Swan by Katherine Hole

at me with a look of quiet reverence on his face. ‘I don’t think it’s
funny,’ he said solemnly, 'I think it’s rather endearing. There’s nothing wrong
with being an avid fan. When I was a kid, I seem to remember having a rather
unhealthy attachment to Priscilla Presley during her stint on Dallas .’
    ‘God, yeah!’ Tom broke in. ‘She was stunning, wasn’t
she? I also had a thing for Kelly Le Brock ...’
    And so the conversation shifted to the top-ten most
fanciable women of the ‘80s. I was off the hook. David had come to my rescue, and
I was eternally grateful to him for that. Occasionally, I’d catch him stealing
glances at me, his face alive with amusement ... and something else. I didn’t
know what.
    Phil nudged Tom. ‘What a result at the weekend eh?’
    ‘Don’t get me started! Mate, I’m telling you, we
were robbed. Don’t know how the ref gave that penalty.’
    David continued to eat in a bemused silence.
    ‘Did you manage to catch the game?’ Phil asked him.
    ‘Er, no.’
    ‘Who do you support? Are you an Arsenal or Spurs
man?’
    ‘Um, er, Arsenal.’
    Tom and Robert cheered in unison. The discussion
about football continued for a couple of minutes, during which I caught Phil
watching David curiously, like he was trying to read him, work him out.
    ‘So David, what do you think about Youare Awanka’s
transfer?’ Phil said the name so quickly, at first I didn’t catch the joke.
    ‘Excuse me?’ David asked politely, wiping his mouth.
    ‘You know that African player Youare Awanka? Arsenal
bought him for twenty million. Do you think he’s worth it?’
    There was a tense silence around the table.
    ‘Oh yes, definitely,’ David nodded eagerly, ‘he’s
one of the best players we’ve got.’
    Tom almost spat out his wine.
    ‘Enough,’ Beth scolded, ‘you guys are terrible.
Leave poor David alone.’
    David frowned. He still didn’t seem to get the joke.
    I quickly changed the subject. ‘So Beth, how’s your
appeal for Vicky’s school going?’
    ‘Oh darling, don’t get me started! That headmistress
is absolutely dire. You’ll never believe what she said to me ...’
    As Beth rattled on, David and I exchanged glances.
The look of relief on his face told me that he knew I’d just saved his bacon.
    I glared at Phil, surprised by how vindictive he’d
been. Clearly, David had no interest in football whatsoever and had only played
along to be part of the lads’ conversation, so why had Phil exposed his
ineptitude so cruelly? Okay, perhaps he was a bit smashed, but that still
wasn’t an excuse.
    As I continued to study him, I noticed that his
general demeanour had changed. He had a cocky self-assurance that I hadn’t seen
before; he cracked jokes with dubious sexual undertones; he poked fun at my
sister’s abysmal culinary skills and had less of a potbelly, like he’d been
working out.
    This definitely wasn’t the Phil I knew. The Phil I
knew would never have mocked David so harshly. At that moment, I was almost
certain that my brother-in-law was having an affair.
    * * *
    Later that night, when I got home from the party,
Beth phoned me for the obligatory after dinner gossip.
    ‘Darling, did you get back safely?’
    ‘Yeah, we managed to get the last train.’ I kicked
off my shoes. The straps had been digging into my heels all evening, and my
feet were killing me.
    She hesitated, like there was something on her mind.
‘Mads, I don’t know what’s gotten into Phil. For some reason, he doesn’t like
David.’
    ‘Why not?’ I patted my hair irritably.
    ‘I don’t know. He keeps going on about how David
lied about supporting Arsenal. Phil says it was terribly disingenuous of him
and reckons it’s a sign that David’s not to be trusted. I mean, if he lied
about that, what else is he hiding? He also said that he noticed David doesn’t
like making eye-contact with people, another sign that he’s shifty.’
    ‘Nonsense! That’s absolute rubbish, Beth.’
    ‘I