Enya stared at her older sister, who presently resembled a burnished walnut and was about as wrinkled. ‘Probably not.’ She smiled to herself.
‘So, tell me all about Aiden and Holly, what a bloody carry-on, Ens!’
‘You could say that.’ She took a chair opposite Angela and sipped her brew.
‘Poor Holly.’
‘Yes.’ She disliked how Holly was cast in this way, a capable, wonderful young woman who was now to be pitied, it seemed, because of a choice Aiden had made. ‘She’ll be fine though, she’ll come out the other end stronger and probably thankful. Who wants to be with someone if there’s even the smallest possibility they want to be with someone else?’
‘True.’ Angela nodded. ‘That’s what Jenny said, pretty much.’
‘You’ve spoken to her?’ She held the mug between her palms and cursed the increase in her heart rate. It was awful, the feeling of exclusion,the grief at the prospect of losing her best friend, and this before she wondered what it all might mean for their business plans, the one thing that had been the light at the end of the tunnel when she considered losing her job of twenty-five years. Jenny had still not responded to her heart text, and it had left her at a loss as to how best to proceed.
‘Mmm.’ Angela swallowed. ‘I hate feeling like I’m in the middle.’
‘You’re not in the middle! We’re adults. And we’ve all been around too long to let this rip a hole in our friendship, haven’t we?’ The quaver to her voice indicated this was not a rhetorical question.
‘We have, but you’re my sister, my priority, yet Jen is my friend and I hate that I’m speaking to both of you and yet you’re not speaking to each other, it’s awkward. Weird.’
‘Only if we let it be. I sent her another message after the heart, didn’t know what else to do really. I think it’ll be better when the dust has settled, when we’re all a bit calmer.’
‘And when d’you think that’ll be?’
There was something in her sister’s tone that suggested she might have a long wait.
‘I don’t know.’ She held Angela’s eyeline, this truth as sobering as it was unnerving. She missed her friend so much, hated the feeling of unease here in her own home. Hated that she had such a small circle, hated that Jonathan was not here to make everything feel a bit better. ‘What did she say to you?’
‘She’s angry, so she said lots of things that I know she doesn’t mean. Heat of the moment stuff.’
‘Oh God!’ Her sister’s admission did nothing to allay her concerns. Enya wished she hadn’t asked.
‘Let’s talk about something else.’ Angela echoed her thoughts.
‘You know I told you that Iris and her parents came over at the weekend?’ She shifted in the chair, not sure if this was in fact a better choice of topic.
‘Yes, what were they like?’ Her sister’s eyes blazed, she did love a gossip.
‘Iris is lovely, beautiful. I mean, not overly warm, but she was probably very nervous. Her mum is glam, has an allergy to some nuts, and she necked a bottle and a half of sparkling wine and danced with her arms in the air to a song in her head, which was... interesting. Not judging, but...’
‘Oh my God, you aresojudging her! But carry on, I am here for this.’
‘And Iris’s dad.’ She paused, and rubbed her tired eyes. ‘Okay.’ She put down her tea and lay her palms on the table. ‘Do you remember I mentioned to you about that man in the car park?’
‘The one who smashed your car in?’
‘Well, he didn’t exactly smash my car in but there was an incident.’
‘I remember, you were giggly, said he was attractive; Alan Titchmarsh meets Gary Barlow.’
Enya stared at her with a look of utter bewilderment, and felt her face flush with embarrassment. ‘I might have said he was attractive, but I swear to God I never mentioned Alan Titchmarsh or Gary Barlow, neither of whom I find remotely attractive.’
‘You don’t? What’swrongwith you?’ Angela tutted.
‘What’s wrong withyou?’ Enya countered as they reverted to their teenage selves, which happened on occasion.
Angela took a gulp of her tea. ‘Okay, so maybe I might have fabricated the bit about Gary Barlow meets Alan Titchmarsh because actually that would be my ideal man.’
Enya pulled a face at her sister. ‘Are you serious?’
