‘Audrey…’ Selena gasped, as Graham beamed with glee.
‘I never want to see you or speak to you again.’ Audrey stomped across the Cup and Saucer, Graham shuffling behind as fast as he could manage, while the Larks and their assorted guests watched, mouths open, for the first time ever their hearts cracking with sympathy for the frozen, punch-splattered figure in front of them.
After what seemed like a horribly long time, Marjory broke the silence. ‘You know how this goes. She’ll be back once he gets bored, you haven’t lost her.’
Selena blinked twice and shook a purple droplet from her hair. ‘Oh, I’ve no doubt he’ll dump her as soon as another foolish, lonely girl catches his eye. If he doesn’t drop dead of a fornicating-induced heart attack before then. But I have to disagree with your last point. If I hadn’t already lost her, she’d never have fallen for the slithering pus-ball.’
Nathan brought Selena her coat and handbag. ‘Come on. I’ll take you home.’
‘Right, show’s over, people,’ Dani called out as they left. ‘As much as we love Selena and Audrey, and all loathe Graham Gags, there’s nothing we can do about it now. It’s nine-thirty, we’ve still got an hour and a half of serious partying left. And I haven’t danced to Beyoncé yet. Mr DJ, would you do the honours?’
It took another couple of songs, but, boy, Dani’s moves were infectious, and once Marjory and her partner started jiving, we had to clear all the tables to the edge of the room anyway.
‘Come on, Amy!’ Mel yelled, throwing an imaginary lasso to tug me into the crowd. ‘Time to stop spectating, start participating!’
I looped the lasso over my head and tossed it back to her. ‘Maybe another time.’ I’d had a good night, mostly. Had overcome another massive hurdle, done some genuine participating. But it was now nearly ten, and I was mentally and emotionally running on empty.
Bronwyn flossed over to where I stood. ‘If you dance, you can go to bed tonight knowing you aced it. A-star. Gold medal. Were utterly bold and fearless and brilliant in every instance. If you don’t, you’ll go home knowing you let fear win, even if just in this one small thing. Come on, let’s totally smash the party.’
‘Maybe in a minute, okay?’
Before someone else came and made getting Amy to dance the new focus of the evening, I dodged round the edge of the café and slipped into the bathroom. Whew. The Amy in the mirror was a far cry from the last time I’d been in here. I looked as though I’d beenoutout. For a woman who’d been in in for so long, that felt like an A-star to me. And when I returned to find Nathan back, strutting to ‘Uptown Funk’ like a drunken robot chicken, I figured what the hell, if I was dancing with him, then it would give me an excuse to look right at him, rather than ogle from the sidelines.
‘Is it wrong that I find that sort of sexy?’ one of the younger Larks I didn’t know very well whispered out the side of her mouth, as Nathan jerked about.
‘If it’s wrong, then I don’t want to be right,’ Bronwyn laughed, breathless. ‘But don’t tell my boyfriend I said that!’ she added, coming to an abrupt halt. ‘Like, seriously. Please don’t.’
‘Are you scared of your boyfriend?’ I asked, as she started bopping again.
‘As if! I’m a hardcore bouncer, remember!’ She grinned and twirled away, but not so fast that I didn’t see the flicker of a lie behind her smile.
A couple of songs later, I quit the dance floor and checked my phone. A missed call from Joey. Four texts that rambled on for several paragraphs each. The summary: could he stay the night at Sean’s Airbnb?
Crap.
Could he? I reviewed the numerous reasons he gave for this last-minute change in plans. Took a deep breath, ducked into the bathroom and called Sean.
‘Hey, Amy. How’s the party?’
‘Was this your idea?’
‘It was…’ I could hear the cogs turning in Sean’s head as he tried to decide what answer would be more likely to make me say yes. ‘Sort of, came to us both at the same time.’
‘Right. Fill me in on the details, then.’
‘Well. There’s a spare room in the apartment. I’ve got an extra toothbrush. I’ll drive him straight to the gala in Leicester in the morning, stay and watch him race. That way you don’t have to rush home and can lie-in tomorrow.’
‘He needs his kit.’
‘Yeah, we can pop by and pick it up on the way.’
‘You already have it, don’t you?’
Silence.
‘If this is going to work, you need to stop playing me. I’m not nineteen any more and I won’t be manipulated or controlled. This kind of crap just stops me trusting you.’
‘Yeah. Sorry. I hear you, and I’ll make sure I talk things through with you in future. But Joey’s really excited and…’
