jelly.
‘Hey. Wow, you look nice. Want a drink? I didn’t know what you wanted.’
‘A glass of wine, please.’
‘Red or white?’
‘White. Thanks.’
Addy scanned the bar. ‘I just spent bloody ages queueing for mine—do you mind going up? I’ll give you a couple of quid.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll get it.’
‘Sure? You’re a legend. Oh,’ he caught her as she departed the table, ‘maybe get another of these?’ He lifted his pint. ‘Saves me going up again...’
When she came back ten minutes later he greeted her with a grin. Since the beginning of time she’d been addicted to it—would she ever grow out of Addy Gold?
‘So,’ she smoothed her top, ‘this is nice.’ It was such a banal thing to say but she couldn’t come up with anything else. They had been friends for so long—why couldn’t she talk to him normally, about normal things? They had tons of interests in common, didn’t they? They must do. She just couldn’t think of one right now.
‘I’m quitting the Blue Paradise,’ he blurted.
She nearly spat out her wine. ‘Why? You can’t quit!’
Addy lifted his shoulders. ‘I’ve been at it for years, Oli. I’m bored. I need some... I don’t know, some excitement in my life. Maybe it’s time I actually did something instead of bumming round the cove chasing the next wave.’
She went to object but the summary was succinct.
‘What will you do?’
‘Not sure,’ he mused. ‘I’ve got a few ideas, stuff I meant to get round to but never did... You know how life catches up and then you wake up one day and look around and think: Shit, man, is this it? Well, wake-up call, Addy!’ He did a flustered little jig as if an alarm clock had fired off nearby. ‘Maybe it doesn’t have to be.’
She swallowed her selfish reservations. It was great that he was finally taking charge of things. She should try to be supportive.
‘Well,’ she managed, ‘it sounds like a brilliant decision.’
He took a frothy sip of his beer. Olivia watched the foam on his top lip and wanted to kiss it off. ‘Actually,’ he said, blue eyes twinkling, ‘how’d you fancy helping out a mate?’
She returned his smile. ‘With what?’
‘Life at Usherwood... It must be a kick being around film stars all day, huh.’
‘Yeah, they’re OK. Charlie’s doing my head in though.’
Addy smirked. ‘He always was an arrogant twat.’
‘You were never friends, even at school?’
‘Are you kidding me? Lomax thought he was some hot deal, made up his own rules and everyone else could piss right off.’
‘Sounds about right.’
Addy’s eyes strayed to the bar, where a blonde was digging into her purse for change. ‘I remember this one time,’ he drawled, ‘we had this cricket match against Rudgeley Boys. Rudgeley was, like, the most interesting thing that happened all year; their team was the best in the county but we were totally on it to take the trophy.’
‘I remember! You used to go to the Farley Ground for playoffs.’
‘Yeah, that’s it. Anyhow Lomax had it in for the Rudgeley captain, this brick-shit-house fat kid called Sedgwick, because Sedgwick used to call him to his face all the things we called him behind his back: toff wanker, posh prick, that kind of thing.’
Addy laughed. Olivia considered that Addy’s own family wasn’t that badly off, in fact none of the boys who attended Towerfield were exactly poverty-stricken.
‘So Lomax bowled this totally vicious ball against him. It got Sedgwick in the nuts and Sedgwick freaked. The two of them started beating the crap out of each other. The master had to drag them off. There was blood everywhere. Lomax got smashed in the face and Sedgwick was staggering about like he’d been winded. Sedgwick was mashed up good; only he was so fat that when he fell over he kind of just rolled, like a massive squidgy meatball. It was pretty entertaining, but we were all majorly fucked off at the time. The match got cancelled, and since it
‘Hey. Wow, you look nice. Want a drink? I didn’t know what you wanted.’
‘A glass of wine, please.’
‘Red or white?’
‘White. Thanks.’
Addy scanned the bar. ‘I just spent bloody ages queueing for mine—do you mind going up? I’ll give you a couple of quid.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll get it.’
‘Sure? You’re a legend. Oh,’ he caught her as she departed the table, ‘maybe get another of these?’ He lifted his pint. ‘Saves me going up again...’
When she came back ten minutes later he greeted her with a grin. Since the beginning of time she’d been addicted to it—would she ever grow out of Addy Gold?
‘So,’ she smoothed her top, ‘this is nice.’ It was such a banal thing to say but she couldn’t come up with anything else. They had been friends for so long—why couldn’t she talk to him normally, about normal things? They had tons of interests in common, didn’t they? They must do. She just couldn’t think of one right now.
‘I’m quitting the Blue Paradise,’ he blurted.
She nearly spat out her wine. ‘Why? You can’t quit!’
Addy lifted his shoulders. ‘I’ve been at it for years, Oli. I’m bored. I need some... I don’t know, some excitement in my life. Maybe it’s time I actually did something instead of bumming round the cove chasing the next wave.’
She went to object but the summary was succinct.
‘What will you do?’
‘Not sure,’ he mused. ‘I’ve got a few ideas, stuff I meant to get round to but never did... You know how life catches up and then you wake up one day and look around and think: Shit, man, is this it? Well, wake-up call, Addy!’ He did a flustered little jig as if an alarm clock had fired off nearby. ‘Maybe it doesn’t have to be.’
She swallowed her selfish reservations. It was great that he was finally taking charge of things. She should try to be supportive.
‘Well,’ she managed, ‘it sounds like a brilliant decision.’
He took a frothy sip of his beer. Olivia watched the foam on his top lip and wanted to kiss it off. ‘Actually,’ he said, blue eyes twinkling, ‘how’d you fancy helping out a mate?’
She returned his smile. ‘With what?’
‘Life at Usherwood... It must be a kick being around film stars all day, huh.’
‘Yeah, they’re OK. Charlie’s doing my head in though.’
Addy smirked. ‘He always was an arrogant twat.’
‘You were never friends, even at school?’
‘Are you kidding me? Lomax thought he was some hot deal, made up his own rules and everyone else could piss right off.’
‘Sounds about right.’
Addy’s eyes strayed to the bar, where a blonde was digging into her purse for change. ‘I remember this one time,’ he drawled, ‘we had this cricket match against Rudgeley Boys. Rudgeley was, like, the most interesting thing that happened all year; their team was the best in the county but we were totally on it to take the trophy.’
‘I remember! You used to go to the Farley Ground for playoffs.’
‘Yeah, that’s it. Anyhow Lomax had it in for the Rudgeley captain, this brick-shit-house fat kid called Sedgwick, because Sedgwick used to call him to his face all the things we called him behind his back: toff wanker, posh prick, that kind of thing.’
Addy laughed. Olivia considered that Addy’s own family wasn’t that badly off, in fact none of the boys who attended Towerfield were exactly poverty-stricken.
‘So Lomax bowled this totally vicious ball against him. It got Sedgwick in the nuts and Sedgwick freaked. The two of them started beating the crap out of each other. The master had to drag them off. There was blood everywhere. Lomax got smashed in the face and Sedgwick was staggering about like he’d been winded. Sedgwick was mashed up good; only he was so fat that when he fell over he kind of just rolled, like a massive squidgy meatball. It was pretty entertaining, but we were all majorly fucked off at the time. The match got cancelled, and since it
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