Oh, fuck, it was the whole family at once. There was a momentary urge to flee, but it was quickly overtaken by therealisation that this was actually a positive thing. Better that everyone found out at the same time – that it was all out in the open and everyone knew exactly where they stood.
Wasn’t that what she’d wanted for seven long years? She inhaled, pulled back her shoulders, tried to project a confidence that she didn’t quite feel, but as always, she wasn’t going to let any fear or weakness show.
‘I’m Lila Anderson.’
Blank looks.
‘I know this will probably come as a shock…’
More blank looks. They genuinely had no idea who she was.
‘… I’m Ken’s girlfriend.’
10 p.m. – Midnight
29
Caro
‘What’s happening now? WHAT’S HAPPENING!’ The words were the same as before, but this time Caro could hear that Todd was hyperventilating on the other end of the phone. However, no matter how hard she tried to make her vocal chords work, they were resisting all commands.
Holy shit.
Lila had bolted. One minute the boyfriend was down on one knee, and she was looking at him with what Caro could tell, even from this distance, was horror, and the next thing she got up and flew out of the restaurant. Her mother then jumped up and ran after her, while the boyfriend – that poor, poor guy – slid back up on to his seat and stared after them, jaw dropped, his expression one of almost tangible confusion and devastation. Ouch. That had to hurt.
There was a delayed reaction in the rest of the room, roughly half of the diners just stared at the door, and the other half did that thing people do in the face of someone else’s complete mortification, where they tried to act like absolutely nothing had happened and went back to chatting, eating, perusing menus. Thankfully, the woman at the next table but one had taken that approach and was no longer frowning in her direction for using her phone in a high class establishment.
The mother was back in now, face aghast, hand over mouth, as she made her way back to the table.
‘If you don’t answer I’m calling the police, I swear.’
Todd. She’d forgotten about him. Putting the phone back to her mouth, she tried the vocal chords again.
‘Oh the poor, poor guy. The boyfriend – who by the way, looks really sweet and is incredibly handsome – proposed to her, she said no, she made a run for it, the mother chased her, but now she’s back without her and they’re all sitting there looking like they’ve been hit by a bus. If that’s my sister, she’s completely bonkers.’
‘Shut up!’ he said, chiding her for joking. ‘Tell me what really happened. Has she said yes yet? Why haven’t I heard a round of applause?’
‘Because I wasn’t joking. The boyfriend proposed, she said no, she made a run for it,’ she repeated.
There was a moment of silence as he processed this. ‘I can’t tell you how much I hope you’re related to this lot because I need this kind of drama in my life. I love them already. It’s like having your ownLifetimemini-series.’
‘Todd!’
‘Sorry. I mean, my heart’s breaking for him, obviously!’ he prattled, making it perfectly clear his heart wasn’t broken in the least. Obviously.
Her eyes still hadn’t left the other table. The boyfriend was sitting, looking utterly dazed, shaking his head every time Lila’s mother spoke to him. She had her hand on his arm, but it didn’t seem to be helping at all.
A man, Caro was sure he was the manager, had gone over to talk to him now, hand on shoulder, as if he knew him. They conversed for a few moments, before he headed off, back towards the kitchen area.
Seconds later, the boyfriend called the waiter over.
‘Oh, crap, I think he’s asking for the bill,’ she hissed to Todd.
‘Then you have to go over now. Right now!’
‘I can’t! That poor guy has just had his heart broken! I can’t appear at the table, and accost his dining companion, and accuse him of being my father. There’s only so much crap one table should have to deal with in one night.’
‘Do you think it’s him?’ Todd asked.
