‘I definitely do know.’
‘I want you to speak at the McArthur Foundation fundraiser, Oliver.’
‘Mom, we’ve done this before. I don’t want to get into another fight about it.’
‘Neither do I,’ Cynthia responded, putting her glass back down on the table. ‘So, why don’t you tell me about Hayley Walker?’
Oliver fumbled with his beer bottle and it slipped from his hand, spilling some of its contents on the red and white tablecloth. He reached for his napkin and began to mop up the fluid. His mother had thrown him. He didn’t know what to say. Had Hayley told his mother about them? How else would she know?
‘Oliver, I still come here with Janice and Linda.’ She reached across the table and lay a hand on his arm. ‘Anna told me you brought someone here, how you were with each other… Tony filled me in on the rest.’
Oliver’s eyes shot to the bar area where Tony was making drinks for other tables.
‘Don’t worry, he didn’t give you up easily. I did have to threaten every bad teenage photo I have of him, blown up to poster size and put on the windows of his new restaurants.’
Oliver blew out a breath. ‘There’s nothing to say. We had one date and then I realised it wasn’t going to work.’
And he’d been reliving every moment of their time together ever since. Her laugh, the way she talked at a hundred miles a second, her enthusiasm for life. And there it was. How could someone so full of life be forced into his pity party?
‘You know she’s helping me organise the fundraiser?’
He nodded. ‘Yeah, she told me.’
‘She’s doing an excellent job.’
‘She’s an excellent person.’ He raised his eyes to his mother then. ‘Very capable.’
Cynthia let a sigh leave her lips. ‘It doesn’t have to be this way, Oliver.’
‘It doesn’t have to bewhatway?’
‘Running from your feelings doesn’t make them go away. All it does is make you sad and the person you have feelings for even sadder.’
He picked up a slice of pizza from his plate, thought about eating it, then dropped it down again. ‘I can’t do what you did with Dad and Ben.’
‘What did I do?’ Cynthia asked. ‘Except love them unconditionally?’
‘There! That. Exactly that.’ He wiped his fingers on the napkin. ‘How can I expect someone to care for me unconditionally when the truth is I could die at any time?’
Cynthia shook her head. ‘I was in a very dark place when we lost Ben. We all were. But your father, he held us all together as best as he could, knowing his number could be up at any time.’ She placed the flats of her hands on the table as if she was garnering strength from its solidity. ‘He told me that everybody in this world could die at any time and he was right. All of us are dying, Oliver. I could get run over in the street, or be gunned down by that gang over in the housing project; there’s risk just getting up in the morning.’ She smiled then. ‘But we can’t all stay in bed. Netflix wouldn’t cope with demand.’
‘Mom…’ Oliver started.
‘You need to stop being so afraid and contact the consultant, Oliver. And then, tell Hayley everything.’ Cynthia paused. ‘If she’s the person you think she is then it won’t matter one bit.’
52
DEAN WALKER’S APARTMENT, DOWNTOWN MANHATTAN
‘I can smell burning,’ Angel remarked, padding into the kitchen dressed in a fluffy cat onesie.
‘No burning here, just golden brown waffles.’ Hayley served the food onto a plate. ‘Grab them while they’re hot.’
Hayley watched Angel eye the charred offerings like they were offensive. ‘What?! Black is the new golden brown. Everybody’s doing it.’
‘Where’s Uncle Dean?’ Angel asked, climbing up onto a bar stool and pulling the orange juice carton towards her.
‘Work. He had to go early. He said something about it being a big day. That could mean something crucial about the Globe or it could mean he’s going to his favourite restaurant for lunch.’ Hayley slipped onto the stool next to Angel. ‘Eat up.’
