Chapter 37
LIV
The music hit us like a wall as we entered the dimly lit restaurant.
It was loud. Too loud. The other diners had to shout to be heard over it.
Bare light bulbs suspended from an open ceiling hung over each table and the pipework and air-conditioning units were exposed to add to the industrial feel.
As I scanned the tables for Maya and Hugo, I couldn’t help but think that everyone here looked young; they were all hip people holding out their phones to take pictures of their food, and posing and pouting for selfies.
They were casually dressed in jeans and trainers and instantly, I felt frumpy and old-fashioned in my dress and high heels.
It had been so long since I had gone out at night that I didn’t know what people wore any more.
Eventually, I spotted Maya standing out of her seat and waving us over to a booth.
We made our way over to her. Maya stepped out to hug me first, then Jay.
A flare of mortification assailed me as I thought about my jealousy that day in the kitchen.
She hugged me warmly and I felt her diminutive, bony shoulders against mine.
She was dressed in a boho-style mini dress with suede boots.
Despite it being a casual outfit, she still looked effortlessly chic.
‘Hi, Hugo.’ I smiled, keen to start this evening off on the right foot. We had a long night ahead of us. I knew Maya really wanted us all to get along so I’d make an effort for her sake.
‘Can I pour you some wine?’ Maya offered as we sat into the booth opposite them. ‘I hope you don’t mind that I ordered this Rioja but it’s really good.’ She made a chef’s kiss with her thumb and forefinger.
‘I’m going to drive,’ Jay said. ‘Just in case Finn wakes up.’ We were keen to have one of us sober on the off chance that we got a call from my mother. ‘But I’m sure Liv might like one?’
‘Sure,’ I said, ‘I’ll just have a small one; red wine goes straight to my head.’
‘How’s work, Hugo?’ Jay asked, to make polite conversation, as Maya poured the wine.
‘It’s good. We can’t keep up with demand. We had planning permission granted for another three-hundred-thousand square feet of offices last week so that’s going to keep us busy for the next few years.’
‘Congratulations,’ Jay said. ‘That’s a good complaint to have.’
The conversation between the men fell quiet as Hugo made no effort to continue the chat or even to ask Jay about his job.
‘I’m starving,’ Jay said after a few moments, rubbing his belly. ‘Did the waiter bring over the menus yet?’ He searched around the table but came up with nothing.
‘Oh, you’ve to scan a QR code,’ Maya said.
‘Don’t tell me it’s one of those places,’ Jay said with an eye-roll. ‘We probably have to cook our own food too.’
Hugo cracked a smile. ‘Maya loves paying good money to eat at outlandish places – the more ridiculous, the better.’
If she noticed the dig, to her credit, she didn’t rise to it.
We put in our orders and eventually, the food arrived to the table.
‘At least they have actual human waiting staff; I thought we might have a robot arrive at the table,’ Jay said.
The waiter put down various dishes of meatballs and chorizo and patatas bravas, prawns and calamari and stuffed tomatoes, and we all got stuck in. Despite the pretentiousness of the place, the food was delicious.
‘I take it all back; the food is amazing. I get the hype now,’ Jay said as he lowered a Padrón pepper into his mouth.
‘He’s always so easily won over with food,’ I joked.
‘You know what they say about the way to a man’s heart.’
‘Well, yours is a six-lane motorway,’ I quipped.
He laughed, pulled me in close and kissed me on the lips.
‘Get a room, you two!’ Maya teased.
‘Sorry,’ I mumbled as we quickly pulled away from each other.
‘Don’t be.’ She nodded pointedly in Hugo’s direction. ‘It’s nice to see a couple who actually like one another.’
Hugo rolled his eyes. ‘She always gets like this when she starts on the wine.’
‘Well, maybe you drive me to it.’ Maya raised her glass to her lips, blatantly gulping it back, her eyes fixed on her husband. Then she reached out once more and refilled her glass almost to the brim.
Hugo stared straight ahead while Jay and I shifted uncomfortably.
We all fell quiet until I made conversation about a birthday party that the boys had been invited to at the weekend.
We chatted some more and then Maya went to refill her glass again but noticed the bottle was empty.
She waved her arms to signal a passing waiter, forgoing the QR-code ordering system.
‘Can I get another one of these?’ she shouted over the music, holding up the bottle when he had arrived over to the table.
‘Do you really think you should order another one?’ Hugo said, checking his chunky Rolex. ‘We need to get back for the babysitter.’
