Viv groans when she realises what the second part of the date entails. She covers her face with a laugh when Sunny pulls her through the door to the board game café, where a clutch of people sit in small groups around tables covered in boards and cards and playing pieces, their drinks and food off to the side like an afterthought.

"Dear god, not the Monopoly again."

"We're recreating our first date," Sunny says stubbornly, "so yes, the Monopoly again." She checks her watch again because she knows she's liable to forget that she has a job to get to. It's one thirty-seven, more than three and a half hours since they met at the pier, which gives them a bit less than that time again to start and finish a game.

"It got so vicious!"

Sunny ignores that as she finds a table for two and says, "I checked and apparently, the average game takes anywhere from twenty minutes to one hundred and eighty minutes, and I have to be at work in two hundred and three minutes, so that's pretty perfect."

"Babe, it took longer than that last time," Viv says, eyes crinkling. "I'm pretty sure we sat here for a solid four hours."

"I can't believe you tolerated me that long when you didn't even know me," Sunny says. She spots Monopoly on the game shelf and pulls it down. There are a few versions available to play, including the kids' edition and the American version, but the original London edition is the only one she has ever played, and Sunny likes what she knows. She likes collecting the stations and the second side of the board, where the properties are pink and orange, and she refuses to play as anything other than a vehicle or an animal. Why there are tokens of an iron and a thimble and a top hat, she has no idea, and she staunchly refuses to use them: the Scottish terrier is her favourite piece; the ship or the race car are acceptable alternatives.

"When I told Stella that our first date involved a ridiculously long game of crazy golf and an even longer game of Monopoly, she was horrified," Viv says.

"How rude."

"She thought it was a bit intense for a first date," she says. "I mean, Stella's idea of a first date is, like, a bar. Alcohol and sexy dresses."

Sunny wrinkles her nose. She can't think of a worse way to try to get to know someone than somewhere dark and loud and filled with alcohol. "Ew," she says. "No, that's not my style. Not that I have a style, considering this is my first date, but ... yeah. I'd much rather do something than be somewhere."

"A hundred percent." Viv leans back, one arm slung over the back of her chair. The shirt is back on now since the physical activity is over and it drapes over her shoulders like she's a queen, and Sunny thinks she might be a little bit whipped. "Right, you get that set up and I'll go and order us something to eat. What d'you want?"

"What is there?"

"A lot of finger food and sharing plates. Want me to find a menu?"

"Do you remember what I had last time?"

"We shared the everything nachos and the barbecue brisket tacos."

"Were they good?"

Viv groans her appreciation. "Fucking amazing."

"Then let's have that again. Unless you want something else?"

"Nope, I'm good. Love me some cheesy nachos. The guacamole here is the best I've ever had outside of Tijuana."

"Where's that? Is that a restaurant?"

Viv laughs and shakes her head. "It's a city in Mexico, right on the border to America."

Sunny's eyebrows shoot right up. "Holy shit. You've been to Mexico? When?"

"When I finished uni, about, god, five years ago now? A few of us flew to New York, hired a car and drove to California. Once we got to San Diego we were like, well, might as well go to Mexico, right?"

"Whoa. That's so cool. As if you've been to America."

Viv presses her lips together and that's all it takes for Sunny to remember that she has too. She just can't remember it. Her smile dips and her shoulders slump a little and Viv rests her hand on Sunny's head and says, "Maybe when Sylvia retires you'll go again. I don't think you'll be waiting long."

"Yeah, maybe," Sunny says, thinking probably not, really. Her parents are not extravagant. Their luxury is their home and the space they have, but they're not big spenders, though they could afford to be. Throughout Sunny's childhood they claimed to be comfortably well-off, which she never thought about until ten years ago, when she accidentally caught a glimpse of the annual cost of Martha's medical malpractice insurance. Her eyes watered when she realised that the amount her mother paid to be covered in case she made a mistake at work was more than double the average yearly salary – almost triple what she makes now, even with her pay rise.

"If not, you and I will go," Viv says. "How about it, eh? Maybe next year, or the year after, if you haven't been sucked into a time loop or spat into another dimension?"

Sunny chuckles as she counts out the cash and organises the properties inside the box, because whoever last played this game did not put it away in an orderly fashion. "Sounds like a plan."

*

The tables in the board game café have extra leaves that slide out from underneath, somewhere to put food without interrupting the game. It's ingenious, really, Sunny thinks as she holds her six properties in one hand and a taco in the other. Viv was right: the food here is incredible. The everything nachos are loaded with cheese and peppers and chilli, with generous amounts of sour cream and salsa and guacamole; the barbecue brisket tacos are the perfect balance of greasy meat and crispy shell. Both are equally messy. Sunny has one napkin over her lap and another tucked into her top and both are stained, though Viv has somehow eaten without spilling a morsel.

"You're such a mucky pup, oh my god," she says with a tut.

"This can't be a surprise." Sunny bites into her taco and a trail of barbecue sauce dribbles down her chin.

"No, it's really not. You're ever so consistent. This"—she waves her hand in a circle around Sunny—"is an almost identical view to the one I had on our first date. I think the only difference is the purple hair."

"Perfect. I'm going for as accurate a reconstruction of that date as possible," she says, rolling the dice and whooping when she lands on Whitehall. She already has Pall Mall and Northumberland Avenue, and all the oranges, and once she has exchanged a hundred and forty quid with the bank for the property card, she owns an entire side of the board. She's got The Strand, too, and the rest of the reds are her next goal.

"In which case, you're giving me the blueprint to win," Viv says, "because you bought the exact same properties last time."

"I always go for the pinks and oranges."

Viv laughs and says, "You're so gay."

"Huh? I mean, I know, but why do these make me gay?"

