Chapter 21 #3
‘Well, that sounds useful. I mean, how do you get a job out of that? Is there a philosophy circuit you can go on? Appearing in your flowing robes before a packed audience to tell them the meaning of life?’
‘There are whole careers where you never have to go on stage at all, you know. And there are lots of things you can do with a Philosophy degree.’ Unfortunately, right now, Ella could only think of one.
‘For instance?’
‘You can become an academic – lecture and write books. That’s what Andrew plans to do.’
‘You mean teach Philosophy to the next generation of students? So it’s like one of those vicious circles.’
‘A virtuous circle hopefully.’
‘God!’ Roly closed his eyes and threw his head back, pretending to snore. ‘He sounds fascinating.’
In truth, Ella did sometimes find the world of pure academia that Andrew dreamed of stultifying.
It was why she’d dropped philosophy to focus on modules that had more obvious practical applications, and was going for a joint honours degree in Economics and Sociology.
She still planned to pursue an academic career, but she wanted to keep her options open.
She wished she could talk about it with Roly, even have a sneaky little laugh at Andrew’s expense without feeling she was betraying him.
Much as she loved him, he could be pompous and hard work at times, and she wished he could lighten up a bit more.
It would be cathartic to take the piss a little bit.
But Roly was being so dismissive and obnoxious, it gave her no choice but to be on the defensive.
‘Well, you know what they say. Those who can do, those who can’t… But I guess no one actually does philosophy, do they? Unless you’re like… Jesus or someone. Or was he more of a priest?’
‘Preacher? Prophet?’
‘Motivational speaker? There’s big money in that. Maybe Andrew isn’t so daft after all. Or he could be the leader of a cult. They always have loads of money, don’t they – and sex. Until they blow up all their followers, of course.’
‘Not such a great career path, then.’
‘Not long term, no.’ He signalled to a waitress to bring them another round of cocktails.
‘Is there any food?’ Ella asked desperately. ‘I could really do with some soakage.’
‘Food?’ Roly raised his eyebrows, seeming surprised. ‘Yeah, of course. You should have said.’
‘Well, I just assumed…’ She shrugged, annoyed that he was making her feel so basic because she needed to eat. ‘I mean, aren’t you hungry?’
‘Yeah, I could do with a bite, now that I think about it.’ When the waitress returned with their drinks, he asked her to bring them menus, then disappeared to the loo again.
To Ella’s relief, the menus appeared quickly, and her mouth watered as she studied hers. She was starving.
‘What do you fancy?’ Roly asked when he came back, seeming more wired than ever, his leg jiggling under the table, as if he couldn’t sit still.
‘There’s a Middle Eastern mezze that sounds really good. Want to share?’
‘Sure.’ He glanced down at his menu, then closed it.
‘Have you ever been to the Middle East?’ He knew damn well she hadn’t, and continued on without even waiting for her answer.
‘We were in Dubai last year. It’s amazing!
You should go if you ever get the chance.
Anyway, we had this incredible mezze – really authentic, you know, not like the stuff you get here… ’
And he was off again. In between increasingly frequent visits to the loo, he boasted about the places he’d been, the food he’d eaten in Hong Kong, Sydney or Osaka, the night markets in Bangkok, the Las Vegas strip lit up to daylight at three a.m…
Ella decided not to tell him about the trip to Greece she and Andrew had planned for the summer.
She was so excited about it – the little three-star hotel they’d booked in Athens, the holiday apartment in Crete, the archaeological sites they’d visit, the cheap local wine they’d drink at little tavernas…
But she knew Roly would make it sound small and pathetic, and she didn’t want him spoiling it. So she kept it to herself.
Roly barely touched the food when it arrived.
Ella didn’t know if it was because whatever he was doing in the toilets had suppressed his appetite or if it was just that he couldn’t stop talking for long enough.
She ate silently, concentrating on the mezze, which was delicious, throwing in the occasional ‘sounds amazing’ or ‘congratulations’, which seemed to be all that was required of her.
She polished off most of the platter by herself.
She felt sad and weary when they stepped out into the street.
Roly’s lips were cold when he leaned in to kiss her cheek.
‘See you,’ he said. But somehow she knew that he wouldn’t, that this was the last time.
Their strange on/off friendship had finally run its course.
She huddled into her coat, wrapping her arms around herself as they walked away in opposite directions.
At the corner she turned to wave goodbye, but Roly was already gone.