Chapter 25
25
When she returned to the table, a steaming chocolate sponge was waiting for her.
‘Fiona, this is simply divine,’ Holly mumbled, eyes closed, her plate already half empty. ‘Honest to God, I don’t think I’ll ever need sex again. Hey, you need to eat it while it’s hot.’
Fiona dug her fork in and watched as a cascade of molten chocolate poured out and onto the plate.
‘Everything okay?’ Holly enquired. ‘That wasn’t to do with Stephen, was it? Or the business? Don’t tell me someone else has dropped you?’
‘No.’ Her fork was still embedded in the pudding. ‘It was the scientist from down in Plymouth. He wants me to give a presentation at some big conference.’
‘A science conference? What does he want you to talk about?’
‘Martha.’
‘How’s it going?’ Rory reappeared, resting his hands on the back of Fiona’s chair. ‘If you’re not a fan of chocolate…’
‘Oh, no I am. I am. Sorry. I was just thinking about something.’
‘Looks serious,’ he said.
‘She was just saying some scientist wants her to do a presentation on something,’ Holly told him.
‘Really? Sounds cool. What on?’
‘Oh, it’s nothing. Nothing exciting.’ Fiona flashed a look at Holly that told her, in no uncertain terms, to keep her mouth shut.
‘It’s just something that came up in a conversation once. About rubbish and plastic and stuff.’
Stepping around her, Rory looked at her with far more scrutiny than she was comfortable with. On the end of her fork, the melted chocolate cooled.
‘What are you doing tomorrow morning?’ he asked.
‘I can’t believe you got me to crash your date,’ Holly whinged, as she adjusted her running top. ‘This is ridiculous. You know that, don’t you? He asked what you were doing today.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Fiona replied, pulling the zip on her top up a little higher. ‘It was just something he said the other day. And anyway, he meant ‘you’ in the plural sense.’
‘He did not. And you know it’s going to rain too, right? You’re having me crash your date and get soaked into the bargain. This whole thing is preposterous.’
‘I thought you liked exercising.’
‘You can’t tell me you actually want to do this. It’s only because you want to get in Mr I-cook-amazing-food-out-of-leftovers-even-with-a-ponytail’s pants.’
Ignoring the comment, Fiona cast her gaze up at the sky and shuddered. Holly was definitely right about the rain. Grey clouds had been gathering since the moment she got up that morning. Hopefully, it would hold off until they got back.
‘You know half of Asia is under water ’cos of flooding?’ Holly asked, noting her gaze. ‘Apparently, it’s going to be us next. Just you wait. We’re going to get some crazy storms over the next couple of weeks. It’s probably going to start today, while we’re out, and we’ll all get washed away.’
‘In Clapham Common?’
‘It’s not impossible.’
Wondering how on earth they’d managed to stay friends for so long, Fiona looked across at the gathering crowd. About fifty people stood around on the small, cobbled road, all dressed in running gear. A few of them looked like your average London joggers – latest gear, earbuds in, water bottles strapped to their belts, mobiles strapped to their arms. Some looked as if they’d taken a wrong turn on a road trip back from a belated summer-solstice camp. Several were wearing the same logoed T-shirt: lime green, with a picture of a bottle on the back. All of them had the additional accessories of canvas bag and thick gloves.
‘Isn’t that the yoga teacher you screwed?’ Holly asked, squinting.
‘What?’ she asked, darting behind her back.
Holly chuckled. ‘Nah, maybe not. But it looks like the type of thing he’d turn up at, don’t you think?’ Then, as if a penny had dropped, she turned back to Fiona. ‘Oh my God, you have a type now! You have a man type.’
‘What?’
‘You like the new-age hipster men. That’s your thing now. I mean, it makes sense that, after all those years of Stephen with his stuffy suits and tubs of cream cheese, you’d want to start dating someone at the other end of the spectrum.’