Viv leans over and splays out the properties in Sunny's hand. Red and pink and orange. Just like Sunny's nails. Just like the lesbian flag. Sunny bursts into laughter because she never realised that before but it tracks.

"What does that make you, then?" She nods at the cards in Viv's hand. Both the browns and two of the greens, only missing Regent Street. "A forest?"

"So funny. So cocky for someone who's going to lose."

"Honey, that is not a winning hand," Sunny says. "You think you're gonna bankrupt me with two quid rent every time I land on Old Kent Road?"

"You can talk. The pinks are only ten pounds to land on." Viv splays her handful of cash. She may not have many properties but she's landed on Go twice and free parking once. "You know what, seeing as it's my go now, I think I'm gonna take my time and do a bit of urban development. Old Kent Road and Whitechapel Road are looking a bit dreary." She taps her chin and says, "Time for some hotels."

Unlike her girlfriend, Sunny does not have a wad of cash. She has just enough to pay rent if she lands on Whitechapel Road with a hotel. But that's thirty squares away. She has time to make a bit more money before then, and she needs to up her game. Time to dabble in a bit of real estate development. Viv rolls and lands on Euston Road, which she snaps up without hesitation, and once it's Sunny's go, she starts building. Houses are a hundred pounds each so she uses all her cash to buy five, using eeny meeny miny moe to decide which of the six properties doesn't get a house. Bow Street loses, and she hopes Viv doesn't roll an eight.

"Ooh, it's on," Viv mutters, her eyes darting around the board as she strategises. Once Sunny's happy with her house placement, she rolls and gets a seven, which takes her straight to free parking.

"Fuck yes!" She snatches the money from the middle of the board – the obligatory five hundred, as per Shelley house rules, and the money from the last couple of taxes and bad community chests. She ends up with more than she just spent on houses, plenty to see her through Viv's hotels. "I'm so gonna win."

"You seem so sure but I distinctly remember you calling the dog a stupid yappy bastard last time when you landed on my Mayfair hotel," Viv says. "The dog doesn't roll, Sunny. It's not the dog's fault if you land somewhere you don't want to be."

"I would never."

"You most definitely did, because I told Stella – I thought it was hilarious – and she told me to delete your number because you were almost certainly a sadistic animal abuser."

"Oh my god! I think I need to meet Stella and set the record straight. I can't have your sister thinking I'm a psychopath."

"She doesn't think that anymore," Viv says. "You've met a couple of times. You get on pretty well." Amusement twitches at the corners of her mouth. "She thinks you're adorable."

"Adorable as in my face is cute? Or adorable in the way, like, a puppy is adorable?"

"Is there much of a difference?"

"Are you calling me a dog?"

"No!" Viv cries out as she rolls and moves her piece. "Oh my god, no. You're not a dog. But you are a puppy. Big puppy energy. Just look at you." She flashes Sunny an endearing smile that makes Sunny's skin fizz, goose pimples erupting up and down her arms. Flustered, Sunny gathers the die and shakes them, trying to cool her blushing cheeks, and only once she's rolled does she realise Viv's landed on Vine Street with a house.

"Rent!" she cries out, but Viv just leans back, arms crossed, and shakes her head, a sly grin on her lips.

"You can't call rent once the next player has already thrown the die. I'm sorry, baby, you missed your chance."

"Damn it, you distracted me on purpose. Dirty play."

Viv scoffs. "Don't act like you play clean, Sun. You're the queen of cheating any way you can just to win a game so yeah, of course I'm gonna take full advantage of you not paying attention."

Sunny grumbles, which makes Viv laugh.

"You want to win? You've got to keep your eyes on the prize."

The problem is, Sunny's not sure what the prize is right now. The game? Or Viv?

*

"Holy shit it's ten to five!" Viv cries out when she glances at her watch as she loses a chunk of her cash in hand to rent payments.

"What? No way," Sunny scoffs, until she checks her own watch and blanches. The colour drops out of her stricken face, her eyes wide. "Oh, fuck. How the fuck is it nearly five already?" She scrambles out of her seat, almost sending the board flying.

"Because we've been at this for hours and we're still pretty even," Viv says. She's managed to snag the greens and the browns, the yellows and both dark blues. Sunny got her hands on all the stations after fighting hard for them – it cost her Piccadilly, Waterworks and The Angel Islington to get Marylebone Station off Viv – and somehow Electric Company and Pentonville Road are still up for grabs, neither of them having landed on them yet.

"I need to go, shit, I'm gonna be late. I don't even have the right clothes, fuck."

"Listen, you get to work and I'll pack up here, and I'll bring you something to change into. Okay?"

"Okay. Sorry, I thought I was being generous when I scheduled seven hours for this date."

Viv laughs and says, "Yeah, we have a habit of taking our time. Don't worry about it, we'll pick up where we left off another time, right?"

"Right. Make note of where we are and how much cash we have and we'll revisit this."

Viv winks and says, "I've got a board at home and several days of annual leave to take. One way or another, we are going to finish this game."

"I'll hold you to that."

"I know you will. Now get going before Mack sacks you."

"He would never. Mack loves me."

"Seriously, Sunny, you're gonna be late. Go. Scram. I've got this."

So Sunny leaves, and as she walks away, she looks back and realises how much she doesn't want to go. She wants to sit back down and learn more about Viv, wants to figure out every part of her – what she likes to eat and where she likes to go and what she wants to read, all the things that matter – but she doesn't. She's ditched enough work recently and it would really fucking suck to get fired.

Instead, she looks over her shoulder with a smile, and Viv is smiling right back.

*

i usually hate writing date scenes but this one - yes, okay, the last three entire chapters - were so fun!