‘Oi, you!’ she heard a voice bellow. It was Nick, the pub landlord, and he was pointing at Laurence. ‘You don’t come in here again. YOU’RE BARRED. Now GET OUT OF MY PUB!’
After Laurence had slipped out of the door, Nick murmured, ‘I’ve always wanted to say that.’
Rachel, Anna, Tom and Will were all sitting down again now, laughing with relief, not quite able to believe what had just happened.
‘Shall I get another round?’ Tom asked.
‘Definitely,’ Anna said. ‘I found that whole drama very sobering. We need to counterbalance its effects immediately.’
‘You’ve got to give it to him, though …’ Will said, draining the last of his pint.
‘Givewhatto him?’ Anna demanded before he could finish.
‘Well. I always said he was boring, but crashing in here pissed and apoplectic definitely wasn’tdull, was it? I mean, he seemed like a stodgy, straight-laced actuary but it turns out he’s a borderline sociopath. Who could have seen that coming?’
Anna shoved him and laughed again. Will stood up to help Tom with the drinks.
Rachel smiled wanly, and answered Will’s question in her head. Maybe I could have seen it coming. Maybe Ishouldhave.
‘I hope you didn’t mind my intervening back there,’ Tom said to Rachel as the four of them stood outside the pub after closing time. ‘I didn’t mean to tread on your toes – he just looked really aggro.’
‘Honestly, it’s fine,’ Rachel said. ‘I was grateful. Forallof you.’
Anna and Will were chatting with some friend of his from the local rugby team, and she and Tom had drifted to one side, alone together.
‘What a psycho, though,’ Tom sighed. ‘I never did like him.’
‘At this point I’m not entirely sureIever did. I think maybe nice, harmless Laurence was some sort of mirage. A figment of my imagination. I’m sorry he had a go at you, by the way.’
‘What?Oh. That thing he said about me “waiting in the wings”? Don’t worry about it.’
Tom shrugged and kept his eyes down. That made what Rachel knew she needed to say next a little easier.
This was her chance – probably her best chance, she realised – to tell the truth about her screw-up to the one person who might be able to help her. She was going to take it.
‘Tom … Laurence isn’t the only person recently to make that assumption about us.’
His head jerked up. ‘How d’you mean?’
‘Jack saw us out together in Highgate on the night we went to see Zack play. He thought you were my boyfriend.’
‘Okay …?’ Tom was looking at her, puzzled, his eyebrows drawn down.
‘And I let him. I let him think that. Hestillthinks that. Which wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for—’
‘Your birthday. Right.’
Tom had buried both hands in his hair, and was massaging his skull as though he thought it might stop his brain from exploding.
‘Rach … I mean …Why?Was it about making him jealous?’
‘Maybe. Partly, I think,’ she said, flooding with shame. ‘But it was also handy for keeping him at a distance – putting myself out of bounds.’
‘And how’s that working out for you?’ Tom asked, acidly.
‘Er. I think it’s fair to say that the fence I’ve put up between us is … rickety,’ Rachel answered. ‘He seems less and less bothered about … trying to climb over it.’
‘What a guy,’ Tom sighed. ‘Pursuing a woman who seems like she’s in a perfectly happy relationship. Always a good sign.’
