‘I’m just going to wash it and stick a plaster on.’
‘Let me get the plaster.’
‘It isseriouslyfine. Although I’d be grateful if you’d keep an eye on the bar for a couple of minutes while I go into the house and sort it out.’
‘Of course, no problem.’ Now didn’t seem like the right time to mention that she wasburstingto go to the loo; she’d have to keep on crossing her legs.
If it hadn’t been for Raf and the leg-crossing, she’d have enjoyed being behind the bar for a few minutes. It brought back happy memories of working in the pub in the summer holidays when she was at university.
While Raf was gone, Barry the builder and a couple of other locals came in for a pre-lunch pint. They all seemed to think that she and Raf had had a bit of a fling and had then split up. Barry, with the air of a man expressing great intellectual discovery, asked if she’d come this morning to try to patch things up with Raf.
‘No,’ she told them.
‘Pity.’ Delphine, one of Barry’s drinking friends, who had to be eighty if she was a day, had already downed two whiskeys. ‘You make a lovely couple.’
Raf walked back in, his thumb in a blue plaster.
‘We were just saying that it’s a pity that you and Georgina aren’t getting back together,’ said Delphine.
Georgie glared at her.
‘AndIwas just saying,’ she said, ‘that we were never together.’
‘Indeed.’ Raf looked spectacularly unamused. Clearly he was still upset about Georgie having started their friendship on effectively false pretences. She should try to convince him somehow that shehadn’tjust been using him, so that he wouldn’t continue to feel hurt, but her biggest priority today had to be Poppy.
‘So it’s been lovely to see you all,’ Georgie said, squeezing past Raf to get out from behind the bar. He was very large and her boobs and tummy weren’t exactly small – running hadn’t made any discernible difference to them – and the space was narrow, so she ended up squeezed right up against himfor a moment,really embarrassing at any time but especially now, given the current conversation. She wasdesperatefor the loo too, so she couldn’t escape the pub yet.
When she came out of the toilets, feeling alotbetter – physically, anyway – Barry said, ‘Here’s your never-been-girlfriend, Raf.’
When Delphine had stopped cackling, she said, ‘Have you heard that the doctor’s wife’s kicked him out? Now that’s sad.’
Raf looked at Georgie and raised his eyebrows. She gave him a tiny nod. She wasn’t really sure what she was confirming, if she was honest. Yes, Poppy’s kicked Declan out? Yes, she knew all about it? Yes, it was a very bad thing and if there was anything Raf could think of to say to Poppy that would help it would be fantastic? Although, no, she wasn’t going to tell Raf any details right now.
‘I’ll see you,’ she said, and left the pub to a resounding no-reply from Raf.
She walked along the road and banged the door knocker on Poppy’s house.
When she opened her front door, Poppy just shook her head.
‘Hi, Poppy,’ Georgie ventured.
‘I’m sorry, I’m really not in the mood.’ Poppy’s voice was expressionless. Georgie was horrified; she’d known her for twenty-nine years and she’d never seen her like this before.
The way she looked was no less horrifying. Her hair was glisteningly greasy. Her eyes were red around the edges with grey, puffy bags underneath. She was wearing very baggy tracksuit trousers and a weird jumper, maybe hand-knitted. Poppy’s natural beauty was still visible but it was like she was doing her very best to hide it.
Georgie had goosebumps, in a really bad way. It was her fault that Poppy was so miserable. She had to do something to help.
Poppy began to close the door and Georgie reflexively stuck her foot in it.
‘What are you doing?’ Poppy said.
‘Please, please let me come in?’ Georgie was desperate not to leave her like this.
‘Oh, whatever.’ Poppy let go of the door and retreated inside.
Georgie followed her into the kitchen.
She only just managed not to gasp out loud at the state it was in. Usually, Poppy was very house proud; today the work surface was covered in empty food packaging and dirty dishes, there was dried-on food splatted on the floor and up the side of one of the pale-green-painted Shaker cupboards, and there was a big pile of what looked like dirty laundry on the kitchen table. The only thing that was clean was Daniel’s high chair.
