“I was going to say your makeup is flawless,” Rhiannon chomps out around a rather large chunk of bread. “I wish I had time to do something like that in the morning,” she admires, pointing at Nel’s face. I wouldn’t have said she was wearing much on her face. Some sure, I know that the thick black line above her lashes isn’t natural, but she looks perfect, not caked in the stuff like some of the teenagers I teach wear.
“Um, well, it doesn’t take all that long,” Nel mumbles shyly.
“So, do you get like, free stuff?” Luke asks.
“Occasionally.”
“I’m sorry, I’m going to have to show my age and ask, what is an influencer exactly?” Hen asks.
“Mum,” Rhiannon groans, rolling her eyes. “An influencer is someone who has a large following on social media and influences people to buy stuff from companies that sponsor them.”
“Oh,” Hen raises her brows and nods as though impressed. “How exactly do you influence people to buy things?”
Nel is now squirming in her seat, totally uncomfortable with everyone watching her, and I watch as her cheeks flame red. “I uh…take photos with them…or, or maybe do a video about them and tell people what I think. Um, sometimes companies give me special discount codes to give my followers so they can buy products at lower prices.”
“Hm, that sounds interesting,” Charles says. “Show us some of these posts then, let’s see the magic happen.”
Harry jumps up from his seat and claps his hands once, very loudly. “Right, who’s up for dessert?”
“People are still eating their dinner, babe,” Lisa frowns at him.
“Ah, well maybe another round of drinks?” Harry bounces nervously.
“There’s wine on the table,” Lisa counters. “Sit down, babe. Everyone is fine.”
“Speaking of the wine,” Cami says, picking up a bottle of the red. “This is lovely, darling. Where did you get it?”
Conversation soon gets settled on wines, then Gordan and Hen’s trip around the vineyards of California. Harry relaxes back down in his chair, gulping wine from his glass. Once he is sure everyone is engaged in conversation, he glares at me and mouths, very distinctlyI’m going to kill you. I just tip my glass back at him and gave him a wink.
“Jacob, how are things in the world of education?” Charles asks me.
“They’re good thanks. Busy and never a dull day.”
“Remind us, what do you teach?” Cami asks.
“English. I wanted to do Physical Education but my parents said that P.E. teachers never get promoted to headmaster, so they convinced me to go for one of the big three.”
“The big three?” Luke asks, hauling a fussy Margot from her highchair and holding her to his chest, but she only wants to get down. With a huff, he lets her down to run around the table, which only causes her brother to whine and kick until he, too, is free to roam.
“Maths, English, and Science,” Nel answers for me, looking surprised at her own voice.
“That’s right,” I smile at her, revelling at her blush blooming darker. I swear the longer she sits there, the more she’s reverting back to the shy schoolgirl I used to know.
Small hands slap at my thigh before Freddie runs around to the other side of the table giggling. I gasp in feigned shock, only making him laugh more. Margot then decides to have a go and before you know it, we have two hysterical toddlers running circles around the table trying to tap my legs before I can grab their adorable little hands. Most of the adults are chuckling at the little ones, joining in here and there, trying to grab them on their way round, and generally just enjoying the pandemonium. Nel is not laughing; she watches curiously, hunched in on herself. She seems to shuffle in her seat every time one of the children passes, like she’s trying to give them more room even though her chair doesn’t move.
“I’ll hold him down!” Lucas shrieks, running over to me and grabbing my wrists and holding them behind the back of the chair.
“No, no, no,” I pretend to struggle against his hold.
Oscar snorts behind his hand watching with delight as the two smaller ones come over to tickle me to death. I groan as though I’m being tortured and the kids eat it up, laughing until no sound is actually coming out and their limbs seem to lose function.
“Okay, okay,” Rhiannon cuts in. “I think we should leave poor Uncle Jake alone now.”
“Please,” I beg, fake snivelling. “Listen to your mother, let me live!”
Lucas giggles behind me and the twins continue their game.
“Oi, little terrors! Leave the poor man alone,” Luke gets up from his seat to gather up his children, trying to manoeuvre them back into their respective chairs. They aren’t having any of it until Lisa stands and asks if they want ice cream. Both of them are eager to get back seated with bibs on instantly.
