“That’s early; is there a bomb shelter curfew in Maitland then?” Adam mused.
Crap! I looked at my watch: 9 p.m. on a Saturday night, hardly something to brag about. I wasn’t very good at this ad-lib-lying thing, clearly.
“No, it’s just he has footy training in the morning and he is really dedicated.”
“I’ll say; it’s cricket season.”
FUCK! I knew jack about sports.
“He still has to keep fit.”
“On a Sunday?”
“Yes,” I snapped.
“Well, I could think of a few better ways to keep fit,” Adam said, mainly to himself.
“What?”
“Oh nothing; he’s a better man than me. Well, glad you had a good night.”
“I had a GREAT night.”
“Cool.”
“In fact, we’re going out again next weekend.” I lifted my chin with great triumph, feeling rather empowered by my fake life.
Silence fell on the other end of the phone; I had almost thought that Adam had hung up until he spoke. “So, you’re bringing him to the engagement party?”
Wait. What?
Now it was my turn to be silent.
“Didn’t you get the memo?”
Memo? As far as I knew there was only one pending engagement party. The one for my best friend Tess and Toby, one that had yet to be scheduled a date for, the one for which I was pretty certain I would have been the first to know if there had been a date set. I felt a bit hurt. Was this what happened? Leave Onslow and it’s out of sight out of mind?
It killed me to ask. “What memo?”
“Oh shit, hang on a sec.” There was rustling on the other end, as if he was juggling the phone from one ear to the other. “You there?” he asked, this time in a lowered voice.
“Yeah,” I said, a bit uncertain. Anytime Adam lowered his voice normally meant he was up to no good.
“So Tess and Toby have set a date then?” I said, trying not to sound as though receiving the sloppy, second-hand news hadn’t seriously pissed me off.
“Well, yes and no,” said Adam, which only made me more confused.
I sighed. “What does that mean?” I was seriously losing patience: my feet were hurting, my pride was in tatters, and as I glanced around me, I soon realised I had no ride home.
Perfect.
“Sean is throwing them a surprise party at the lake house next weekend.”
Crap! It sounded exactly like something Sean would do, give him any excuse to throw a party at his place. There always seemed to be a pre-celebratory party to every event amongst us; we had even managed to have farewell drinks there before I left. My heart sank; there really was nothing more spectacular than a party at Sean’s lake house. Unofficial engagement party aside, it wasn’t something anyone would blow off, and to see the look on Tess’s face would be completely worth it.
“So Tess has no idea?”
“Hasn’t a clue. I’ve been avoiding her since I found out; I’m shit scared of letting something slip.” Adam laughed.
