At his request she told him everything, and long after they’d finished their drinks she finally got to the part where she admitted that although she knew this move was the right thing, Theo going away to a care home was breaking her heart and it felt like the beginning of the end.
*
Lydia had felt better after talking to Ian, and he’d taken her up to the maternity ward to meet Matilda. It had made her realise that good things could come to you in life, as well as the bad.
And now, after pouring her heart out that afternoon, going out on the town felt like the right thing to do and even more so when she opened the door to her best friend.
‘You look amazing.’ Sally hugged her and then waited for her to push her phone, lipstick, tissues and her purse into a handbag barely big enough for one item.
‘So do you.’ Lydia looked at her friend dressed in a sequinned dark-grey top with boyfriend jeans and black strappy shoes so pointed they made Lydia’s toes curl in sympathy. ‘Ready?’ She picked up her keys. Confident in the midnight-blue lace top she’d bought today with its cut-out detail that revealed the smooth skin just below her collarbone, and the jeans with embellished pockets that Sally said made her look very Jennifer Lopez-esque, she pushed her feet into her trusty dark blue suede Ted Baker heels, high but worn-in enough that she was confident her feet would be fine for a good few hours yet.
They giggled their way down the front path, shut the gate behind them and waited for the taxi. The rain had stopped for now and Lydia was hoping they’d at least make it to the bar dry.
‘My round first.’ The second they arrived, Sally made her way through the throngs and bought two gin and tonics to start them off. The place was a hive of activity and they were jostled and bustled around but it was still great to be out.
‘Oh dear, she shouldnotbe wearing that.’ Sally pulled a face. She’d never been one to hold back her opinion of something.
Lydia didn’t need to ask who because when she turned there was a girl in a pair of white hotpants that looked a good couple of sizes too small. In a pair of regular jeans she’d be very pretty, but it was too much flesh on display for a May evening where the crowds were unforgiving if they hooked onto anything out of the norm.
By the time they’d had a few G&T’s, Lydia caught sight of the same girl. ‘I feel like I should tell her. What do you think? Should I?’ She felt on a mission to put the world to rights. ‘I never usually comment on anyone’s clothing, I don’t care what they wear. But I feel sorry for her. Should I tell her?’
‘What, that she looks a sight?’ Sally appraised the girl again. ‘She looks happy enough.’
‘I told a woman she had her skirt tucked in her knickers once,’ said Lydia.
‘Now that I would do. Female solidarity.’
Lydia raised her glass. ‘To female solidarity.’
‘Oh hey up…I recognise him over there.’
‘Who?’
‘Standing by the door with the blonde, leggy woman.’
Lydia looked over but she could only see the blonde. ‘Nowshecould probably get away with the white hotpants.’
‘Look past her,’ Sally insisted. ‘Who is he? I definitely recognise him.’
Lydia moved right and then left and at the same time the guy in question noticed her and she raised her hand in greeting. ‘It’s Connor!’
Sally was pulling a face, still trying to work out where she’d seen him before. ‘Who is he?’
Lydia filled her in as he came over to them, minus the blonde.
‘Is that your girlfriend?’ Lydia twiddled the straw in her glass.
Her question obviously amused him because he grinned. ‘An ex-girlfriend, yes. But current girlfriend? No. I’m single.’
Lydia spluttered on her drink a little, much to Sally’s amusement. Sally introduced herself again and Connor insisted it was his round.
When he made his way to the bar, Sally said, ‘He likes you.’
‘He does not.’
‘Oh but he does. And don’t argue back.’
‘Well you and I both know that nothing could come of it.’
