Reluctantly Home(23)

‘Just over here,’ he said as he steered her forward. ‘The function room’s up those stairs.’

Upstairs the air was a little clearer and Evelyn immediately felt better. The room was about half full, and she recognised a few of the outfits as belonging to other wedding guests, although none of the faces were familiar. Then she saw Jim, looking too hot in the suit that must have been his one concession to his parents. She gave him a little wave.

‘Evelyn!’ he called over to her, and one or two people looked round. This pleased her. She imagined that Brenda and Jim might have told some of their guests that the actress Evelyn Mountcastle would be coming to the wedding.

‘And you’ve met our Ted, I see,’ Jim added as they got closer to him.

Our Ted? Evelyn wondered if the two men might be related, but then Jim went on to explain.

‘Ted and me was at school together,’ he said. ‘He was a bit of a rascal.’

Out of the corner of her eye, Evelyn saw Ted pull a face, objecting to Jim’s description of him. He must have been trying to make a good impression on her. It was sweet, really.

‘But he’s pulled his socks up since then,’ Jim continued, eager to correct any misapprehension, ‘and now you couldn’t hope to meet a finer citizen.’

‘No need to lay it on with a trowel, mate,’ said Ted. ‘Evelyn and me are getting along just fine without your introductions.’

He winked at her, and Evelyn again had the slightly discombobulating feeling that she was walking directly into the lion’s den.

‘Fair enough,’ said Jim. Someone was waving at him from across the room. ‘Looks like I’m needed over there,’ he said, his smile wide at being the centre of attention. ‘I’ve got no idea where the missus is.’

‘That’s not a great start, mate,’ laughed Ted. ‘You’re going to need to keep her on a tighter leash than that.’

Evelyn could just make out Brenda, swamped by a group of well-wishers, the only clue that she was buried amongst them a flash of her yellow jumpsuit.

‘She’s over there,’ she said helpfully.

Jim nodded but then headed off towards the other group, which pleased Evelyn. Brenda and Jim might be married now but they were still independent people.

‘Would you like a drink?’ Ted asked, and she refocused her attention on him. ‘Babycham, maybe?’ he suggested.

Evelyn generally liked a Babycham if there was no chance of the real thing, but in the slightly stuffy, smoky atmosphere of the room over the pub, the idea of the fizzy little drink somehow didn’t appeal. She was still feeling queasy, and alcohol really wasn’t going to help with that.

‘I’ll just have an orange juice, please,’ she said. ‘Fresh, not cordial.’

Ted raised an eyebrow but headed off towards the bar, leaving Evelyn on her own, but he wasn’t gone long, soon making his way back across the crowded room carrying a glass of Britvic Orange and a pint.

He nodded at an empty table to his right. ‘Shall we sit down?’

Evelyn hesitated. If she sat down with him now, then she would probably be stuck with him for the rest of the reception as the other tables would start to fill up when the buffet was served. But would that be so awful? Ted seemed pleasant enough. He was a childhood friend of Jim’s so his credentials were verified and, from what she had garnered so far, he was fun. She could probably do a lot worse and as long as she was careful not to give out the wrong message, spending time with him would be preferable to having to infiltrate other more established groups of guests.

‘That would be lovely,’ she said after what she hoped wasn’t too long a pause.

They sat down and Ted placed her drink in front of her. The tables were decorated with paper tablecloths in a yellow that was more Bird’s Custard than the delicate primrose of Brenda’s outfit, and jam jars sprouting daffodils were dotted about the place, too. It all looked very attractive for a room above a pub.

‘Doesn’t the room look lovely?’ she commented to Ted, more for something to say than anything else. And then, ‘When do you suppose they’ll serve the food?’ She was suddenly and unaccountably ravenous.

Ted shrugged. ‘Not got a clue,’ he said. ‘While we wait, why don’t you tell me something about yourself? How do you know Jim?’

‘I don’t,’ admitted Evelyn. ‘Well, not really. I share a flat with Brenda. Well, shared. She’s moved out now that she’s married.’

‘So you’re on your own?’ asked Ted.

‘Yes,’ replied Evelyn with a sigh. ‘I am. Not sure for how long. I suppose the landlord will get someone in. I certainly can’t afford to pay two lots of rent.’

In fact, she could barely afford to pay one lot until she got paid, something that she usually kept carefully guarded so as not to splinter the slightly skewed reflection of her life that she presented to the world at large. But in this room full of people she neither knew nor wanted to get to know, she wondered whether she couldn’t open up a little to a stranger about the precariousness of her current situation. What harm could it do?

‘If the truth be told, Ted,’ she said, ‘Brenda moving out is going to send me up the creek without a paddle. I’m not at all sure how I’ll cope.’

Ted looked at her appraisingly. He had a kind face, she thought, when it wasn’t joking and messing about.