Lucy.
She didn’t phone. For the first couple of weeks every time the phone rang he’d leap on top of it, praying it was her, and then he tried to forget about her as he got on with his life and continued half-heartedly dating the identikit Venetias.
Eight weeks later Josh was at work when the receptionist buzzed him and told him to come down to collect a delivery that had to be signed for personally. He came down to be greeted by Lucy’s sparkly eyes, and the rest, as they say, is history.
‘Cath! So lovely to see you. Look at you, you look as fresh as a daisy in that sumptuous sweater. Sit! Sit! What are you having? Red? White? Or vodka? Gin?’ Lucy bubbles away as she manoeuvres me into a chair, bustling away to open another bottle of red and pour me a glass.
‘Where’s that wicked Si? Not corrupting my Maxy I hope. Josh!’ She screams, ‘Come and be sociable! Oh God. So rude. You haven’t met,’ and finally she stops to take a breath and grins at us.
‘Cath. Dan. Dan. Cath.’
We smile warmly at one another, and I hope that this will not be one of those awkward evenings where strangers make small talk and ask questions like, ‘How long have you known Josh and Lucy?’
‘We’re all on the course together,’ Lucy explains, ‘Dan lives in Camden and he gave me a lift, so it was the least I could do.
‘Here,’ says Lucy, thrusting a knife into my hand. ‘You’re on cucumber duty.’ Dan is given red peppers, which might be an odd way of treating your dinner guests, but it breaks the ice and within minutes we are all laughing like old friends.
‘I’m missing out on all the fun, aren’t I?’ says Si, rushing into the room behind Josh. ‘Lucy, darling. You look gorgeous.’ Si sweeps Lucy into a big hug, and Lucy blushes, gesturing at her faded apron, her hair tied back with a fraying old scrunchy. ‘I look terrible,’ she says, but she’s delighted, as she always is, when Si compliments her.
‘Hello. I’m Si.’ He grins cheerfully at Dan, leaning over his shoulder to grab a piece of red pepper.
‘Oi!’ I dart over, covering Dan’s pile of peppers protectively, hunger making me, as always, incredibly territorial about food. ‘Hands off.’
‘You can’t speak to me like that,’ Si says, in mock horror. ‘You’re not even in charge of peppers. If I’m not mistaken, you’re doing the cucumbers, so M.Y.O.B.’
‘I’ve got my hands full with one child, thank you very much,’ Lucy says, grimacing. ‘I don’t need another two this evening.’
‘It wasn’t me, it was her.’ Si pours himself a glass of red wine, grinning at Dan, who’s laughing at this ridiculous exchange, before going to the stove and lifting lids off pots and sniffing.
I wish I could be more like Si at times. I know how insecure he is deep down, as insecure as the rest of us, and yet he has this ability to meet complete strangers and instantly put them at ease, make them feel as if they have known, and loved, Si for ever. Most of the time I think it’s because he can be so childlike, so naughty, and it reminds us of when we were children, of what it was like to have no inhibitions.
He wanders over to the fridge and busies himself doing something, while the rest of us keep chopping.
‘So how is the course?’ I throw into the room.
Lucy and Dan groan at the same time.
‘It was fine,’ says Lucy.
‘Until Jeremy,’ says Dan.
‘And now we can’t wait until the bloody thing’s over,’ finishes Lucy.
‘Jeremy?’ I ask.
‘Jeremy,’ says Josh, in the tone of voice that says I ought to know who Jeremy is. ‘Jeremy the class bore,’ he continues, rolling his eyes, evidently having heard more than enough about him from Lucy. ‘Who monopolizes every group session by talking about himself, having temper tantrums if he feels he’s being ignored.’
‘Oh, that sounds so mean,’ says Lucy. ‘I feel awful talking about him behind his back. It’s not right. We actually shouldn’t be doing
She didn’t phone. For the first couple of weeks every time the phone rang he’d leap on top of it, praying it was her, and then he tried to forget about her as he got on with his life and continued half-heartedly dating the identikit Venetias.
Eight weeks later Josh was at work when the receptionist buzzed him and told him to come down to collect a delivery that had to be signed for personally. He came down to be greeted by Lucy’s sparkly eyes, and the rest, as they say, is history.
‘Cath! So lovely to see you. Look at you, you look as fresh as a daisy in that sumptuous sweater. Sit! Sit! What are you having? Red? White? Or vodka? Gin?’ Lucy bubbles away as she manoeuvres me into a chair, bustling away to open another bottle of red and pour me a glass.
‘Where’s that wicked Si? Not corrupting my Maxy I hope. Josh!’ She screams, ‘Come and be sociable! Oh God. So rude. You haven’t met,’ and finally she stops to take a breath and grins at us.
‘Cath. Dan. Dan. Cath.’
We smile warmly at one another, and I hope that this will not be one of those awkward evenings where strangers make small talk and ask questions like, ‘How long have you known Josh and Lucy?’
‘We’re all on the course together,’ Lucy explains, ‘Dan lives in Camden and he gave me a lift, so it was the least I could do.
‘Here,’ says Lucy, thrusting a knife into my hand. ‘You’re on cucumber duty.’ Dan is given red peppers, which might be an odd way of treating your dinner guests, but it breaks the ice and within minutes we are all laughing like old friends.
‘I’m missing out on all the fun, aren’t I?’ says Si, rushing into the room behind Josh. ‘Lucy, darling. You look gorgeous.’ Si sweeps Lucy into a big hug, and Lucy blushes, gesturing at her faded apron, her hair tied back with a fraying old scrunchy. ‘I look terrible,’ she says, but she’s delighted, as she always is, when Si compliments her.
‘Hello. I’m Si.’ He grins cheerfully at Dan, leaning over his shoulder to grab a piece of red pepper.
‘Oi!’ I dart over, covering Dan’s pile of peppers protectively, hunger making me, as always, incredibly territorial about food. ‘Hands off.’
‘You can’t speak to me like that,’ Si says, in mock horror. ‘You’re not even in charge of peppers. If I’m not mistaken, you’re doing the cucumbers, so M.Y.O.B.’
‘I’ve got my hands full with one child, thank you very much,’ Lucy says, grimacing. ‘I don’t need another two this evening.’
‘It wasn’t me, it was her.’ Si pours himself a glass of red wine, grinning at Dan, who’s laughing at this ridiculous exchange, before going to the stove and lifting lids off pots and sniffing.
I wish I could be more like Si at times. I know how insecure he is deep down, as insecure as the rest of us, and yet he has this ability to meet complete strangers and instantly put them at ease, make them feel as if they have known, and loved, Si for ever. Most of the time I think it’s because he can be so childlike, so naughty, and it reminds us of when we were children, of what it was like to have no inhibitions.
He wanders over to the fridge and busies himself doing something, while the rest of us keep chopping.
‘So how is the course?’ I throw into the room.
Lucy and Dan groan at the same time.
‘It was fine,’ says Lucy.
‘Until Jeremy,’ says Dan.
‘And now we can’t wait until the bloody thing’s over,’ finishes Lucy.
‘Jeremy?’ I ask.
‘Jeremy,’ says Josh, in the tone of voice that says I ought to know who Jeremy is. ‘Jeremy the class bore,’ he continues, rolling his eyes, evidently having heard more than enough about him from Lucy. ‘Who monopolizes every group session by talking about himself, having temper tantrums if he feels he’s being ignored.’
‘Oh, that sounds so mean,’ says Lucy. ‘I feel awful talking about him behind his back. It’s not right. We actually shouldn’t be doing
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