Chapter Six #2
And for a moment, she sees it more strongly – the sadness in his eyes. ‘Anything I can do?’ she asks quietly.
He hesitates, glass halfway to his lips. Is he surprised she asked? She’s not really sure why she did – what is she planning on doing to help, exactly?
‘No,’ he says, sipping his beer then lowering the glass. ‘But thanks. It’s why I came along, I could use a distraction.’
‘Well, I can promise that. Things get pretty rowdy in here.’
One eyebrow raises. ‘Is that so?’
‘Oh yes,’ she says seriously. ‘Dancing on the tables. Darcy is sure to do a bit of karaoke.’
Darcy checks in at the sound of her name. ‘She’s kidding, in case that isn’t obvious. Sometimes it’s hard to tell, what with her tone and all.’
‘Shame,’ Ash says, with an over-the-top sigh. ‘I love a bit of karaoke.’
‘Well, sure,’ Lissa agrees with a nod. ‘I suppose you’d have to, what with working on music videos and all.’
Darcy cocks her head. ‘You work on music videos?’ Hard to ignore the blatant interest in her tone.
‘Well sort of,’ Ash hedges. ‘Although I have to admit, it’s rare that me and the talent head to a karaoke bar when things wrap up.’
Lissa snorts quietly – at least she hopes it’s quiet – into her wine glass, just as Mark comes back, sliding a pint over to Ash before taking his seat again. He smells pleasant, Lissa thinks – eucalyptus maybe. Pleasant is good, right?
‘We need a team name,’ Darcy announces. ‘I suggest Darcy and the Diamonds.’
Mia laughs. ‘I’m actually all for that. As long as it’s not blood diamonds.’
‘Darcy and the Ethical Diamonds?’
‘The Fellowship of the Quiz?’ Mark suggests. Darcy blinks at him.
‘Lord of the Rings, Darce,’ Lissa says.
‘Ah.’
‘Ctrl Alt Defeat?’ This from Ash, earning a laugh all around.
‘Cute,’ Darcy says, ‘but it’s not optimistic enough. We will not be defeated!’ She punches a fist in the air for emphasis.
Mia taps her fingers against her cider glass. ‘Les Quizérables?’
There are general impressed nods all around, and Darcy writes it at the top of the quiz sheet.
At that point, a man wearing, for reasons best known to himself, a beanie hat propped and tilted to one side on his head gets up and makes his way towards the mic next to the bar. There are now six other tables set up ready to compete, and all eyes turn to beanie-man.
‘Hello, everyone! Welcome to our Sunday-night quiz! You know the drill. Three rounds, plenty of drinks on us if you win, anyone seen checking an answer on a phone is banned for life.’ He says it cheerily enough, though he could be deadly serious – Lissa knows some of them take pub quizzing very seriously around here.
‘So without further ado, here is question number one. How many hearts does an octopus have?’
‘I know this,’ Darcy says excitedly, writing the answer down immediately. There is a general hum around the pub as other tables confer.
‘Question number two. In what year was the US Constitution ratified?’
‘Mia?’ Lissa looks across the table at her cousin.
Mia scoffs. ‘My mum might be American, but that doesn’t mean I know all there is to know about the country.’
‘You’re half American?’ Darcy asks. ‘That’s cool.’
‘I think it was the 1700s,’ Ash says, just as Lissa’s phone buzzes in her pocket.
She gets it out, sees a text from her mum. Food shop arrived. Thank you for sorting.
She types back quickly. Great. Thanks for letting me know.
‘Lissa!’ Darcy exclaims. ‘No phones!’
‘Right,’ Lissa says, shoving her phone into her pocket and glancing up at beanie-man, who doesn’t seem to have noticed. ‘Sorry.’
Mark tuts teasingly. ‘Shame on you, Lissa, cheating so early in the game.’
‘Ah well, you know me. Never trust me to play fair.’
He grins, showing off those white teeth, and his hand comes back to her thigh under the table, staying there for the next few questions.
‘Question number seven. What is the smallest species of shark in the ocean?’
‘Ash?’ Mark prompts.
