Chapter 9
Rosie tries on a few different outfits, eventually settling on a fitted knee-length crêpe dress she remembers her own mum wearing in the nineties. Greer is sitting on the bed, attempting to untangle a large clump of beaded necklaces.
Rosie looks at herself in the mirror and she can admit, in the right light and from the right angle, she looks good.
She picks up her phone to see if Seb’s been in touch, opens Instagram and is immediately distracted by the computer-generated photos Maggie has posted, plans for the new gallery.
She shakes herself to bring her back from Sydney to Waverly again.
‘Where’s your dad?’ Seb went for a run over an hour ago and they’re due to leave for the restaurant in fifteen minutes.
The phone rings, but instead of Seb, it’s Anna.
Again. She’s tried to call twice already; clearly whatever she wants isn’t going away.
Rosie squeezes her phone between her shoulder and ear.
‘Ro, hi, babe.’ Anna’s tense, her voice strained. ‘You OK…?’
Usually, she doesn’t wait for a response, but tonight she does.
‘I’m fine, thanks, Anna. Why?’
‘Just checking that you’re OK coming tonight…’
‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ Rosie frowns as she opens an old shoebox; it’s a pair of ancient leather brogues, not the silver boots she was hoping for.
‘I just have something I want to talk to you about– maybe we could walk to the restaurant together?’
‘Fine. I can ditch Seb, but I will have Sylvie with me. I’m dropping her at a sleepover on the way.’
‘Oh.’ Whatever it is Anna wants to talk about, she clearly doesn’t want Sylvie within earshot.
‘What is it, Anna?’ Rosie’s body tightens as Seb, sweaty and breathing hard, walks into the bedroom, already peeling off his damp running top.
‘Daddy!’ Greer squeals, jumping to stand on the bed. ‘Daddy’s home!’ On the other end of the line, Rosie knows Anna is listening.
Rosie moves past Seb and Greer, out into the hall.
Once she has more privacy, she whispers into the phone, ‘Anna, what’s this about? Has something happened?’
When Anna speaks again, she sounds small, far away. ‘Oh, no, no, nothing. I just wanted to talk to you about this silly falling out I’ve had.’
‘Well, you can tell me tonight, can’t you?’ Rosie suggests as Anna says at the same time, ‘I should finish getting ready, see you there.’
And suddenly, Anna’s gone.
Seb carries Sylvie’s rucksack and is silent on the short walk to her sleepover. Just as Sylvie disappears into her friend’s house, Seb pulls his eldest daughter in for a hug, whispering something in her ear, Sylvie replying, ‘Me too, Dad.’
As the lights from the restaurant come into view, Rosie knows Seb is miles away; she’s walking next to an empty body.
It’s frightening. She doesn’t think as she reaches out for his hand.
Her touch brings him back and he looks sad, incredibly sad.
She’s about to ask him what’s wrong when he says, ‘I love you, Rosie.’
His intensity makes her laugh a little.
‘You do know that, don’t you?’
‘Yes, I know, Seb. I do.’
He nods, lets their hands drop, and whatever it is that’s going on with him, Rosie has a feeling that she’s about to find out.
‘Hi, Rosie. Hi, Seb.’ Abi’s gorgeous in minimal eye make-up and bright-red lips.
Rosie had fantasized about her and Abi being close friends, but Abi has essentially ghosted her.
Tonight, an iPad tucked under her arm, Abi hardly looks at Seb.
Instead, she fixes her eyes on Rosie as she asks, ‘How’ve you been?
’ She’s professional, exuding a quiet confidence.
‘Fine, thanks, fine.’ Rosie feels like she’s tripping up inside herself. Had she done something without realizing it, to make Abi act so cold suddenly? Or is Abi like this with other people, too?
But Abi’s all smiles as she says, ‘Here, let me take your coats.’
Once they’ve gone through the clumsy coat-removing motions, Abi says, ‘Eddy and Anna are already here, so just follow me.’
Lotte’s given them a prominent table in the middle of the small restaurant.
As she follows Abi, Rosie immediately notices that their table is strangely silent.
Their friends turn to look at them as they approach.
Eddy and Anna, usually the first to speak, look away, grimacing at the sight of them.
Eddy drinks his wine and Anna looks at her hands folded on her lap.
‘Hi, guys,’ Rosie says, frowning, and they both look up, nodding and mumbling polite hellos as Rosie and Seb take their seats. Once seated, they turn towards Abi standing under a soft spotlight, the only one seemingly at ease.
‘So delighted you’re all here,’ she says, looking them all in the eye. ‘Your menus are on the table.’ And while Abi tells them about the specials and the free opening-night cocktail, Rosie looks around the group.
