‘Close your eyes.’
‘Why?’
‘Just do it.’
‘Fine.’ She closes her eyes.
‘Picture yourself when you’re sixty – who do you see sitting beside you?’
She hesitates. A pink rash climbing up her throat, her eyes open and she meets my eyes.
‘Is it Dan?’
She bites her lip, a minute shake of her head.
‘So, who did you picture?’
She presses her lips together. ‘Rob Lowe.’
I start laughing and she grins, reaching for her drink, propping it towards me. ‘Who do you picture?’
‘Honestly?’ I rub my chin.
‘Always.’
‘I can’t really picture myself that old. But I guess Alice?’
She shakes her head, but some of the weight of the earlier conversation has lifted and there is a spark back in her eyes. ‘Then we’d best find her, hadn’t we? What about putting up your details in a few places around here? If she got the address wrong, she wouldn’t have got the town wrong, right?’
‘True.’ I flick my lighter open and shut a few times while I think. Even though I don’t smoke any more, having this helps with the cravings.
‘So, if I were moving to a place I didn’t really know, you know starting afresh, like, where would I go?’
‘Corner shop?’
‘Yep.’ She gestures to the room.
‘Here?’
‘Well done, Sherlock.’
She has a good point. The food arrives and Kate ignores Lisa, instead pulling out a notepad and pen, passing it along the table. ‘Just…’ she adds, taking a swig of her lager and lime, ‘don’t sound desperate, don’t let her think you’re some nutter one stepaway from banging on all the houses on the street.’ She grins then returns her attention to cracking the top of the pie.
‘Ha. Ha.’
‘What shall I say?’
‘I dunno, just say you’re looking for… Oh! Have you heard about the new Madonna film coming out soon? It’s all over my mags,Desperately Seeking Susan… you could write Desperately Seeking Alice!’
I reach for the fork. ‘That’s a no.’
‘Just your name and number, saying that you have her ring?’
I cut into the pastry. ‘That’ll bring out the crazies.’
In the end I decide on a short note saying:Looking for Alice. You dropped something. If this is you, please contact Michael.Then add my address and phone number.
We write a handful and after lunch leave one at the pub, one in the local shop, another in a laundrette, another in a Chinese takeaway, and the last one in a chemist.