Darcy cocks her head at Ash. ‘Shark expert?’ Lissa isn’t sure how she’s managing to make that sound flirtatious.
‘I went cage diving with them once,’ Ash says.
‘But the aim was to see the big ones, not the small ones, I’m afraid.
’ He catches sight of Lissa’s expression.
She’s not actually sure what her expression is, but he adds quickly, ‘It was ethical. We went somewhere they don’t bait them or anything, and it was about promoting the conservation of sharks. ’
‘Well,’ Lissa says, ‘I mean, that’s good to know, but I have to admit it wasn’t my first thought.’ She wonders what he’d say if she admitted she’s too scared to get into a swimming pool, let alone a cage to deliberately see sharks. Then she wonders why she cares what he thinks.
There are a few more questions that Lissa has absolutely no idea about, before beanie-man announces they’ll move on to the medical round. ‘Where in the body would you find the alveoli?’
There’s quiet round their table for a moment. ‘Sounds like aioli,’ Darcy pipes up. ‘Something to do with garlic?’
‘It’s the lungs,’ Lissa says. They all turn to look at her. She shrugs, but doesn’t offer up more of an explanation as Darcy writes it down.
Mark squeezes her leg. ‘Impressive.’
‘Question number twenty-one. What is the common name for the condition “epistaxis”?’
‘Nosebleed,’ Lissa says promptly. Darcy laughs as she writes it down, well aware why Lissa knows the answer, but Mark gives her a quizzical look.
‘I, ah, read it somewhere,’ she says vaguely.
She doesn’t admit to the Google hole she went through a few years ago when she thought her nosebleed was a sign of something more sinister, or the emergency doctor’s appointment she tried to book, quoting ‘epistaxis’ rather than ‘nosebleed’ as the reason in the hope that it would get her seen sooner.
‘Question number twenty-two. Which part of the human body has the fastest healing time?’
‘Oh I know this,’ says Ash. ‘It’s the mouth.’
Darcy has started to write it down when Lissa pipes up. Usually she wouldn’t care – must be the second glass of wine. ‘No it’s not.’
Ash looks at her, eyebrows raised.
‘It’s not the mouth,’ she insists. ‘It’s the tongue.’
‘Well the tongue is in the mouth,’ Ash points out.
‘Yes. But it’s an entirely different body part.’
He considers her, tapping a fork against his palm. ‘Okay. How about we do an experiment. You stab yourself in the mouth and I’ll do my tongue, and we’ll see who heals faster.’
Lissa snorts. ‘Well, I mean, if you want to do that, go for it. But I’m sure I’m right.’
‘I’m going with Lissa on this,’ Darcy says, writing it down. ‘Sorry, Ash.’
Ash, however, is still looking at Lissa, head tilted slightly as if she’s an anomaly of some kind. Which, all right, maybe she is, but he doesn’t know that, does he? ‘Why am I starting to think you might be a good person to have around in a medical emergency?’
‘Trust me, I’m not.’ She meant to keep it light, but can’t stop the tinge of sadness creeping in – and from the way his eyes find hers, he heard it.
Lissa averts her gaze just as Mia stands up abruptly. ‘I’m going to get a round in before the next, well, round.’ She jerks her head at Lissa. ‘Lissa, give me a hand carrying them, will you?’
Lissa raises her eyebrows at the definite command in Mia’s voice. ‘Sure.’
She gets to her feet and follows Mia to the bar, where glass bottles glint in the soft glow of the pub. ‘What are you doing?’ Mia demands the moment they get there.
‘Ah, coming with you to get drinks …?’
‘No.’ She sweeps her red hair behind her shoulders. ‘You’re flirting with Mark’s friend, that’s what you’re doing.’
Lissa huffs out a laugh. ‘No I’m not. I’m talking to him.’
‘No. You’re doing that thing you always do.’
‘What, being polite to acquaintances?’
‘You’re self-sabotaging.’
‘Mia. Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘I know you,’ Mia presses. ‘You don’t want to get hurt. You don’t want to believe you deserve a nice healthy relationship, with someone nice and healthy – like Mark.’
