Hugo sneered, taking a sip from his Coke.
After a while, Jay served up juicy steaks, baked potatoes and Liv brought big bowls of salad out from the kitchen. There was grilled asparagus, tomatoes and corn still in its husk.
‘This looks great, guys,’ I said as I began to eat.
‘So, what do you do, Jay?’ Hugo asked as he chewed on a mouthful of the meat.
‘I’m a nurse.’
‘A nurse,’ he repeated and I prayed he wasn’t going to make a derogatory comment. ‘Tough job but I guess someone has to do it.’
‘That’s how they met, darling. They’re both nurses,’ I chimed in. ‘Isn’t that sweet?’
‘What do you do, Hugo?’ Jay asked.
‘I run my own property development firm. Mainly in the commercial sector but we’ve moved into residential lately. We can’t keep up with demand.’
Jay nodded. ‘Housing is a disaster in this country at the moment. Liv and I were both in steady, permanent jobs, working full-time, and it still took us years to save up enough to put a deposit on this place and as I’m sure you’ve probably noticed, it’s not exactly a mansion. It’s a terraced three-bedroomed house, you can’t swing a cat in it and when I see how much leaves our bank account for the mortgage every month, it makes me want to cry.’
Liv reached out and placed a hand on top of her husband’s. ‘But at least we own our own place now and we’re not funding some landlord’s pension pot.’
Jay smiled at her and I felt my heart twist. Despite their financial hardships, they were so united, so in love – they had everything I wished I had in my own relationship.
‘True. The government needs to do more for people trying to buy,’ Jay continued.
‘Why should they?’ Hugo challenged. ‘Why should people get handouts? It’s really simple: the harder you work in life, the more money you’ll have to spend.’
‘Well, that’s not true now, is it? I work hard and we’re always broke.’
‘No offence but you work in a public-sector job,’ Hugo countered.
‘Well someone has to do it; who’s going to work in the hospitals or in the schools if everyone is off chasing the big bucks?’
‘Well, I know what I’d rather do…’ Hugo muttered.
I couldn’t believe he said that. I wanted to die.
Jay and Liv shifted uncomfortably.
‘Darling, if you’re not careful, you won’t get any of my boozy tiramisu,’ I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
‘What do you do, Maya?’ Jay asked, turning away from Hugo.
‘Well I studied marketing in college but my degree is worthless since the advent of the digital age. If I wanted to go back to work, I’d need to upskill and learn about online advertising and media campaigns and with Elliot being so young and Hugo working such long hours, I don’t think it would be a good move for us right now.’
‘So now she spends her days getting her hair and nails done instead. It’s almost a full-time job, isn’t that right, Maya?’
I told myself not to rise to it. Not to get dragged into an argument with him. He knew how to push my buttons but doing it in front of company was a low blow.
‘Now, that’s unfair; being at home with the kids is hard work,’ Liv interjected. ‘I’m sure it takes a lot of pressure off you if you know Maya is at home and you don’t need to juggle childcare or worry about Elliot. There’s a lot to be said for having that peace of mind.’
‘I may as well be the nanny,’ I spat, reaching for my glass and taking a long, deliberate gulp.
Just then, we heard a scream and we swung around to see Finn lying on the grass, crying.
‘Oh, honey,’ Liv said, rushing over to him.
‘Did anyone see what happened?’ Jay asking, dropping his cutlery and rushing over behind his wife.
