When I saw it wasn’t Elspeth, the pounding in my head simmered to a dull thud. Olivia’s name flashed up, along with a photo of her and Rose. I answered quickly, hoping Seph hadn’t seen the photo.
“You okay?” I stuck my fingers over my other ear to dim the noise and sent Seph and apologetic look. He was watching me with what looked like interest.
“You don’t need to go into panic mode every time I call you, you know.” Her tone was judging.
“I don’t.”
“Bullshit. Anyway, my date was a wash out, so I’m heading home. Want to get take out and open that wine?”
“I’m having a couple of drinks after work, so when I get back with Rose, sure.”
I waited for the bomb to drop on my sister’s ear.
“You’re having drinks after work?”
“Right now, yes.”
“Holy fuck. Why don’t I go straight to collect Rose and you stay out? It’s been – how long – since you’ve been out after eight in the evening?”
The excitement in her voice was almost palpable. I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or concerned about how bad her date had actually been.
“Sure, but I’ll be back just after eight.” I looked at Seph who was still beside me, which meant I couldn’t explain why I wasn’t taking advantage.
“Make it later. Socialise with your colleagues. Maybe even meet a handsome gentleman who can whisk you off your feet. At least one of us could get lucky.”
I heard a sigh. Later I’d be getting a long tale about how bad her date actually was.
“We’ll talk about it when I get home.”
“Good.” She hung up, probably so I couldn’t change my mind.
Seph nudged the cocktail closer to me. “Your sister?”
I nodded, finally picking up the drink and having a taste of sweet alcohol. “Her date was a wash out.”
“Early in the day for a date.”
“I think it was an afternoon thing, some activity which was never going to end well. Liv likes to put men through their paces.” Truth. Liv was probably most men’s nightmare of a girlfriend, unless they were into being bossed about and possibly whipped.
Seph looked thoughtful. “Maybe we should set her up with my cousin.”
“What’s he like?”
“A manwhore who works as a paediatrician. He lives with me at the moment – when he’s not working or out on his nights off.”
I shrugged. “Worth a shot.”
Max walked over with his arm around his wife, looking more relaxed than I’d seen him before. He introduced us, made a comment to Seph about his jacket, and then we were surrounded by another half dozen people, and for an hour I forgot about the pots in the sink and the pile of ironing and the washing that needed doing. I was just Georgia.
Or as Seph called me - Georgie.
Chapter Seven
Seph
My cousins were bad influences.
Despite planning a quiet night in with a take-out and a binge watch of the Rocky movies, I was sitting at a table in Arthur Hooper’s in Borough Market with Shay next to me and Maven and Imogen opposite, a restaurant that specialised in selling small plates, and we’d already eaten a couple of dozen with more to come. It was meant to be a quick drink only; Shay had just come off a seventy-two hour stretch at the hospital and from what little he’d said, his shift had been gruelling. I knew he’d lost a patient, and I could tell when he got home that he needed a distraction other than watching shit on TV.
