Chapter Nine #3
‘I hate to disappoint but I work on the building side,’ I replied.
If I mentioned the film premiere it would match all their preconceived ideas.
I was conscious of the hard thigh next to mine.
Slightly thrown by it, I said the first thing that came into my head.
‘My main client is Collingwood Construction.’
All three heads dipped dramatically towards me.
‘Really?’ said Gram, his mouth dropping open.
‘Whoa,’ enthused Midge.
‘Nice,’ said Ned, his leg definitely pressing against mine.
I looked back at them, looking from face to face and raising my shoulders. ‘What?’
‘You don’t know?’ said Midge incredulously.
‘Don’t know what?’
‘Collingwood Construction sponsors a box at Arsenal,’ explained Ned gently.
I tutted. ‘Yeah, the Chairman’s always inviting me to go to a match. Says I can take a friend.’ Looking up I suddenly felt like a very meaty bone under the gaze of three starving dogs.
‘And you’ve never been?’ Midge’s voice went up several octaves. Gram’s eyes were wide.
‘Dear, dear,’ said Ned, shaking his head patting my leg with his hand. ‘D’you know people would kill for that?’
‘I don’t think so, you’ve never seen Jabba. There’s no way you’d want to be in a box with him.’
‘The Collingwood box is one of the biggest and the best in the premiership,’ said Gram in a strained voice, fanning himself with a beer mat and looking round furtively at the rest of the pub.
‘Oh,’ I said in a very small voice.
‘Next time he offers, say yes,’ said Midge urgently. ‘I’ll come. I’d dress in drag just to see a match.’
‘Really. Can’t you just buy tickets to see a game?’
Gram put his head in his hands while Midge sighed heavily and glared at me.
Ned explained. ‘These days you need to be a season-ticket holder to get to a decent game. A season ticket costs a couple of grand at the new Emirates stadium. There’s no chance.’
‘Duh.’ I felt unusually stupid. ‘Maybe next time I could see if I could wangle an extra ticket or two.’
When I looked up at them, the starving dogs were back and all three of them were nodding their heads earnestly. From the looks on their faces, it wouldn’t have surprised me if either Gram or Midge had nudged Ned in the ribs and said, ‘Struck gold there, mate.’
As evenings went it was OK. Without being patronising, they were very sweet but as my lack of knowledge about football so clearly illustrated, I could have come from Mars, the amount we had in common.
They weren’t really quite sure what to do with me, which made it impossible to relax. In the end, after pint number three, I decided to put them out of their misery, even though I was starting to enjoy the proprietary warmth of Ned’s hand on my knee.
‘It was great meeting you both,’ I said, as Ned escorted me to the door, which opened with a loud squeak.
Outside the temperature had dropped and I gathered my jacket together. ‘Right then, I’d better be off,’ I said brightly, waiting for him to offer to walk me down the street to the tube.
‘They really liked you. Perhaps we could do something next week?’
‘Um, yeah.’ This was it. I knew the first kiss was coming. Nerves took charge. As usual I talked. ‘You never know I might get offered some football tickets.’
‘That would be brilliant,’ he said quickly. He took a step forward and put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me towards him. Uh oh, kiss time.
Lips first. Not too bad. Not too prolonged. Phew, no tongues. And sadly, no sparks. Not a one.
I stepped back out of reach and muttered, ‘Night then,’ and scurried off without looking back.
I heard the pub door squeak again. Ned must have gone straight back inside.
* * *
Just my luck. I arrived back at the same time as Emily. I was hoping to avoid her. We’d had a row that morning, when she’d accused me of borrowing and losing her favourite cashmere scarf.
To be fair, Emily was always lending me things. We were in and out of each other’s rooms borrowing things frequently. The scarf was one I borrowed a lot, the deep red looked fabulous with my favourite jacket.
I honestly thought I’d left it draped over the newel post at the top of the stairs two days ago, but it wasn’t there now and she was adamant she hadn’t moved it.
I had a nagging sense of guilt. What if I was wrong and had left it somewhere else?
So that night, as I trudged up the stairs behind her, I decided to do what I always did — make the first move and apologise.
If Kate had heard she would have bristled and turned an apoplectic red.
She was always telling me how I should be more assertive but I couldn’t bear the atmosphere any longer.
Since my temporary promotion had been announced, I’d had four days of the silent treatment at work and at home.
It was too much. I wanted things back on an even keel, even if it did mean me doing some crawling.
That earlier glass of wine bolstered my courage.
Pushing open the closed door of Emily’s bedroom door with my elbow, a glass of wine in each hand, I poked my head in before she had a chance to answer.
‘Emily, I need to talk to you. I know you’re pissed off with me and I completely understand. The job should have been yours.’
The sincerity of my tone won Emily over immediately. I was telling her exactly what she wanted to hear. I handed her a glass and sat down on her bed next to her.
The pursed mouth of righteous indignation, which had been part of her permanent expression for the last few days, relaxed and the temperature went up by five degrees.
I knew truce negotiations were well under way when she took her first sip of wine.
‘It was just such a shock, you getting Fiona’s job. I still don’t know why it wasn’t me. You don’t know anything about the products or the industry — it’s a mystery,’ said Emily, justifying why she’d been such a cow.
It wasn’t a mystery to me. Having worked with the four of them for a week, I now knew exactly why I’d been brought in. Desperate to bring a little harmony back into my life though, I flannelled a bit. Lied like crazy would be more accurate.
‘It was nothing to do with your abilities. David wanted to shake things up. It was probably financial. The company couldn’t justify having two of us working on the construction side — it was either me or Max joining your team.’
‘Max?’ she said in a strangled voice. ‘That would have been even worse than you.’ Ignoring the implied criticism, I laughed and to my relief she joined in.
‘Come on. Let’s go and sit in the lounge. I’ll fill you in on my evening in the Nag’s Head.’
Emily pulled a face. ‘Nag’s Head. Yuk. Was it as bad as it sounds?’
I laughed. ‘Not bad. Entertaining.’
Later I apologised to her about the scarf, even though I wasn’t convinced it was me that had lost it. As she wasn’t the tidiest of people, I was hoping she might say she’d found it. But she hadn’t.
‘Where’s it got to, then?’ she asked puzzled. ‘I do remember seeing it on the post the other day. You didn’t wear it again?’
‘No. Look, if it doesn’t turn up, let me buy you another one.’
‘You can’t. It was a one-off. That’s why it cost so much.’
Great. Make me feel worse.
‘Don’t worry,’ she added. ‘It’s not like you to lose things. It will turn up.’
After that, there was a distinct improvement in relations, which was just as well because things were hotting up with Miranda and I needed all hands on deck.