The Wake-Up Call

by Beth O'Leary

Ninety-nine per cent of the time, I think Izzy is the most annoying woman I have ever met, but very occasionally I can’t help noticing how beautiful she is.

Not everything difficult is worth the time.

We are all misled and misdirected from time to time. Perhaps there really is no shame in that, as long as we wake up to it before it’s too late to change.

Every night we spend together, I learn something about her. The small formation of freckles on her ankle; how she’s ticklish there. The way her voice lifts when certain people ring her – Sameera, Grigg, Jem – and how it tightens for anyone else.

‘The thing about true love, right, is that sometimes you have to really push yourself out of your comfort zone to find it?’