‘I’m not dating anyone,’ Fiona protested. ‘This is not a date.’
‘No. It’s not.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, relieved by her friend’s sudden acceptance.
‘But that’s only because you’re too scared that people will judge you for going out with him, only two weeks after your husband left you, even though he’d been having an affair for a year and a half.’
‘Why do I keep you as a friend?’ Fiona asked.
‘Because you’re completely up yourself, enormously judgemental and annoying, and no one else wants to hang around with you.’
‘Well thank you so much for those kind words.’
‘You’re welcome.’
The crowd had started to come together outside one of the shops. Fiona walked towards it.
‘This Professor Arkell,’ Holly persisted, ‘is he a hipster type too? Any tattoos, long hair? I feel I should warn him if he is. Or maybe warn Rory, before he gets his heart broken.’
‘I thought you said I was the annoying one?’
‘Didn’t say I wasn’t too.’
They smiled at each other.
‘Thank you everyone for coming. Everyone!’ A woman at the front, wearing one of the lime-green T-shirts, was trying to get the crowd’s attention. One or two adults, who had brought their children with them, pulled them back to their sides, as people slowly stopped talking and listened.
‘Sorry I’m late.’ Rory slipped in beside them. ‘Had a mammoth pickup this morning. You found the place okay?’
‘Wasn’t too hard.’ Fiona found herself smiling. He grinned back, causing a slight flutter in her stomach, which she tried to ignore.
‘I didn’t have any issues getting here either,’ Holly said, leaning across to him.
Their attention was drawn back to the woman at the front.
‘It’s great to see so many new faces here today,’ she said. ‘We’re delighted you want to come and make a difference and we hope you will enjoy plogging with us.’
Holly looked at Fiona and they both shrugged.
‘For those of you who are seasoned ploggers , week in and week out, you obviously know the difference you have made. We’ve grown from a tiny group of four, simply wanting to do our bit, to this.’ She swept her arm across the crowd.
‘Okay, so, safety first,’ the woman continued. ‘Everyone should keep their gloves on at all times, please. Do not pick anything up without them, even if it only looks like a crisp packet. All we need is one accident for the Council to have an excuse to stop us meeting like this?—’
‘Despite the fact we’re doing their job for them,’ someone shouted from the back.
The speaker nodded sympathetically. ‘I know. It’s true, but they’re starting to take notice. And the bigger we get, the more they will have to. So, gloves on all the time please, and do watch where you’re treading if you step off a path. I know some of you are wearing hiking boots, but still. And those of you who have brought children, that is incredible. Thank you so much. You’re raising your young ones to be true eco-warriors.’ She stopped to acknowledge a group of youngsters wrestling at the front. ‘Warriors’ seemed a given. Fiona wasn’t so sure about the ‘eco’ bit.
‘If there’s anything that looks remotely hazardous, and I’m talking needles here, folks, then call one of the supervisors over and we’ll deal with it. Please don’t touch that stuff yourself. If you’re new and you don’t know which of us are in charge, we’re the ones wearing the green T-shirts.’
‘Shit.’ Next to her, Rory dropped his bag and started rummaging through it. A second later, he pulled out said T-shirt.
‘Look, he’s one of the guys in charge!’ Holly hissed into Fiona’s ear. ‘I bet he’d like to be in charge of you too, if you asked him.’
Fiona elbowed her in the side.
‘And last but not least,’ the woman continued. ‘Have fun with this. If you want to jog, jog. If you want to walk and chat, walk and chat. Don’t worry about separating stuff into different bags, just pick up whatever you can and we’ll do that when we get back here. See you all in an hour, everyone.’
A ripple of applause went round and people gathered up their belongings to start the short walk to Clapham Common.
‘So…’ In a few steps, Holly had managed to push through to the opposite side of Rory. ‘Tell us about yourself. Hobbies, secrets, sexual preferences that any woman should be wary of, before considering starting a relationship with you.’
