‘No, I was an Ox with a clown nose for Oxford Circus. Janice decided on blue for Maida Vale and got mistaken for Mary.’
I laughed. ‘Ahh that was a good night, wasn’t it?’
‘The best. Not a care in the world. Although I don’t know what I’d have done if I hadn’t got that job. Did you apply for a lot of others?’ Leo asked.
‘Hundreds. Well, it seemed like hundreds at the time. Having Engelman on my CV helped open some doors but I was fighting a losing battle to be honest. I did some freelance for a few years in the end, to bridge the gap.’
‘Why?’
‘PR is impossible to get into unless you know someone who knows someone – or at least it used to be.’ I harumphed. ‘How did you do it? Was it Mummy or Daddy who got your foot in the door? Or both?’
He frowned. ‘I did it the same way you did – by applying and being accepted.’
‘You must have known people in the industry though? You strike me as a man who comes from a well-connected family.’
‘Some lazy assumptions there. My parents died in a car accident before I ever got to know them. My gran raised me and my brothers on a pension in Manchester.’
I sat back at that, stunned and completely mortified. ‘Oh my God, Leo, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.’
‘Why would you? We don’t know each otherthatwell.’
‘But still, I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘Yeah. I know a thing or two about fighting for things as I’ve had to do it my whole life.’ He gave me a cool stare, then seemed to change his mind and his face softened. ‘It was hard, but we made it work. I had a hardship grant at uni and that Engelman job was a lifeline. I was up to my ears in debt, and any spare money Gran had went on my younger brother.’
I was gobsmacked. All these years I’d been incensed at the injustice of it all, convinced he had a silver spoon up his bum and I’d got him all wrong.
‘I shouldn’t have said any of that; it was presumptuous and rude. You always seem so… well put together. Your voice, your clothes. I just assumed.’
‘Oh, that. Yeah, but it’s all learnt behaviour,’ he said, leaning in. ‘My northern accent wasn’t getting me anywhere, so I woke up one day and decided to try something different.’
‘What, just out of the blue? That must have surprised your gran.’
‘First day of uni,’ he replied with a wink. ‘New friends, new start, new me.’
‘There’s nowt wrong with a northern accent, lad,’ I said, attempting one.
‘Eh, that’s pretty good is that,’ he replied, much more convincingly, and my insides wobbled at his throaty timbre. Funny the things that remind you of home, and I was a sucker for a northerner.
‘I think I’ll stick with the Scouse, and my PhD from the University of Life.’
‘She’s a doctor, no less. Cheers to that,’ Leo said, clinking my glass. ‘More useful and much less debt.’
Ricardo came gliding over, all beaming smiles and teeth.
‘Are you enjoying yourselves? How are your drinks?’
‘Lovely, thank you,’ Leo and I said in unison, then looked at each other and laughed. Were we similar in nature, or just PR robots?
‘Are you ready for your table? I’ve got you the best view from the terrace as you are celebrating, isn’t it true?’ Ricardo said with a wink, snatching up our menus and marching off.
‘Celebrating? Where’s he got that idea?’ I whispered, horrified.
‘Erm… crossed wires. I said it had been a spontaneous decision to stay for the night,’ Leo said, striding after him.
Ricardo stopped at a gorgeous table for two, overlooking the harbour and out to sea. A red and white chequered tablecloth with a candle wedged into an old wine bottle, and a vase of pink roses. The relaxing lull of water lapping at the boats could be heard over the chatter and it wasveryromantic.
‘Please accept our congratulations and a glass of champagne on the house,’ Ricardo said, as a waiter scurried over with an ice bucket.
