Page 8 of The Riviera House Swap
‘Which is?’
Sal shook her head. ‘Nina, how long have you lived in St Albans? There are pictures of Romans all over the place.’
Nina grimaced. ‘Yes, but they’re mostly men,’ she said. ‘All the armour and red, feathery things.’
Sal laughed. ‘Well, my costume is more of a large bedsheet,’ she said. ‘It’s meant to be a tunic, but honestly I wonder whether I should just wrap my duvet around me and be done with it.’
They laughed.
‘It’s great, though,’ Sal said. ‘One more step on my journey to being a proper history teacher.’
Since taking the assistant job at her daughter’s school three years ago, Sal had been debating whether it was time to go back to education, to qualify as a teacher. So far, money had been too tight for her to give up work to train, even with a potential bursary. But there was a chance she might be accepted into job-based training next year, and this would hopefully be a great addition to her CV.
‘Ah, you’ll get there,’ Bess said. ‘And until that, at least you get to look hot!’
‘Hot? I’ll be wearing a duvet. I’ll be bloody boiling!’
‘Anyway, you’re happy, right? And you have your gorgeous girl to keep you company?’ Nina said, getting back on track with her misery-induced life comparison.
‘True,’ said Sal, raising her glass. ‘But I’m only happy because I have a glass half-empty philosophy.’
‘Don’t you mean glass half-full?’
‘No, I mean whenever I feel lonely, I drink some wine,’ said Sal, grinning and draining the last few inches from her glass and laughing.
Nina reached out a hand. ‘Oh Sal…’
‘Ah, I’m fine,’ said Sal. ‘I mean, I wouldn’t say no if a handsome man came along, someone take on half the chores and be a father figure to Rosie, and shower me with love and gifts and sex…’
‘Can you actually shower someone with sex?’ Bess mused.
Nina grimaced. ‘Probably, but not sure it’s something I’d enjoy…’
Sal laughed. ‘Anyway, what I’m saying is life is OK. Good even. Yes. I’m happy, I suppose. But nothing’s perfect – it can just look that way sometimes from the outside, especially if you’re feeling a bit wobbly.’
‘Plus kids, schmidz – not all it’s cracked up to be. Trust me,’ said Bess, taking a large sip of wine. ‘Do you know what Casey called me yesterday?’
‘What?’
‘An opp.’
They were silent for a minute.
‘Which means?’
Bess shook her head. ‘I have no idea. But it was definitely a bad thing.’
‘OK, I get that kids can be hard work. But you guys have lived, you’ve had adventures.’ Nina said.
‘And so have you. You… you went on that last-minute trip to Brighton a few years ago – do you remember? Called in sick at work. And there was that time you… you… you…’ said Bess, her face registering panic as she realised she’d run out of anecdotes.
‘That’s it!’ said Nina, tapping her glass against the table. The stem came off the glass and clattered to the floor. She stood up, still holding the rest of the glass, knocking the stool behind her backwards slightly. ‘That’s it, everyone!’ she said to the disinterested bar, flinging her arms wide and sending a shower of red wine over the woman next to them. ‘From now on, I am going to sayyes. I am going totakerisks! I am going to live my life to the fullest! And what is more, I am going to listen to fate! I’m going to let the stars dictate my future!’ she cried, stumbling, clutching at the table but falling nevertheless, face first into the pink iced cake at the centre of the table.
‘That sounds fabulous, lovely,’ said Bess, taking her by the arm as she stood up, her nose pink with icing. ‘But maybe we should get you home and start the risk-taking tomorrow morning.’
4
The next morning, Nina’s alarm shocked her awake at 6.30a.m. and she groaned. It was the first hangover she’d had in around a decade and now she remembered why she’d resolved not to drink to excess Ever Again. Her head throbbed, she felt stale and sweaty, and her mouth tasted like the inside of a dog’s bottom. Not that she had a frame of reference for that. But she was pretty sure it was an accurate description.
