‘Why don’t you come up to Manchester with me for a while when I start my new job?’ Imogen cradled her glass of sauvignon blanc. It looked misplaced. She was still in her very early twenties and Lydia had only ever seen her with a beer or an alcopop.
‘I can’t.’
‘Why not?’
‘You know why not.’
‘I don’t think Theo’s going anywhere in a hurry.’ She clocked Lydia’s glare. ‘Well he’s not. I’m not being funny and I know Sally agrees with me.’
‘You’ve been talking to Sally?’
‘She emailed me this afternoon after I sent her a message to ask how youreallyare.’
‘I went out with her the other night.’
‘She told me. And she says you need more of the same.’
‘Look, I really appreciate the offer, Imogen, but I’m sure in the week you’re here we can go out plenty. I can always come up in a few months.’ When Theo was better? Or heaven forbid, when Theo changed in a different way. She couldn’t even say the word ‘die’ in her head, because if she did, she’d lose the plot entirely.
‘The offer’s there. Please tell me you’ll consider it at least.’
‘I will, I promise.’ Saved by the bell, Lydia got up to answer the door and took the white plastic carrier bags, paid the delivery guy and met Imogen in the kitchen where she’d taken the plates out of the oven after they’d warmed on the lowest setting.
Over crispy duck with plum sauce and egg noodles plus sweet and sour chicken, Imogen and Lydia talked about Imogen’s travels, what it was like to be so free and do whatever she wanted for an entire year.
‘It sounds amazing,’ said Lydia, scooping up another forkful of rice. ‘I sometimes wish I’d done something like that.’
‘It wouldn’t have suited you.’ Imogen licked the sweet and sour sauce from her fingers. She had the same dark skin and hair as Lydia but she didn’t have Lydia’s curves. Imogen got her more boyish figure from their dad who was tall and lean, and growing up Lydia had resented the fact she put on weight so easily when her sister could trough away and not. But when her sister went to university she succumbed to the same peril as the rest of them and stacked on the pounds, although they’d gone now and she looked toned, tanned and happy. Maybe that was what hauling a rucksack halfway around the world did for you.
‘Why not?’ Lydia asked.
‘You’re too organised and do things by the book, that’s why. You like to know what you’re doing and when. I bet you hated not having a regular job to go to. Am I right?’
Lydia grinned. ‘I loved freelancing for about three weeks, when I didn’t have to get out of bed to an alarm and when I got to stay inside if it was peeing down with rain, but the novelty soon wore off. I used to see people go past the window in their suits and be jealous of them. But then I got a bit smarter and disciplined. I started to make money freelancing because I put the hours in. I didn’t lounge in bed until noon, I got up when Theo did and by the time he left the house I was settled at my desk with a cuppa.’
Imogen declared herself full and pushed her plate onto the coffee table. ‘I met someone on my travels.’
Lydia’s face brightened. ‘Do tell…’
‘His name’s Robbie and we hung out almost every night.’
‘You didn’t mention him in your postcards.’
Imogen coyly twirled the ends of her hair around a finger. ‘I thought it’d be a holiday romance on his part.’
‘But it wasn’t?’
She shook her head. ‘He lives a ten-minute drive from where I’ll be living when I start my new job, and he’s very keen to see me again. I think it could be serious.’
‘I’m pleased for you, sis.’
‘If you come and see me one weekend, you’ll be able to meet him.’
‘For sure.’
‘How’s the new job? It sounds as though you’re enjoying it.’
Lydia wasn’t sure whether Imogen had changed the subject because a flourishing love life wasn’t something she was comfortable with given her own situation, but she guessed Imogen would share more in her own time. ‘I love the new job. I really do.’ She allowed herself a smile. ‘Theo convinced me to apply.’
