‘Everything okay?’ called Barry.
‘Errant roast potato,’ said Ros, slinging the tray back in the oven, shutting the door and binning the escapee roastie as she dashed to join them in the hallway still wearing the oven gloves.
Cameron stood up from greeting the dog and for the first time that day Ros got a good look at him. He was wearing a white polo shirt and jeans, thankfully without any holes in them, but the most noticeable thing about him was that he’d had a haircut and a shave, which made him look quite different. He appeared far less studenty and more than presentable.
‘Hi, hon,’ said Cameron casually, leaning in and kissing her cheek.
Ros froze. And then realised her dad was watching them both closely. ‘Hello, Cameron.’
‘This is for you,’ said Cameron, handing Barry a bottle of white wine. ‘I’m hoping you drink the same as your daughter.’
Barry admired the bottle. ‘Pinot Grigio. Nice. Thank you, Cameron. You didn’t have to do that. Ros has got dinner under control so how about you come through to the living room?’
‘Actually I could do with a hand in here,’ said Ros in a panic, raising her oven-gloved hand.
‘What with?’ asked Barry.
‘Err... gravy boat. I don’t know where the gravy boat is.’ Ros headed back to the kitchen, checking over her shoulder that they were following her.
Barry started looking in cupboards, which gave Cameron a chance to mouth‘Areyouokay?’to Ros.
Ros mimed her head exploding and he grinned. He looked very different. So much smarter than he usually did. ‘I like your hair,’she mouthed.‘Thank you for...’She mimed scissors in the air.
‘You’re welcome,’he mouthed back. They smiled at each other.
‘Here it is!’ said Barry triumphantly, recovering the gravy boat from the back of a cupboard. He looked at Cameron and then at Ros. ‘What did I miss?’
‘Something smells good,’ said Cameron, taking two strides to stand next to Ros.
‘It’s just chicken.’
‘My favourite,’ he said.
Barry opened the bottle of wine as Ros got out three glasses.
‘Did you drive here, Cameron?’ asked Barry.
‘I cycled over so I’ll only have one small glass please.’
‘Very wise. That’s not a local accent. North somewhere, is it?’
‘Midlands. I’m from Derbyshire.’
‘What brings you to Southampton?’ asked Barry, pouring the wine.
‘University,’ said Cameron.
‘And you settled here.’ Barry handed out the glasses of wine.
‘It’s a lovely part of the world,’ said Cameron.
‘Cheers to that,’ said Barry and they all raised their glasses.
Ros had to admit she was impressed with how Cameron had handled the initial grilling. He’d answered everything confidently and whilst he may have withheld some facts, he hadn’t out-and-out lied to her father, who so far was smiling. Gazza trotted in and went to have a sniff around Cameron’s feet. He pawed at his leg until he gave him a fuss.
‘I have to say I’ve not known Gazza react to someone like that. He usually does a lot more barking and is quite standoffish. But he certainly likes you.’
‘Gazza likes everyone, Dad,’ said Ros, realising that the dog had met Cameron the previous day and already associated him with getting a lot of fuss.