‘Holly!’ Fiona gasped.
‘What? These things are important to know.’
Rory laughed. ‘Actually, I should probably head up front, you know. I was a bit late getting here. Supervising and all.’
‘Of course.’ Holly nodded slowly. ‘You are highly important.’
Fiona glared at her but either Holly didn’t see, or she didn’t care. Fiona was fairly sure it was the latter.
‘We’ll just be back here, bending over and picking up litter, when you’re done.’
With a nervous laugh, he glanced at Fiona.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she mouthed, apologetically.
‘I’ll be back in a bit.’
‘What the hell was that?’ Fiona demanded, shoving her friend on the shoulder as he made his way forward.
‘What was what?’
‘The poor guy. You terrified him! He literally ran away.’
‘I was only having fun. Besides, these things are good to know. He needs to be able to take a joke. Anyway, why should it bother you? You’re not interested in him.’
‘That’s not the point.’
‘And you’ve never been bothered when I wind guys up before.’
‘Yes, but they’ve never… They are never…’
‘Yes?’ Holly’s eyebrows rose, her tight-lipped smirk twisting, as if the whole charade had simply been to elicit this exact response. Which Fiona now knew it had.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a chocolate wrapper. Changing direction away from her friend, she bent over and picked it up. When she stood back up, Holly was leaning over her.
‘So?’
‘Look.’ Fiona sighed, knowing there was no way out of this without some form of discussion. She dropped the paper into her collection bag. ‘This is important to me. I know it’s hard to understand and everything?—’
‘Oh no, I get it. I completely get it. I was reading up on the whole whale thing and sea life yesterday. Man, that shit is crazy.’
Fiona paused, picking up another piece. ‘You did?’
‘Sure. I’m one step away from being a cat lady. What do you think I spend my nights doing? I’ll be honest, I’m not sure this will make any difference but, hey, if you want to do it, I’ll support you.’
‘You will?’
‘Always.’
The insults and innuendos of only a moment ago were forgotten, as she stared at her friend. This was why she loved Holly, more than anyone else. This was why they’d been best friends for so long. Because, when it really came down to it, when it really mattered, she’d be there.
‘Great, so you’ll give Rory a break?’
Holly picked up a plastic bottle lid. ‘Why would I do that?’
‘I just explained why this is important to me. You just told me you were on board.’
‘With the plastic stuff. Yeah. I get that. But the Rory stuff? No way.’
A couple, whose bags were already half full, stopped and glowered in their direction. As subtly as she could, Fiona slipped her bag down by her side.
‘I need Rory,’ she said. Holly’s mouth curled into a grin. ‘Not like that. He’s the only person I have to talk to about stuff like this. The only person who’s not going to think I’m a complete weirdo. He can teach me things.’
‘I bet he can.’
‘For crying out loud, Holly!’
Her friend nodded slowly. ‘Okay. I understand. I’ll stop winding you up?—’
‘Good.’
‘I’ll stop winding you up, as soon as you say you find him attractive.’
Fiona dropped her bag and planted her hands on her hips.
‘You’re not serious? What are we, eleven?’
‘Fine then, don’t.’
They’d stumbled upon a whole heap of rubbish, probably left over from a picnic. Holly began grabbing handfuls, leaving Fiona standing.
‘This is stupid.’
‘It’s fine,’ Holly said. ‘I mean, if you can’t even say it.’
‘Why should I have to say it? What does it matter if I do or I don’t?’
‘It doesn’t.’ Her friend’s voice remained infuriatingly cool. ‘I mean, it doesn’t matter at all, right? So, I wonder why it would be so difficult to say something that doesn’t matter.’
‘You want me to say I find him attractive, even if it’s a lie?’
‘Is it a lie?’
In spite of herself, Fiona’s eyes were drawn across to where Rory was crouching by a bush, helping a small child extract a bit of rubbish she’d spotted inside. There was something so easy about his manner. So relaxed and comfortable. As if all of life’s problems would just roll right off him.
