Wish You Were Here by Mike Gayle Page B

three . . . one . . . two . . . three! Welcome to Club Fun! Are! You! Ready! To paaaaaaaarrrrrrrrttttttttttyyyyyyyy!’ The crowd cheered back but the rep still wasn’t satisfied. ‘One more time!’ he boomed into the microphone. ‘Come on! Give it all you’ve got. Club Fun Big Night Out! Are! You! Ready! To paaaaaaaarrrrrrrrttttttttyyyyyyyy!’
    Clearly motivated by the need to have this idiot stop shouting at them, the crowd yelled, screamed and whooped at the top of their voices like game-show contestants.
    â€˜That’s more like it! Now let’s get things started with one of my favourite party games and I’m sure it’s one of yours . . . you know what it is . . . the ice-cube game!’
    My jaw dropped.
    â€˜How brilliant is that?’ said Andy, laughing uncontrollably. ‘Mate, we should get up and join them for old times’ sake.’
    â€˜No way,’ I replied. ‘And neither should—’ I stopped as I realised that the back pocket of my jeans was vibrating. I reached for my phone and looked at the screen. It was a phone number I didn’t recognise.
    â€˜Who is it?’ asked Andy.
    I shrugged, wondering if Sarah had perhaps bought a new phone. ‘It’s too loud in here,’ I said to Andy, ‘I’m going to answer it outside.’
    â€˜See you in a bit,’ he replied.
    Tom was sipping his beer, still engrossed in the cricket and I whispered in his ear: ‘Keep on eye on Andy for me and make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble, okay?’
    â€˜Yeah,’ replied Tom, his gaze fixed to the TV screen. ‘Will do.’ I moved away but then returned: ‘Oh . . . and keep an eye out for the girl-in-the-cowboy-hat and her mates.’
    â€˜I’ll keep an eye out for everybody,’ said Tom, wincing as one of the England team was bowled out. ‘Go and answer your call, and trust me, everything will be just the same by the time you come back.’

    That’s the problem
    The strip was now so busy it resembled Trafalgar Square on New Year’s Eve. There were gangs of lads singing football chants, groups of girls singing along to Kylie Minogue, young guys in cars blasting out music from their in-car CD players and, watching over the entire proceedings, a small collection of stone-faced police officers. In a bid to get away from the noise I ducked down a side street next to Pandemonium and answered the call.
    â€˜Hello?’ I began.
    â€˜Charlie,’ said a female voice. ‘It’s me, Lisa.’
    It took a few moments for her voice to register. ‘Lisa?’ I replied eventually. ‘What’s going on? How are you? Is everything all right?’
    â€˜I’m fine, honestly,’ said Lisa.
    â€˜You had me worried there for a second,’ I replied, ‘I thought something must have happened.’
    â€˜I’m sorry.’ She sounded genuinely apologetic. ‘I knew I shouldn’t have called you like this. It was a bad idea. I’ll let you get back to doing whatever it was you were doing.’
    â€˜No, no, no,’ I replied. ‘It’s fine. I don’t mind you calling at all.’ I paused. ‘I take it this is about Andy?’
    â€˜Am I that obvious?’
    â€˜Transparent.’
    â€˜This is so pathetic.’
    â€˜No it’s not,’ I replied. ‘You’re worried and you’re looking for a bit of reassurance. It’s better you call me up and find out what’s going on than sit at home driving yourself mental.’
    â€˜So how has he been?’ she asked. ‘I hoped he might call me tonight but I’ve not had so much as a text message to let me know you guys got there okay.’
    â€˜Well, let me bring you up to speed,’ I replied. ‘The flight was all right, the accommodation is okay, the weather is glorious and most of today we spent