‘Let me confirm with my mum but it should be all right.’
‘Great, I’ll make the reservation!’
As I continued through the parkland, my main thought was how I would tell Jay. He wasn’t a fan of Hugo and now I had to break it to him that he had to endure another evening in his company.
37
LIV
The music hit us like a wall as we entered the dimly lit restaurant. It was loud. Too loud. The other diners had to shout to be heard over it. Bare light bulbs suspended from an open ceiling hung over each table and the pipework and air-conditioning units were exposed to add to the industrial feel. As I scanned the tables for Maya and Hugo, I couldn’t help but think that everyone here looked young; they were all hip people holding out their phones to take pictures of their food, and posing and pouting for selfies. They were casually dressed in jeans and trainers and instantly, I felt frumpy and old-fashioned in my dress and high heels. It had been so long since I had gone out at night that I didn’t know what people wore any more.
Eventually, I spotted Maya standing out of her seat and waving us over to a booth. We made our way over to her. Maya stepped out to hug me first, then Jay. A flare of mortification assailed me as I thought about my jealousy that day in the kitchen. She hugged me warmly and I felt her diminutive, bony shoulders against mine. She was dressed in a boho-style mini dress with suede boots. Despite it being a casual outfit, she still looked effortlessly chic.
‘Hi, Hugo.’ I smiled, keen to start this evening off on the right foot. We had a long night ahead of us. I knew Maya really wanted us all to get along so I’d make an effort for her sake.
‘Can I pour you some wine?’ Maya offered as we sat into the booth opposite them. ‘I hope you don’t mind that I ordered this Rioja but it’s really good.’ She made a chef’s kiss with her thumb and forefinger.
‘I’m going to drive,’ Jay said. ‘Just in case Finn wakes up.’ We were keen to have one of us sober on the off chance that we got a call from my mother. ‘But I’m sure Liv might like one?’
‘Sure,’ I said, ‘I’ll just have a small one; red wine goes straight to my head.’
‘How’s work, Hugo?’ Jay asked, to make polite conversation, as Maya poured the wine.
‘It’s good. We can’t keep up with demand. We had planning permission granted for another three-hundred-thousand square feet of offices last week so that’s going to keep us busy for the next few years.’
‘Congratulations,’ Jay said. ‘That’s a good complaint to have.’
The conversation between the men fell quiet as Hugo made no effort to continue the chat or even to ask Jay about his job.
‘I’m starving,’ Jay said after a few moments, rubbing his belly. ‘Did the waiter bring over the menus yet?’ He searched around the table but came up with nothing.
‘Oh, you’ve to scan a QR code,’ Maya said.
‘Don’t tell me it’s one ofthoseplaces,’ Jay said with an eye-roll. ‘We probably have to cook our own food too.’
Hugo cracked a smile. ‘Maya loves paying good money to eat at outlandish places – the more ridiculous, the better.’
If she noticed the dig, to her credit, she didn’t rise to it.
We put in our orders and eventually, the food arrived to the table.
‘At least they have actual human waiting staff; I thought we might have a robot arrive at the table,’ Jay said.
The waiter put down various dishes of meatballs and chorizo and patatas bravas, prawns and calamari and stuffed tomatoes, and we all got stuck in. Despite the pretentiousness of the place, the food was delicious.
‘I take it all back; the food is amazing. I get the hype now,’ Jay said as he lowered a Padrón pepper into his mouth.
‘He’s always so easily won over with food,’ I joked.
‘You know what they say about the way to a man’s heart.’
‘Well, yours is a six-lane motorway,’ I quipped.
He laughed, pulled me in close and kissed me on the lips.
‘Get a room, you two!’ Maya teased.
‘Sorry,’ I mumbled as we quickly pulled away from each other.
