‘It’s what the Swedish people would want.’
‘So can I? Try your hot dog?’
‘Fine,’ I smile, holding it out to him. He takes a bite and a little bit of American mustard smudges on his lip so I reach across to brush it off.
‘And the winner of today’s All You Can Eat competition is …’ Zach drumrolls his fingers on the table. ‘Alice O’Neill. Congratulations, Alice, how do you feel?’
He holds an imaginary microphone to my mouth and I giggle.
‘Mouth … still … full!’
‘I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but it appears our winner is still eating. What an impressive appetite she has! No doubt we’ll be seeing much more from Ms O’Neill through our packed summer schedule of All You Can Eat competitions.’
Finally finishing my mouthful, I take a bow. ‘Thank you so much.’
‘And the crowd went wild!’
We’re laughing, eyes trained on each other as we play out my apparent victory.
‘As Chief Judge, I wouldn’t mind taking you home now,’ he grins.
‘Wouldn’t that blur the boundaries between competitor and judge? I’m sure there are rules about that,’ I tease.
‘Funnily enough I wrote the rules.’ Zach pushes his glasses up his nose and pretends to read from an imaginary rule book. ‘Here it is. Under Category B, Subsection C, I can see that it is definitely ok,’ he beams, holding out his hand. I take it, both of us still giggling as we make our way to the car park.
Jogging
Zach
Something’s not quite right with my brother, I think, studying his face on my phone screen over a spoonful of cereal and trying to work out why he looks different today. ‘Are you wearing lipstick?’ I ask eventually.
Raff looks distracted. ‘Hmm? Oh, yes I am. Fran and Sienna have been giving me a makeover this morning. They said something about Daddy needing a glow up? I don’t know what that is.’
‘Suits you.’
Raff laughs. ‘It’s been a while. Is this really my long-lost brother calling?’
‘Very funny. Listen, man, I’m sorry I’ve been quiet. Work’s gone crazy but I finally finished a commission this week so I’m treating myself to the weekend off.’
‘Want to come and visit?’
‘Ah, I’d love that but I’m seeing Alice later.’
‘Things back on track then?’
‘I think so. She brings out the best in me, she makes me laugh and I swear I’m working better now as well. I definitely feel at my happiest when I’m around her but we haven’t seen much of each other recently because Alice has been really busy with wedding season too; this is a hectic time of year for her.’
‘Are the alphabet dates still going strong?’
‘We went to IKEA for the last one,’ I reply, smiling thinking of how we’d acted like a couple of dorks, pretending to live in the show spaces.
Raff grimaces. ‘I haven’t been there since the twins were three. It was so busy and the girls decided to entertain themselves by having a farting competition. I don’t think we’d be welcomed back. I take it yours was better?’
‘You could say that.’ I say with a big grin, thinking back to how eating £1 meatballs was not half the story, with us spending the rest of the day in bed once we got back to Alice’s house.
‘The smile says it all,’ Raff tuts. ‘Lucky bastard. So you haven’t seen her since?’
‘Yup. It’s been two weeks now and I can’t wait to see her later. I’ve missed her but I’ve also felt strangely cool about it. I like that we’ve both got our own things going on and that we’re not living in each other’s pockets. With Clara I constantly wanted reassurance from her that she was going to find time for me but I think that’s because I knew we were on rocky ground.’
