Chapter 16
Sunday 22 October
There was a good crowd at the Rose & Crown for a Sunday evening, and Dan and Jeremy were obliged to take one of the less favoured booths, a long way from both the bar and the Gents.
“You know, I’m thinking I may have to change my local,” said Dan. “I like this place but it’s getting too popular by half.”
“First Lorna, now the Rose & Crown.” Jeremy shook his head in despair. “What’s happening to you, Dan?”
“Nothing. But living where I am, in Winchmore Hill, near the Green and everything…”
“Hark at you! Winchmore Hill, near the Green. You’re moving up in the world, that’s what you’re saying, isn’t it? The Rose & Crown isn’t good enough for you any more. You need a posher local.”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. It’s just that I’m a lot closer to pubs like the King’s Head and the Salisbury Arms, and they’re not far from you either, and they are quite nice. It’s something we ought to consider, that’s all. ”
Jeremy looked around him. “It’s a big step. We’ve been coming here for nearly ten years. All those nights. All those memories…”
Too many memories, that’s the trouble , thought Dan, eyeing the red velvet banquettes, the deep brown woodwork, the paisley carpet.
“This was where you first set eyes on Lorna, or she first set eyes on you.”
“I know.”
“She and Naomi came up and chatted to us, do you remember? They even bought us drinks. That was a special night.”
“You had a thing with Naomi for a while after that, didn’t you?” Dan asked.
“She was my first girlfriend – sort of. We only went on about three dates. I wasn’t too sad when she ended it. We both knew it wasn’t working. We spent the whole time talking about you two. We knew that was the most significant thing about that night – you and Lorna meeting. We thought you were perfect together.”
“Yeah, well,” said Dan, taking a long swig of his pint.
“And now you’re with Elaine,” said Jeremy. “How’s that going? How was last night?”
“Very good! Eventually.”
“What do you mean eventually ?”
Dan told him briefly about what happened. “The fact that she knew your name raised all these red flags for me. I thought, this girl must have been targeting me, maybe with some sort of scam in mind. She comes in for one lesson at the driving school, and at the end invites me over to her flat for a bakery lesson and we finish up kissing on her sofa. It all happened so fast, and the timing was convenient, too, what with me having just broken up with Lorna. And then with her knowing your name as well. For me, that was the final straw. I thought something’s up here. I’m being played.”
“What do you mean played? What did you think she was up to?”
“I don’t know. Why does anyone want to worm themselves into another person’s life? Once you win someone’s trust, it’s easy to access all their private stuff – private bank account, business account, passport, credit cards, all that. I thought she must want my money. I remembered her asking about the inheritance during the driving lesson. Got a rich uncle have you? she asked. All this stuff came back to me once I started to suspect her. I asked myself, How did she know about the rich uncle? Same way as she knew your name. She’d done her research.”
Jeremy shook his head in wonder. “I wouldn’t have thought of any of that – not in a million years. I’d have thought, Hey! A pretty girl likes me. Happy days! ”
Dan laughed. “Yeah, that’s you all over, Jerry, because you only see the surface of things, and the surface always looks so pretty.”
“Is this where you’re going to tell me your allergy about the beautiful lake and the sharks below the surface?"
“It’s analogy , not allergy , and there are always sharks below the surface.”
“Except it sounds like this time you saw a shark that wasn’t there, right?”
“Right. Because the surface was so damn pretty, I thought there has to be a shark down there. Nothing’s that perfect. So I began looking for it, and when you look for something hard enough, you start to see it, whether it’s there or not. And it wasn’t there – the shark – as I found out. I went through my suspicions with her one by one, and she explained them all.” Dan counted them off on his fingers. “She only booked the single driving lesson because she was dipping her toe in and wanted to see how it went.
“She mentioned the rich uncle because I’d just told her I’d inherited some money and that’s the cliché, right? The rich uncle? She had no idea I actually had one.
“My recent break-up with Lorna was just one of those weird coincidences.
“And the bakery lesson offer was, she said, a mad, spur-of-the-moment thing because she liked me and wanted to see me again.”
“And how did she know my name?” asked Jeremy.
“Jenny told her while she was waiting for me in reception. She saw that picture on the wall of the two of us posing with the quad bikes – you remember that birthday treat Lorna bought me a few years back? –and Elaine asked about us. It was all so obvious once she’d explained it, and I realised what a fool I’d been. Luckily, she forgave me and now everything’s perfect between us.”
“Really? No more doubts in the back of your head? A few lingering sharks?”
“Not even a baby one!” Dan said emphatically.
“I’m glad. When will I get to meet her?”
“How about next Saturday? We could test out a new local at the same time?”
“No.” Jeremy shook his head firmly. “That’s too many new things at once. I’ll get overwhelmed. New girlfriend first, then new local.”
“Okay, that’s a deal. I’ll introduce you to Elaine here at the Rose & Crown next Saturday.” They clinked glasses, and at that moment something twitched in Dan’s mind. The mention of Elaine and Rose & Crown in the same sentence was what did it, reminding him of that little lie she told about getting a job here. It was just a harmless fib really. She’d probably said it because it was easier than saying she was about to start here. But in light of everything else, it took on a new significance. Still, it wasn’t a huge deal – no more than a dogfish in his lake of contentment, if that.
He drained the last of the beer. Jeremy had already finished his. “I’ll get another round in,” he said, picking up the glasses and edging between the tables towards the bar. While the barmaid refilled them with Doom Bar, he asked her: “Hey, you don’t happen to know of an Elaine who’s recently started working here, do you?”
She shook her head. “No, sorry.”
“She may have been offered the job, then changed her mind at the last minute?”
She placed the second of the two pints on the counter. “I wouldn’t know about that. You’ll want to speak to Mark, the landlord. He should be in Tuesday.”
“Thanks.” He paid her with his card and carried the drinks back to their booth, careful not to get jostled by the crowds of milling punters. Don’t get hung up on this , he told himself. It’s almost certainly nothing. She changed her mind about taking the job, that’s all.
He pondered whether or not to speak to Mark the landlord on Tuesday, just to confirm that that was what happened, but decided in the end that he didn’t want to be that kind of boyfriend. Anyway, Elaine would be coming here on Saturday, hopefully, so she could clear up the mystery herself.