Page 24 of The Three of Us

‘Ah, well, the other one then. The old woman with the hairnet. Ena, or Elsie. Something like that. Come on, it’s just a drink, Carly. I’m not asking you to run away with me!’ He laughs, and suddenly my refusal seems churlish, childish, ridiculous. He’s right. It is just a drink.

‘Okay then. Why not?’

Jack takes one of my bags from me. He probably would have done the full-on gentleman thing and carried both if he didn’t already have his briefcase in one hand. ‘The Clarion all right with you?’

The Clarion is more of a posh wine bar than the pub I’d been expecting, but I don’t argue as we walk the five minutes or so to get there. It’s almost empty as we step into the calm, plush red-and-silver interior, quiet music playing in the background, and Jack leads me to a velvet-lined booth in the far corner.

‘What can I get you?’ he says, plonking my shopping down beside me and getting his wallet out of his jacket pocket.

I want a cider but I’m not sure they’d even have it in a place like this, so I ask for a small glass of Merlot, and Jack strolls over to the bar to get it. While he’s gone, I take the opportunity to adjust my belongings and myself, whipping out a mirror from my bag and quickly rearranging my hair and slicking on a dab of lip gloss, and piling both shopping bags onto the chair on the other side of the table so, when Jack gets back, he has no option but to sit beside me on the plush bench seat.

He comes back carrying two large empty glasses and a whole bottle of red. ‘I thought we were only stopping for one,’ I say. ‘I don’t want to get tiddly. I need a clear head. I’ve got things to do.’

‘Like put your beans away in the kitchen cupboard? What’s the problem with a bit of alcohol, Carly? Loosen up. I know you’re not driving tonight.’

‘You’ve spoken to Syd, haven’t you? You know about the driving lessons.’

‘I have, as it happens.’ He’s concentrating on pouring the wine, and carefully places an almost full glass down in front of me. ‘And I hear it’s down to you that he tracked me down, so thanks for that. It was good to hear from him, especially the blow-by-blow account of your first three-point turn.’ He’s smiling so much he’s bordering on actually laughing at me.

‘He didn’t tell you about that, did he?’ I can feel my face redden as I remember the mess I made of it, the bump as the front wheels slammed into the kerb. ‘Whatever happened to client confidentiality?’

Jack’s been holding the laugh back but he lets it escape now. ‘Just a little bit of banter between mates. It’s not going any further. It’s not as if he took photos and sold them to The Sun.’ He takes a big slug of his wine and looks at me. ‘I’m sorry. You know I’m only teasing. We’ve all had to learn, all made mistakes. I think it’s pretty brave of you actually, starting at your age.’

‘My age? I’m thirty-one, not bloody ninety!’

‘Yeah, but you know what I mean. I had my first lesson the minute I was seventeen. All over-confident and cocky. And did all my practising on little quiet country roads, but it still didn’t stop me hitting a fence post or running over a pheasant.’

‘You didn’t! The poor thing.’

‘Oh, it was already dead before I got there. It happens a lot, in the country. But still not a nice feeling squishing what was left of it into the road. Not as if I could have picked it up and taken it home for Mum to cook. It was too far gone for that.’

‘Yuk!’

We sit in silence for a few minutes. In my head, the image of the dead bird seems to merge with the redness of the wine, which suddenly looks a lot like blood. It’s good wine though, far better than the cheap plonk the pubs sell. It must have cost a fair bit.

‘So, are you meeting up with Syd? He said he’d quite like to get some of your old workmates together for a catch-up.’

‘Yeah, Saturday.’

I am not going to ask for the details. I promised Syd I’d stay away from Jack and I’ve already broken that one, even though I hadn’t meant to. Besides, he could be taking his wife along, for all I know, if she’s back by then. And I really don’t want to meet her. I don’t even want to know what she looks like. It’s best she remains shadowy, if that’s the right word. Faceless. I don’t want to think of her as an enemy, a rival. Not even as a real person. In fact, I don’t want to have to think about her at all.

‘Molly will probably still be away, so I’ll be footloose and fancy free.’ It’s as if he’s read my mind. ‘Boys’ night out.’

‘Well, behave yourself, or make sure Syd does anyway. He’s a father now, remember. A responsible family man.’

Something passes over Jack’s face, but I can’t quite pinpoint what it is.

‘It’s just a drink, Carly.’ The same words he said to me just minutes ago. ‘Well, a few, probably. But no funny business. When men get together it’s not all strip clubs and trying to get off with the barmaid, you know. I like to think we’ve grown out of all that. Well, I know I have.’

‘Sorry.’

He gives me one of those killer smiles of his and touches my hand. The briefest of touches but I swear I can still feel it, all warm and tingly, after he takes it away.

‘Nothing to be sorry for. I’m just not the same man I was when you knew me before. I’m…’

‘Married?’ I wish I hadn’t jumped right in with that, but it just slipped out. Anyone would think I was jealous.

‘Well, yes, that, obviously. But I meant that I’m older, more settled, at work as well as at home. And I want to do well, make something of my life. I have… ambition, I suppose.’