up with girlfriends – that sort of thing, you know. One got made redundant and had to move back in with his parents in Devon. Poor guy's still there. It's been almost three years."

      Nadia winced again. "Poor guy," she agreed.

      "Anyway, by that time we'd downsized to a two-bed so I was on my lonesome. And I met Rory by advertising on Spare Room dot com." Alex smiled. "He took said spare room, although first he bollocked me for advertising the flat as being in Balham when it is clearly in Tooting. And we get on great and all, don't get me wrong but…since he met Lila, I guess I'm sort of waiting for him to move on too. And he and Lila are sort of the only people I spend all that much time with at the moment, so, that's, well… it's going to suck."

      Nadia had slowed her swinging to listen to him. She had her head rested against one of the swing chains as she looked at him sympathetically. He hated being looked at like that. Why was he even talking about this stuff anyway? And to somebody he barely even knew. Alex dragged his feet through the wood chipping to slow his swing down.

      "What a pair we are," Nadia said suddenly. "You, scared of being left by people; me, scared of being made to leave."

      "Oh, ignore me," Alex told her, growing more and more self-conscious by the minute. Why was it so stupidly easy to run your mouth off whilst on children's play equipment? "I'm just moaning. Sorry for all this 'I've got nobody to play with, boohoo' shit. Don't mind me. I've just got the London Blues."

      "Oh no, you can't blame London," Nadia told him firmly. "None of this is London's fault!"

      "It's much harder to be lonely in close-knit towns and villages," Alex retorted, immediately regretting his choice of words when he saw Nadia's face soften when he said “lonely”. "Although, to be honest, my most fulfilling relationship would probably still be the one with my PlayStation, no matter where I lived!" he joked, trying to get the conversation back on a more even keel.

      Nadia responded by finally taking hold of both of the swing chains and using them to propel herself even higher. And for a brief moment, he did actually believe she might be able to go over the bar.

      "Well, I have a proposition for you," she said from high above him.

      "What sort of a proposition?" Alex asked suspiciously, curious despite himself.

      "I'm sorry, I can't hear you properly," Nadia called out cheerfully. "You're going to have to come up here."

      Alex, by now pretty much stationary, looked up where Nadia was reaching the apex of her swing, what seemed like miles above him. "Ha. Funny," he dead-panned. "What's this proposition?"

      "Can't, hear, you," Nadia sang, as she pushed herself higher and higher. Alex continued to stare at her, incredulous. Finally he sighed.

      "Fine." He kicked off from the ground and started swinging again. "So…?"

      Nadia looked down at him and laughed. "That's pathetic. Higher!" she ordered. Alex sighed again and pulled the swing chains backwards in order to push on higher. Although he was still nowhere near Nadia's dizzying heights, she seemed to appreciate his effort and take pity on him.

       Nadia

      "I'm going to help you – sort of like a life guru," she told him, matter-of-factly.

      After a moment's pause, Alex spat out a laugh; whatever he'd been expecting her to say, it clearly wasn't that.

      "No, I'm serious!" Nadia insisted.

      "I bet you are!" Alex laughed. "Thanks, but no thanks."

      "No, СКАЧАТЬ