Love on the Picadilly Line take 3

He hadn’t seen her, or if he had he hadn’t recognised her with her new haircut. Cynthia stared at him. Jonah hadn’t changed a bit. The same quirky good looks that she’d fallen for just two years ago, the same face she’d slapped as hard as she could after catching him cheating with Susan Hastings.

And now they were getting married, Cynthia had heard last week. And sure enough, there was the ring, gleaming on Jonah’s left finger as he held up his book. Atonement, she noticed with surprise; bit of a girly book for Jonah. But maybe he’d changed.

She saw him ease the ring off his finger and drop it into his pocket. Fascinated, she watched as he focused on the girl standing opposite him, raising his eyebrows and half smiling. He hadn’t changed.

From behind her newspaper Cynthia felt a strange admiration for his technique as she watched Jonah move in on the unsuspecting girl, employing his full repertoire of shy smiles and, she remembered ruefully, stupid jokes. She couldn’t blame the girl for falling for it; she had been utterly charmed by him herself.

She imagined tapping Jonah on the shoulder and casually asking him how his wedding plans were going, pictured his horrified surprise as he recognised her. She would smile apologetically at the girl, giving her a look to say “I’m doing you a favour here, love. He’s bad news.”

But she stayed put and said nothing. Her stop came and went but still she watched as Jonah flirted and charmed, until, at the end of the line, the girl handed over a scrap of paper, presumably her number. Cynthia followed them off the train and up the stairs. Jonah waved the girl goodbye. Cynthia watched from the newspaper stand as he waited until the girl was out of sight then hurried back down the stairs.

Cynthia in turn waited until his retreating back had disappeared. She fished her phone from her handbag and scrolled through the address book. A smile flickered across her face as it started to ring. “Hello, Susan? It’s Cynthia. There’s something you need to know.”