‘Pleased to meet you.’ Neelam held out her hand. Phil shook it, a hard ridge of gem-laden rings digging into his flesh.
‘This is Cate,’ Phil said. How glad he was to have her by his side.
‘Hello, I’m Rishi.’ Raj’s elder boy, smart in a pressed blue shirt, flashed a cheeky grin. All three children looked remarkably clean and tidy, shoehorned into their best holiday clothes.
Cate turned to Neelam. ‘What lovely children.’
‘It is a pity we cannot meet yours but I suppose they haven’t broken up just yet. We shouldn’t really have taken ours out of school but it’s a special occasion and at this age, they can catch up easily enough. Raj is very strict about homework.’
Cate smiled. ‘This café’s a lovely choice; how did you find it?’ she asked.
‘Just by accident. We came here yesterday. The children haven’t stopped talking about theirbussolàsince. They’d eat those biscuits at every meal if they got the chance.’ Neelam laughed.
Phil studied the menu for something to do. It was okay for Cate, talking to Neelam so easily the way women did.
‘What’s everyone drinking?’ Raj asked, immediately drowned out by a chorus of demands for fizzy drinks.
‘Lemonade for me and Phil, please,’ Cate said.
Neelam took charge of the ordering. Raj lounged back in his seat; his T-shirt and bright-orange shorts looked cool and casual. Phil’s favourite linen jacket felt stuffy and formal but he needed somewhere to stow his wallet, map and phone, an issue Raj seemed to have solved by shoving his belongings into a mini Pokémon rucksack purloined from one of his kids.
The conversation was light, frivolous: the weather, the prettiest streets in Venice, the best place for gelato. Cate flashed him a ‘see, nothing bad’s going to happen’ look but she didn’t know what torture this was. He hadn’t realised himself until today how he needed to feel Raj’s anger, the anger he deserved. He wanted to feel the sickening pain of a punch in the gut, longed for the metallic taste of blood in his mouth as Raj knocked out a couple of teeth. Phil needed some sort of closure. He couldn’t sit here making meaningless chit-chat as though Raj was some guy he’d met once on a golf course.
‘So how did you come to look me up after all this time?’ Raj said at last. Phil felt the wordsyou didn’t bother beforeleft unsaid.
‘Coming to Venice. Brings back memories of school, I suppose.’ He felt his face burning.
‘I’d never been abroad before we went on that school trip. I don’t think you had either.’
‘France once, camping. It rained a lot.’ Phil gulped his drink.
‘Played any rugby lately? I’ll never forget that day you went to kick that ball into touch and it went flying down to your own try line. Fathead Horace couldn’t believe his luck.’
Phil forced a laugh.
Raj turned his head. His middle child, the girl, was pulling on his arm. ‘Daddy, are we going to tell them our secret?’
‘Shh!’ Neelam said.
‘We’re going to do something exciting but we can’t tell.’ The eldest boy nudged his sister. The littlest one said nothing, noisily sucking up the last of his cola.
‘Raj thought we should do something fun together if you have the time,’ Neelam said.
‘We’re free all afternoon.’ Cate spoke before Phil had the chance to send her a ‘please no’ signal.
‘Let’s go, Daddy, let’s go!’ The girl started banging a spoon on the table.
‘Stop that noise, Malini.’ Raj put a firm hand on her arm. ‘Okay, folks, time to go. I’ll pay for this.’
Phil was about to protest but he caught Cate’s warning look. Raj had his pride; he must remember that.
Cate bent down to the level of the littlest kid. ‘Where are we going?’ she whispered.
‘Secret.’ He giggled, stuffing his fist in his mouth.
‘How exciting.’ Cate played along.
Raj led them in the direction of the Grand Canal, talking about football all the way. Phil was relieved to discover they still supported the same team. Missed penalties, bad managers and dodgy refs filled up the conversation as they walked along.