‘Fine,’ she muttered, picking up a cigarette butt.
‘Sorry?’
‘I said, fine. Yes, he’s an attractive man.’
‘A man that you find attractive?’ Holly pushed.
‘A man that I guess is above-averagely attractive.’
‘Good, now go and talk to him.’
‘What?’
‘Go and talk to him. I’ll stop bothering you as soon as you go and talk to him. Why else would he have invited you here?’
Fiona pressed her lips together.
‘I thought you had dinner at the guy’s flat?’ Holly questioned. ‘Come on. How difficult can one conversation be? Either that or I’ll go over there and get his whole dating history out of him, and you know that’s not going to be pretty.’
With a reluctant sigh, Fiona glanced at the bag in her hand. ‘Fine, I’ll go. Just give me some of your rubbish first.’
‘What?’
‘You heard me. Swap bags. You’ve got way more than me. I don’t want him to think I’ve spent the whole time just gossiping.’
‘But you have.’
‘Are you going to give me your rubbish or not?’
Two minutes later, after a mad dash to fill up the bag, she sauntered across to where Rory was continuing to help the little girl. Mastering a casual, chic look, while wearing gardening gloves and carrying a bag full of condom wrappers, was not as easy as she’d hoped. Particularly when every part of her felt like it was breaking out into a cold sweat.
‘Hey,’ he said, smiling when he saw her. ‘How are you guys getting on?’
She raised her bag by way of an answer. ‘I can’t believe there’s this much stuff. And when you look at what everyone else has collected too.’
‘Yeah, you’ll realise just how much there is at the end, when we go to sort it all out. This is pretty average. You should see what it’s like when there have been concerts and stuff in some of these parks. Seriously. That takes some beating.’
‘I can imagine.’
Something glinted in the hedgerow. A metal bottle top by the looks of it. She reached in to get it.
‘Thank you for inviting me. I didn’t even know people did this.’
‘You’re pretty new to the whole thing.’
‘You could say that.’
‘That business with Martha. I mean, it hit a lot of people hard for a while, seeing her like that. But it seems to have had a more lasting effect on you.’
‘It has.’
With that area looking clear, they began walking up towards a wood, where they landed upon another gold-mine of detritus. Lifting her head, she saw that Holly had joined a small group of women. When she noticed Fiona looking at her, she mouthed, ‘Number,’ holding out her hand as if she had a mobile there and pretended to dial. ‘You need his number.’
She swallowed. Did she really?
Getting someone’s details was easy enough to do in a professional situation, with an exchange of business cards. Even socially, it wasn’t usually a problem. But he had already offered her his number and she had brushed it aside. Asking for it now would be embarrassing. But would that matter, even if he rejected her? She was still married. And planning on staying that way. Wasn’t she?
‘Are you free for dinner?’ The words flew from her mouth before she could stop them. It was a full leap past exchanging phone numbers, but it was out there now and there was nothing she could do about it. A surge of regret flooded through her, as she watched the surprise register on his face. ‘Sorry. I mean, you’re probably busy. Or with someone. Or busy with someone.’ Just talk coherently, for crying out loud! she screamed at herself. She tried again. ‘Sorry, what I meant to say was?—’
‘Sure.’ The look of surprise was replaced by the infuriating smirk she was becoming so used to. ‘How about tonight? I could cook again?’
‘You’ve already cooked for me, twice. How about I do it this time?’ she offered, another unexpected idea escaping her lips.
He smiled. ‘That sounds good. I’m looking forward to it already.’
A moment later – and with his number in her phone – she fled back to Holly, who was ready and waiting.
‘Well that looked pretty smooth,’ she said. Then, seeing the look on her friend’s face, added, ‘What’s wrong? Is he seeing someone?’
‘Worse,’ Fiona replied. ‘I just offered to cook him dinner.’
‘Oh shit.’