me.’
‘It’s not.’
‘How’s that?’
‘Because it’s not me she’s interested in.’
‘What’s that meant to mean?’
‘Work it out.’
‘She said something to you? Is that what all this is about?’ It was thrown out, almost with anger.
‘No, she’s said nothing. It’s just a hunch.’
David stared into his eyes and neither of them spoke. Then he looked away.
‘What’s with the long faces, boys?’
James turned his head. Becky was standing between them with her hands on her hips. Lucy was standing beside her. James’s eyes briefly engaged with David’s and the antipathy between them dissolved as they cracked up laughing.
‘What’s so funny?’ Becky said, eyeing them both suspiciously. ‘Should my ears be burning?’
David rested a hand on her shoulder. ‘No, we’ve just been talking bollocks, like you said we would.’
‘That’s what I love about you, David: you’re so bloody predictable.’
James finished his drink and said to the others, ‘We’d better get back to the table.’ He nodded at David. ‘Can’t form a splinter group on your own birthday.’
David checked his watch. ‘Good point, and if everyone’s still up for moving on to a club, we’d better sort it out sharpish.’
James stepped forward only to walk into Becky’s outstretched hand. ‘Not so fast,’ she said.
A dart of panic passed through him. For an instant he thought that maybe she’d overheard what he and David had been discussing, and was about to conclude their hypothetical argument with a very real torrent of vitriol. He calmed down when he realised she wouldn’t have waited this long.
‘What?’ he said.
‘We got us a plan,’ Becky said.
‘We sure have,’ Lucy said.
David said, ‘And?’
‘What do you say to getting out of London for a few days, birthday boy?’
David looked puzzled, shrugged. ‘Bad plan. Hangover’s going to nail me to my bed all day tomorrow. Reckon it’s claimed my arse for Sunday as well.’
‘Not now,’ Becky told him.
‘So when?’
Becky pointed a finger at Lucy, and said, ‘Fill him in.’
‘You know James is going down to Grancombe for
Kudos
, yeah?’
James didn’t like the sound of it already.
‘News to me,’ David said. ‘He never tells me shit. First I hear about what he’s been up to is when I check out the site.’
‘Well,’ Becky said, ‘James is going to Grancombe to write an article, and Lucy’s going with him to do the photos for it.
And Lucy said, ‘So why don’t you and Becky go too, David?’
David and James’s eyes met for a second.
‘When?’ David said.
Lucy waited for James to speak, but when he didn’t, she answered, ‘James’s editor wasn’t sure. James has got his LA thing to finish off first. Some time in the next fortnight, though.’ She grinned at him. ‘That’s right, isn’t it?’
A sound rather than a word left James’s mouth. He was too drunk to put them all off now. His head nodded of its own accord.
‘Cool,’ David said uncertainly, looking to James for confirmation. ‘Always up for a bit of fresh air. Quality of it up here sucks. So long as that’s OK with Mr Sawday, you can count me in.’
For James, what happened next was like an out-of-body experience. It was like he was floating, buoyed up by a solution of alcohol and helplessness. He listened to himself. It was his voice, all right, but not the words he wanted to be speaking. He heard himself agreeing to the idea, watched the others smiling and laughing and hatching plans about what they’d get up to.
And all the while, he was powerless to intervene, to speak his mind, short of freaking out and telling them all to back the hell off. How could he have let this happen? Stupid smart-arsed bastard, thinking he could deal with Alan’s estate and the article simultaneously. Yeah, so how smart did he feel now?
First Lucy and now David and Becky. The three people he cared for more than anybody else were now going to the one
‘It’s not.’
‘How’s that?’
‘Because it’s not me she’s interested in.’
‘What’s that meant to mean?’
‘Work it out.’
‘She said something to you? Is that what all this is about?’ It was thrown out, almost with anger.
‘No, she’s said nothing. It’s just a hunch.’
David stared into his eyes and neither of them spoke. Then he looked away.
‘What’s with the long faces, boys?’
James turned his head. Becky was standing between them with her hands on her hips. Lucy was standing beside her. James’s eyes briefly engaged with David’s and the antipathy between them dissolved as they cracked up laughing.
‘What’s so funny?’ Becky said, eyeing them both suspiciously. ‘Should my ears be burning?’
David rested a hand on her shoulder. ‘No, we’ve just been talking bollocks, like you said we would.’
‘That’s what I love about you, David: you’re so bloody predictable.’
James finished his drink and said to the others, ‘We’d better get back to the table.’ He nodded at David. ‘Can’t form a splinter group on your own birthday.’
David checked his watch. ‘Good point, and if everyone’s still up for moving on to a club, we’d better sort it out sharpish.’
James stepped forward only to walk into Becky’s outstretched hand. ‘Not so fast,’ she said.
A dart of panic passed through him. For an instant he thought that maybe she’d overheard what he and David had been discussing, and was about to conclude their hypothetical argument with a very real torrent of vitriol. He calmed down when he realised she wouldn’t have waited this long.
‘What?’ he said.
‘We got us a plan,’ Becky said.
‘We sure have,’ Lucy said.
David said, ‘And?’
‘What do you say to getting out of London for a few days, birthday boy?’
David looked puzzled, shrugged. ‘Bad plan. Hangover’s going to nail me to my bed all day tomorrow. Reckon it’s claimed my arse for Sunday as well.’
‘Not now,’ Becky told him.
‘So when?’
Becky pointed a finger at Lucy, and said, ‘Fill him in.’
‘You know James is going down to Grancombe for
Kudos
, yeah?’
James didn’t like the sound of it already.
‘News to me,’ David said. ‘He never tells me shit. First I hear about what he’s been up to is when I check out the site.’
‘Well,’ Becky said, ‘James is going to Grancombe to write an article, and Lucy’s going with him to do the photos for it.
And Lucy said, ‘So why don’t you and Becky go too, David?’
David and James’s eyes met for a second.
‘When?’ David said.
Lucy waited for James to speak, but when he didn’t, she answered, ‘James’s editor wasn’t sure. James has got his LA thing to finish off first. Some time in the next fortnight, though.’ She grinned at him. ‘That’s right, isn’t it?’
A sound rather than a word left James’s mouth. He was too drunk to put them all off now. His head nodded of its own accord.
‘Cool,’ David said uncertainly, looking to James for confirmation. ‘Always up for a bit of fresh air. Quality of it up here sucks. So long as that’s OK with Mr Sawday, you can count me in.’
For James, what happened next was like an out-of-body experience. It was like he was floating, buoyed up by a solution of alcohol and helplessness. He listened to himself. It was his voice, all right, but not the words he wanted to be speaking. He heard himself agreeing to the idea, watched the others smiling and laughing and hatching plans about what they’d get up to.
And all the while, he was powerless to intervene, to speak his mind, short of freaking out and telling them all to back the hell off. How could he have let this happen? Stupid smart-arsed bastard, thinking he could deal with Alan’s estate and the article simultaneously. Yeah, so how smart did he feel now?
First Lucy and now David and Becky. The three people he cared for more than anybody else were now going to the one
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