If I Never Met You(86)

‘What do I do now?’ Laurie said. Another question she would only ask her mum, this bluntly.

‘Have your own adventures.’

Peggy leaned across the table, patted Laurie’s face and Laurie suddenly felt six years old in the school playground, with frizzy pigtails and her rabbit backpack.

‘Don’t wait for him, even though he is on his way back to you. In that way, he is nothing like your father.’

‘Ta dah! Now then, Laurie, do you want to pour?’

Wanda was filling the doorway, a coffee pot in one hand and a bottle of amaretto in the other.

Laurie fetched the bowls of H?agen Dazs and they slopped it together, Wanda demonstrating a heavy hand with the liqueur.

‘Thank you for letting me crash your mother-daughter time,’ Wanda said, ice cream on her chin.

‘You’re welcome, Wanda, and you’re not crashing anything,’ Laurie said.

‘You’re a second mother to Laurie,’ Peggy said, patting her hand.

‘I’m more like your husband by this point, Peggy! You would’ve electrocuted yourself by now if I let you do your DIY,’ Wanda said and they both roared.

Laurie smiled at them. Her mum might not have had settled relationships, but she had rock-solid friendships. Laurie hoped she could say the same.





35


Since Baby Shower Gate, after which had ensued the longest stoniest silence imaginable, on both sides, Laurie had been in danger of believing she could avoid the Chorlton set forever. She was getting a loaf of bread in the local deli, and too late, spotted Stepford Claire by the luxury spreads.

Claire put down a jar of organic orange curd and made a swift beeline. Laurie inwardly slumped in dismay. Where was Claire’s sense of good old-fashioned burning shame, couldn’t she simply pretend she didn’t see her? But that wasn’t Claire’s style, of course. Nothing about Claire’s style was Laurie’s style.

‘Hi! Wow. OK. This isn’t easy …’

Why bother then? Laurie said nothing. Claire didn’t sound uneasy, she sounded slightly breathless and gleeful. In her place, Laurie would’ve been shrivelling into smoke.

‘Reeeeeaaalllly sorry about the WhatsApp thing. We were all still getting our heads round it but there’s no excuse. Please accept my apology?’

‘Sure. I’d forgotten it, to be honest,’ Laurie said.

Claire narrowed her eyes. ‘So how are you doing?’

‘Great,’ Laurie said.

‘Oh, great. Pleased for you.’ Claire tipped her head to the side, so that’s how we’re playing it.

This wasn’t a friendly exchange; it was like fencing.

‘I hear you’re seeing someone?’ Claire said, picking a stray strand of her neatly scissored, blunt blonde bob out of her lip balm. Dan always said she had Lego hair.

Naturally, whether Laurie had another man was the most important thing. Especially with it being foretold that she’d never be able to find one.

‘Yeah,’ Laurie had forgotten the three witches of WhatsApp would be seeing Facebook, same as everyone else. ‘Jamie.’

‘You work with him?’

Oh God, of course. She’d have then been straight on to Dan.

‘Yes, Jamie is at Salter’s.’

‘I didn’t know if … you’re, you know. At the stage of meeting each other’s friends, or if it’s that serious, but I wondered if you’d like to bring him to Phil’s fortieth this Saturday coming? It’s nothing much, open house, barbecue. Dan’s invited. He’ll be on his own, I should add … she’s, erm … his new girlfriend is away.’

Hah, so Dan and preg Meg got an invite straight out of the traps. Claire, on spec, decided it might make for a spicy spectacle to throw Laurie and toyboy into it too. Ugh.

‘Thanks, I’ll have to see. Socialising with Dan isn’t among my favourite hobbies now, you can probably imagine.’ Seeing Pri and Erica and their husbands appeals as much as getting the runs on a choppy ferry crossing, too. ‘And I’ll have to ask Jamie if he’s free,’ Laurie added.

‘Yes, Dan said he didn’t think your fella would come.’

This was lightly, rather than deliberately, thrown. Claire could be extraordinarily insensitive, Laurie had forgotten that. It wasn’t only about what she inflicted on purpose, she was perfectly capable of doing it by mistake. She was hugely indiscreet.

‘Oh. Why not?’

‘Erm …’ Claire looked flustered, for the first time during their conversation.

‘He said … well, implied, really. That it was more of a fling than a relationship. That coupled-up stuff wasn’t the page you guys were on. Said Jamie’s kind of known for casual, not commitment.’

Laurie seethed. She was loath to give Claire the satisfaction of knowing she’d got to her, but she had. Dan had said disparaging things about Jamie, and possibly even about his purported misuse of Laurie. Meanwhile, Laurie had spread nothing about stupid Spotify playlists.

She’d not done the Wounded Woman tour, made them feel bad about picking his side, made it a female solidarity issue. She’d never be so crass. But Dan’s stupid wounded pathetic male pride, after all he’d done, drove him to call Jamie trivial, a distraction. Don’t embarrass her by asking her to produce him at an event full of responsible adults, he’s not up to that sort of scrutiny. Bit of a jack the lad, if you know what I mean. For display purposes only. Well. Two could play that game.