‘It’s only ten; she’ll be okay for a while longer.’ She turned and winked at me. ‘She’s seventeen; she’ll be glad of the extra money.’
‘Well, I think you’ve had enough now, darling,’ Hugo went on patronisingly.
‘But the bottle is empty; what about Liv and Jay?’
‘Darling, you’re the only one drinking it.’
It was true. Jay wasn’t drinking, I had barely touched my glass and Hugo seemed to have stopped drinking his wine as well.
‘If Maya wants to order another bottle, let her,’ Jay said, trying to smooth things over.
We both watched Hugo’s face turn incandescent.
After a few minutes, the waiter arrived back with the bottle, uncorked it and filled Maya’s glass.
‘So, tell me, Hugo, where did you say you’re building those offices?’ Jay tried once more to engage him. I loved this about my husband: he always made an effort with people and showed interest in them.
‘Not far from Vincent’s hospital.’
Jay nodded. ‘It’s a nice spot there along the coast. I did one of my nursing placements there, actually.’
‘Oh, I used to know someone who was a nurse there. Did you ever come across a girl called Louise Forde?’
Jay blanched. ‘Y-yeah, I did…’
‘Ireland is too small,’ Maya said, taking a sip from her wine. I noticed her glass was almost empty so I refilled it for her.
‘I think she’s probably had enough now,’ Hugo said to me but I ignored him. Although she had drank a lot, it was none of his business. It angered me how he tried to dictate what she could or couldn’t drink.
‘How do you know her, Jay?’ I probed.
‘I, eh, just do…’
Hugo laughed. ‘Wow, state secret.’
‘Well, come on.’ I poked him on the shoulder. ‘Spill the beans.’
‘Well, we went out for a while when we were younger.’
‘Oh, she’s an ex, I see.’ Maya laughed, her eyes glassy from the wine. ‘Be careful, Liv,’ she warned, wagging her finger playfully. ‘I think Jay has a few skeletons in his closet.’
‘How long were you together?’ I asked, bristling as I wondered why he had never told me about this girlfriend before. He had mentioned other girls’ names but I had never heard him mention this one.
‘Ah, maybe a few months.’
‘Ooh…’ Maya teased.
I watched Jay as he shifted in his seat and ran his hand through his hair. ‘Can we change the subject?’ he said through clenched teeth.
‘Jay!’ I tried to laugh it off. It wasn’t like him to be so prickly.
‘It’s only a little ribbing,’ Hugo chimed in, playing it down. ‘Wasn’t she engaged? She jilted the poor fucker after only a few days – we called her the Runaway Bride.’ He laughed, clearly enjoying himself.
‘Engaged?’ I repeated with a nervous laugh. My head swivelled ninety degrees towards my husband.
‘Was that to you?’ Maya asked, wide-eyed.
Jay looked at the floor, neither confirming nor denying the question.
‘You were engaged before me and never told me?’ I asked, shocked. ‘Bloody hell, Jay!’ I blinked hard.
Jay looked thunderous. A vein close to his temple was throbbing and sweat glazed his brow. He flung his napkin down onto the table, pushed back his chair and stormed to the toilets.
‘Shit,’ Maya hissed underneath her breath. ‘Oh my God. I’m sorry, Liv, I thought we were just joking around… I had no idea…’
‘Neither did I,’ I replied, deadpan. Shock made way for anger and I was furious.
‘Do you want to go after him?’
I shook my head. ‘I can’t believe he never told me about this. Am I overreacting?’ I questioned myself. ‘Isn’t it kind of a big deal if you’ve been engaged to someone else before?’
Hugo was sitting back in his chair with a self-satisfied look on his face.
Maya reached for the bottle of wine, filled my glass and handed it to me. I took it gratefully.
‘I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean for this to happen,’ she said. ‘This was meant to be a fun evening and I feel like we’ve turned it upside down…’ She turned to Hugo. ‘We should probably go and let both of you sort it out between yourselves…’
‘If you’d left when I’d suggested, none of this would have happened,’ Hugo said.
‘Well, that’s really helpful, thanks, Mr Hindsight!’ she snapped.
I stood up, tears pulsing in my eyes, just wanting to get away from them and their constant bickering. ‘I’m sorry, Maya. It’s a huge shock.’
She placed a hand on my shoulder. ‘We’ll head on. I’m sure you can sort it out together but if you need me, I’m only a phone call away.’