‘How do you know he’s nice and healthy? Maybe he’s got a dark past. Maybe he’s into weird shit or is a secret drug-dealer.’
‘Is he?’
‘Well, not as far as I know, but you can never be sure, can you?’
‘You’re deflecting.’
‘And you’re overreacting.’
Mia gives her a long look – long enough to make Lissa wonder if maybe her cousin is right. Maybe she is self-sabotaging.
She shakes her head, pushing her hair back. ‘Look, I’m not in the best place right now to start something up, okay?’ Hasn’t been in the right place for quite some time – if ever, arguably.
Mia’s expression softens. ‘And I wouldn’t want to push you into something.
But Bissa, I do want you to be happy.’ The childhood nickname squeezes Lissa’s heart.
Chloe used to call her Bissa. Her mum, too, used to sing it, rhyming, playful.
Mia is the only one who uses it now. ‘Sometimes I feel like you shoot down the chances that are out there, the things that might make you happy. And you never know – what if Mark is one of those things? Because he seems nice.’
She reaches out, lays a hand on Lissa’s arm and squeezes. ‘Okay. Intervention over.’ She orders the drinks from the barman, then gets out her phone. Lissa doesn’t miss the small smile on Mia’s lips when she opens a message.
‘Who is it?’
‘Oh.’ Mia looks up. ‘Just Lottie.’
‘The American girl?’
‘Yep.’
‘Still sending each other GIFs then?’
‘Yep. It’s fun.’ She shoves her phone back in her pocket. ‘Come on. We’ll miss the next round.’
Darcy looks over as they head back to the table. Does she think what Mia thinks – that Lissa is self-sabotaging?
‘Everything okay?’ Mark asks as she takes her seat next to him.
She works up a smile. ‘Everything’s great.
’ Ash is talking to Darcy now, Darcy laughing at something he’s said.
Lissa turns very deliberately to Mark. ‘So, what did you get up to this weekend?’ It’s a lame, boring question, but in that moment, she doesn’t have anything better.
It doesn’t matter anyway, because beanie-man returns to his podium, and the quiz starts up once again.
The window behind their table is open a crack, cool night air creeping in to combat the crackling heat from the fire.
Lissa can smell smoke through that window, she’s sure of it.
Can see smoke swirling around them, weaving its way through a chandelier while jazz music plays in the background.
Only, no, there is no chandelier. There is no jazz music, just the sound of beanie-man’s voice.
Her subconscious, playing tricks on her again.
‘Third place,’ Darcy announces, loud enough to make Lissa jump, and glances around the table. ‘Anyone keen for one more?’
Ash pushes his glass away. ‘Not me. I’m beat.’
Lissa takes a steadying breath.
‘You seeing Niamh this evening?’ Mark asks, a note of playfulness in his voice. Enough playfulness to make Lissa – and Darcy, from the way her eyes sharpen – wonder who this Niamh is exactly.
‘Nah,’ Ash says. ‘Just going home to bed.’
‘I have to go too,’ Mia says. ‘But this has been fun, thanks for inviting me.’
‘Where are you headed?’ Darcy asks, glancing briefly at Mark and Lissa – the only ones yet to announce their plans.
‘To the station.’
‘I live that way, I’ll walk with you.’
Lissa just about manages to stop her eye-roll. Real subtle, Darcy.
‘What about you?’ Mark asks Lissa. ‘Heading too?’
And she has an excuse ready-made, doesn’t she?
Everyone else is leaving, they have work tomorrow.
But what Mia said at the bar cut a bit too close to home, even if she wants to deny it.
She should try, shouldn’t she? Mark is nice, and smells pleasant, and doesn’t, as far as she can gather, have any deep dark secrets.
Maybe Mia is right. Maybe she ought to be trying a bit harder in the present, rather than obsessing over daydreams. After all, if all they’re about is meeting a guy, maybe that’s just her subconscious’s way of telling her that she wants to meet a guy now.
She taps her nails against her empty glass, meets Mark’s gaze. ‘I’ll stay for one more, if you will?’