As if in a dream, she found herself standing next to Nick in front of the karaoke machine.
‘What should we sing?’ she muttered, suddenly conscious of the waiting audience.
Nick looked through the song list and smiled. ‘How about “Suddenly, Seymour” fromLittle Shop of Horrors?’
She shook her head.
‘“All I Ask of You”?’
A classic duet fromPhantom of the Opera, one she could sing in her sleep, she thought. Actually, she wished she was asleep and this was all a nightmare. ‘Okay.’ She nodded and took the microphone.
Lily’s anxiousness dissipated as the opening chords sounded. This was neither an audition nor a performance; it was simply a song to sing, and as she looked at Nick and sang, everything else slipped away.
Their vocals melded perfectly, Nick’s warm tenor complementing Lily’s crystalline soprano. As they approached the chorus, Lily felt a rush of excitement race through her. This was why she enjoyed singing: the pure delight of creating something beautiful with another person.
Except Nick had lied to her. They had been engaged. She somehow managed to get to the end of the song but once it was over, she handed him the microphone.
The tavern had gone silent, with all eyes fixed on the pair on stage. Even Jessica was transfixed, her smugness replaced by a look of shock at their duet.
‘That was—’ he started to say, but she cut him off.
‘I don’t want to hear it,’ she said and stepped down off the stage and went to the table, people still applauding. She drained her wine and picked up her bag, left the pub and stepped outside into the night to make her way back to Gran.
23
As Lily raced out from The Crumpetty Tree, she felt like she wanted to scream and cry all at once. How dare he lie to her? Why wouldn’t he tell her?
God she was so stupid. She ran to her car, her feet pounding the pavement as she made her escape. The humiliation. God, no wonder Jessica hated her so much.
An engagement! He said it wasn’t serious, so who was lying here?
She could hear Nick’s voice calling out after her, ‘Lily, wait!’
As he came up behind her, he put his hand on her shoulder and she spun around and slapped it off.
‘Do not touch me,’ she said.
‘What’s wrong? What’s happened?’ His face was confused and she wondered how the hell did he not get what he had done.
‘What’s wrong? Are you serious? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?’
‘Find out what?’ he asked looking genuinely confused at her words and anger.
She threw her hands up in the air, gesturing at him.
‘The fact that you were engaged to Jessica, when you told me it was nothing serious. Why would you lie to me? I’m so embarrassed. This was clearly a joke to you and you have taken me for a fool.’ She opened the car door.
‘Engaged?’ he asked. His voice was loud and shocked.
‘Yes, Sheila told me,’ she said. ‘She said everyone knew.’
‘Well I would have liked to have known since I was supposed to be the one getting married.’ His voice rose.
‘Don’t yell at me,’ she yelled at him and felt herself starting to cry. ‘And I’m not crying because I’m sad, I’m crying because I’m angry. You wouldn’t understand,’ she said to him, furious.
‘You can cry, even though I don’t want you to cry, but honestly, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Jess and I were never engaged.’ He did look genuinely confused but, still, why would Sheila say that if it wasn’t true?
‘But Sheila said,’ she said.
