I spotted an easel displaying the seating plan and I was delighted when I saw that we were on the same table as Liv and Jay. Across the room, I spotted Liv standing over at the table already so we headed over to her.
‘Hey,’ I said, coming up behind her and surprising her. She was wearing an empire-line dress with long gloves and a satin bolero jacket over it, I guessed to cover her arms. She had curled tendrils of hair to frame her face. It looked like an outfit she had had in her wardrobe for years; it was a little dated now but she looked good.
She swung around, looking panicked. ‘Oh hi, Maya…’ she stammered. ‘Hi Hugo—’ I noticed that she was standing holding two placenames in her hands.
‘You look beautiful,’ I went on.
She began pulling at her dress self-consciously. ‘Oh, it’s very old…’
‘You’d never know. You look great,’ I enthused.
‘As do you. It’s all such a faff though, getting dressed up for these things. It’s so much easier for the men. All Jay had to do was chuck on his one suit – no worries about hair or make-up.’ She gave a nervous laugh.
‘But where’s the fun in that?’
We heard the piercing screech of feedback over the microphone before a man began speaking. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, if you could all take your seats. We’ll get started.’
‘Isn’t it great that we’re on the same table? I don’t really know anybody else here so at least we’ll have each other.’
Liv blinked hard and looked down at the ground.
I nodded to the tented placenames that she was still clutching in her hands. ‘What are you doing with those?’
‘Oh, sorry. I was just checking where we’re all sitting…’ she said as she placed the name cards back down onto the tablecloth again. ‘We were thrilled when we saw we’re all sitting together,’ she added weakly and that was when I realised she had been about to move them but I had caught her in the act.
I loved Liv, I really did, but she was a terrible liar.
47
LIV
As people took their seats at the table, I waved over to Jay to show him where we were sitting. I watched his expression darken as he approached when he realised we were at the same table as the Laurences.
‘You promised,’ he hissed as he came up alongside me.
‘Shh,’ I whispered. ‘I know… I’m sorry… I’ll explain everything later.’
Before he could say anything else, a woman began speaking over the microphone.
‘You are all very welcome here this evening. My name is Hilda Keogh and I am the chairperson of the Parents’ Association. For those of you who are new to our school this year, we are the link between the parents and the school. As well as representing the views of parents, we foster cooperation between the school management and parents. As I’m sure you can imagine, it is a valuable and vital resource for our school. We also look after fundraising for extra resources and anything that might crop up so don’t be afraid to get in touch with any of our members if you have new ideas or suggestions. We are always looking for fresh blood to contribute to our ongoing work,especially parents with different skill sets to enrich our offering so please don’t be shy about putting your hand up; we would love new members. We’ve put a lot of work into organising this evening and I hope you will all dig deep but most importantly have fun. So without further ado, I’m going to hand you over to our principal, Ms Fadden.’
People clapped as the principal took to the stage and began to talk about the school’s ethos. As Ms Fadden spoke, I saw Hugo was reading something on his phone. He had barely said two words to Maya all evening. The man beside him had tried to start a conversation with him about the rugby match at the weekend but Hugo had got distracted by his phone and eventually, the man had given up and turned back to his wife.
‘So what class are your kids in?’ another woman on the table asked Maya and me.
‘Our sons have just started in Junior Infants together,’ Maya replied.
‘Aw, how cute. My guys are in fifth and third class. It just flies by so enjoy it.’ She smiled and then got into a conversation with her husband.
‘I don’t know about you two,’ Maya said, turning to me and Jay, ‘but I already feel they’re getting so big even after just a few weeks in school. I wish they would stop growing and stay babies forever. We’ll be empty nesters before we know it.’
‘Liv and I say the same thing all the time,’ Jay agreed, shooting a wistful look in my direction. I smiled sadly back. ‘Would you like another baby, Maya?’
‘Well, you would need your husband to sleep with you for that to happen,’ she quipped, taking a sip from her wine glass.
Hugo placed his phone down on the table, suddenly giving Maya his full attention for the first time this evening. ‘So you just find other men to do it with instead!’ he sneered.
Jay turned puce and neither of us knew where to look or what to say. I wanted to hide beneath the table. Jay and I weren’t fighters and we both found this whole thing excruciating.
