Page 74 of Between Us
Roisin saw that the necessity of emergency savings dipping had registered with Dev.
‘I can cover flights to take the cost down. It’s no trouble,’ Dev said.
Roisin took a deep breath. ‘Dev, you are the most generoussoul alive, but we can’t accept being paid for as a solution. No one wants to mooch off you and live beyond their budget.Can’t do ithas to meancan’t do it,or you feel trapped.’
‘The girl with the good hair has a point,’ Meredith said. ‘Hey, why not have TWO stags? Miami and Manchester.’
‘Actually,’ Dev said, shaking the ice in his lime and soda, ‘you may have hit on something, Rosh. Anita’s gone cool on the Lake Como plan, too.’
‘Really?’ Roisin said, realising it was a stroke of luck to have the freedom to discuss it without her present.
‘Yeah. Some of her family have kicked off about the expense and the travelling, and she thinks it’s too complicated. Not least as Hindu wedding guest lists arelarge.’
‘Would you consider the UK?’ Roisin said.
‘Yeah, totally but … you only do it once, hopefully. I don’t want her to regret it later.’
‘Honestly, cypress trees won’t end up mattering to you,’ Meredith said. ‘Having a huge tear-up and going home happy are the only things that count. Don’t cause endless politics with your cousins – stay here.’
Dev nodded and Roisin could sense him reading the room at last. There was a distinct absence of their exhorting him to stick to Italy, or Miami, and that in itself was surely telling him something.
‘Would you all like it if it was here? My Bolton lot would probably be relieved, too.’
‘We’dloveit,’ Gina said. ‘Also, I could afford all sorts of add-ons. Like a contouring spray tan. There’s this guy who’s meant to be like the Picasso of mobile spray tans.’
‘Oh, hark at Lady Gaga,’ Joe said. ‘Is that like when I drew better abs on my Action Man with a felt tip?’
They fell into their affectionate bickering and Roisin was glad they’d dealt with it light-heartedly. It helped that Dev was a man near-incapable of taking offence.
‘Oh, by the way, I’m off to York tomorrow,’ Joe said to Roisin, as the group parted outside. ‘Going to see Mum and Dad for a couple of nights, then London for one, back Thursday.’
Thursday it is then, Roisin thought. It’d be better. Rip the plaster off. An improvement on this limbo, as daunting as it was.
‘OK,’ Roisin said. ‘Have fun.’
‘Ships passing in the night, you two, aren’t you?’ Dev said, chortling, and no one knew where to look.
Roisin came through the door into the lights-dimmed pub, saw Matt and her mother, and screeched.
‘It’s like’ – Roisin had to lean on the wall to get her breath back – ‘like walking into a Cold War Steve artwork or something.’
‘Coldplay who?’ her mum said.
Lorraine was sitting at a table, hair gathered up into a green casino croupier’s visor, a vape stick jammed in the corner of her mouth, counting what looked like raffle tickets. The jukebox was serving Bryan Ferry: ‘Slave to Love’.
Matt was behind the bar, Meatball the cat balanced on his shoulder, straining dark liquid from a steel shaker into coupe glasses.
‘How on earth did you get that much cat onto your shoulder?!’ Roisin said.
‘Years of practice,’ Matt said. ‘Want a Manhattan with us? McKenzie secret recipe.’
‘Ooh, yes please.’ Roisin shrugged her jacket off. ‘Mum, you’re allowing this insolence from Meatball?’
‘Keeps the horrible thing off my floor,’ Lorraine said.
‘How did the shift go?’
‘Amazing. They LOVE him,’ Lorraine said, casting a look of pure adoration up at Matt.