Anna is scowling, like she’s trying to stop herself from spitting in Abi’s calm face. Eddy is scratching at something invisible on the tablecloth in front of him. And Seb, opposite her, looks like he’s about to puke.
No one is behaving normally and it’s in that moment that Rosie knows she is alone. Alone in her confusion, alone in her ignorance. She looks to Seb and he’s staring directly at her, directly into her , and he smiles but it doesn’t make her feel any better.
‘I hope you all have a wonderful evening!’ Abi concludes before walking away, shoulders back, head high, towards a newly arrived couple at the door.
Left alone, the friends size each other up as if they were strangers.
‘Isn’t it amazing what they’ve done to this place?’ Rosie says, looking at Anna who still has thunder in her eyes.
‘Yeah, it looks great,’ Anna replies flatly, glancing around briefly. No one is talking as their waiter arrives with their free cocktails. Eddy finishes his wine, immediately picking up the martini glass that’s placed in front of him.
‘What shop was it before? I can’t remember,’ Rosie asks out of desperation, before Anna picks up her hint and the two of them quietly start rowing about whether the unit used to be a craft shop or a newsagent’s.
Seb looks around, almost as though he’s checking how and where to make an emergency exit.
Suddenly, Richard and Lotte appear by their table in a great puff of ego and cologne.
Richard puts his hand on Rosie’s upper back; his palm burns through the fabric of her dress.
They’re grinning from ear to ear and Rosie wonders if they’ve taken something as Richard exclaims, ‘Wonderful to see you lovely people here!’
Lotte makes a great show of going around the table, kissing each of them, chattering the whole time, not pausing for breath, until she gets to Seb and, making sure the whole table can hear, she says, ‘Mr Kent, headmaster, absolute legend!’
Then Richard slaps his forehead and says, ‘Mate! I’m so sorry, I’ve been meaning to message and say I’m so glad the sports pavilion is finally being sorted out.
All my not-so-subtle hinting finally worked, I guess.
I want to give you something to say thank you.
Let’s have a bottle of champagne, shall we?
’ He nods at Abi and says, ‘Champagne, please, Abi– a bottle and six glasses.’
Seb mumbles something about it not having much to do with him, that the staff and students were the ones who… but Lotte waves his modesty away with a manicured hand– ‘Oh, pfff’– and Richard starts telling Seb how next he hopes he’ll get rid of grumpy old Mrs Greene. ‘Early retirement, maybe?’
They don’t notice as Eddy stands, a little unsteady, and starts to walk towards the toilets.
Rosie watches as Anna leaps up after him and, just before he goes into the men’s, pulls his arm.
They’re in the middle of an argument, that’s clear, but whether it’s about how pissed Eddy already is or something else, Rosie can’t tell.
Then Abi appears back at the table, obscuring Rosie’s view, condensation dripping from the bottle of champagne she’s holding. She opens it in one smooth motion.
‘So cool,’ Lotte says, like she’s flirting. ‘Wish I could open champagne like that! You’ll have to teach me one day, Abs.’
Abi smiles, a little taut, replies with a wink, ‘Lots of practice.’
She’s about to place the bottle on the table next to the champagne flutes but Lotte says, ‘Pour it out, would you, Abs?’
Rosie wants to tell Lotte to be more respectful because now, being back in the same room as Abi, Rosie is still drawn to her. She watches her pour, froth billowing up the glasses, and Rosie feels again with certainty that tonight, something’s going to change.
The evening inches along. Eddy, Anna and Seb stare at each other blankly, like they’re engaged in some intense poker game.
The food arrives, and it is– as promised– magnificent, which is a relief as it gives them something to talk about.
Towards the end of the meal, Rosie decides she’s had just the right amount of wine, she’s feeling bold enough to go and talk to Abi.
Either she’ll clear the air and find out she was being paranoid all along or Abi can tell her to her face why she’s suddenly stopped messaging her, why she didn’t say anything about the emails she’d exchanged with Seb.
‘Just going to the loo,’ she tells the table as she stands, already looking around for Abi, but she can’t see her. Suddenly, there’s a hand pulling her arm and Rosie turns, hoping it’s Abi but finding Anna.
Anna’s flushed face is staring up at Rosie. ‘Ro, babe,’ she says, her eyes filling with tears, ‘we have to talk.’
Rosie backs away from her, shaking her head because Anna’s unsmiling, so serious, and whatever it is, Rosie doesn’t want it.
She feels her heart pulse in her temples as she walks quickly back to the table.
Anna is still at her side and Seb’s also staring at her, his face full of sorrow.
She realizes it then: whatever it is, this thing, Seb knows it too.