Do You Remember? by Mandy Baggot

you’re wrong, Ally. I say no to marrying Chris because he deserves someone so much better than me!’
    With that statement made Emma replaced the phone and put her hands to her mouth, aching all over. Tears were slipping from her eyes already. When the kitchen door opened she hurriedly turned away and grabbed for the kitchen roll.
    ‘Emma?’ Chris said, looking at her.
    The sleeves of his rugby shirt were rolled up to his elbows, he had a sheen of perspiration on his forehead and the Wii remote still in his hand.
    ‘I’m fine. I’m fine. Just Ally and her latest boyfriend. The pilot. She thinks he’s getting more than duty free from one of the air stewardesses.’ She wiped her eyes and put on a smile.
    ‘And it’s upset you that much?’ Chris asked. He didn’t sound convinced.
    ‘Well, she’s a good friend and I don’t like to see her messed about. She deserves someone nice, someone who’ll look after her,’ Emma added.
    ‘She’s lucky to have you worrying about her.’ He put his arm around her and drew her into a hug. She let herself be warmed by his affection, closed her eyes and remembered.
    ‘Dom’s whipping me at bowling. You going to come and play?’ Chris asked, letting her go.
    ‘Yeah, in a second. Just got to iron his uniform for tomorrow,’ she answered.
    ‘Alright. But don’t leave it too long because he’s getting better with every turn,’ Chris told her, grinning.
    She smiled as he left the room again. Then she let the expression drop as she whipped up the phone.
    ‘Hi, Dad. No, Dom’s fine. His ankle’s much better today. Listen, I know it’s really short notice but would you be able to babysit tonight?’
     
    ‘The reason we come here is because the management know just how to treat people like us.’
    ‘No paparazzi,’ Madeleine remarked, nodding.
    ‘No paparazzi and no one without a significant profile. Last week an actress from Hollyoaks was asked to leave. Word is she had less than five thousand followers on Twitter.’
    ‘The shame!’
    Guy wanted to smash his head against the table and see what the management would do about that. He had endured four courses of food already at the over-priced quay restaurant and almost two hours of inane conversation about dress designers and California hot spots Gabriella and Daniel were going to visit on their summer holiday.
    Daniel was just about bearable. But his colleague had consumed a bottle of red wine on his own and now Guy suspected the reason he kept disappearing to the toilets was for more than urination.
    He hated drugs. Despised what they did to people. Those who thought they took them just for recreation were fooling themselves. They didn’t just wreck your physicality, they poisoned your mind.
    Daniel returned to his seat and beckoned the waiter to bring more wine.
    ‘How about a Merlot, Guy?’ Daniel suggested.
    ‘
Non
, no, not for me. I will stick with water.’
    ‘Guy had far too much to drink last night,’ Madeleine told the couple.
    ‘Didn’t we all? Cracking night, wasn’t it?’ Daniel remarked.
    ‘The food was a little overcooked,’ Gabriella said, sipping at her glass of champagne.
    ‘But we did raise a great deal of money for charity,’ Guy added.
    ‘Charity begins at home in my opinion. A lot of these so-called charities are just for people with no get up and go. You work hard, you make your own luck and the money rolls in. That’s what we do, don’t we, babe?’ Daniel said snaking an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders.
    Guy picked up his dessert fork and rolled it around his fingers. If he thought the management would turn a blind eye he would stab it right through Daniel’s cocaine-speckled hand.
    ‘So, what’s on the cards for tonight? Casino?’ Daniel suggested.
    ‘That sounds fun. It is so long since we did that,’ Madeleine said, turning to Guy.
    ‘I cannot tonight,’ he responded.
    ‘Why not?’ Madeleine’s voice was sharp.
    ‘I have to speak at the fitness centre.