Don't You Forget About Me

by Mhairi McFarlane

“So—when I say I wondered if you’d like to go for dinner sometime . . .” Lucas draws breath and continues: “What I really wonder is, if you too hope we have one of those first dates that turns into days and nights, not only due to lust but because we can’t stand to be apart.”

“What I really mean by dinner is, I wonder if you’d like me to take your top off again in a hurry, and this time not because it’s covered in stripper urine.”

“I wonder if you’d like to end up spending so much time at each other’s places, sooner or later it makes sense to get our own place. With room for Keith, obviously.”

“I wondered if you wanted someone to help zip your dress up before a night out. I wondered if you wanted someone to call first in a crisis. I wondered if you wanted someone to text to bring you fish and chips when you can’t be arsed with a proper dinner. I wondered if you wanted someone in your corner when you visit your family, someone who will tell them how lucky they are to have you. I wondered if you wanted someone to fetch the ginger ale when you have the flu. I wondered whether, if that comedian shitbag ever comes within ten paces of you, I can hit him in the face. To be honest, if I see him, I will probably do that whether I’m your boyfriend or not because he is an utter shitbag and he has it coming. No court in the land would convict.”

“I wondered, Georgina, if you could imagine being in love with me again, the way I’m in love with you. And that given you’re the best thing to ever happen to me, if you could give me the chance to try to be the best thing that ever happened to you.”