They unpacked the shopping bags in the kitchen and filled the drinks fridge with white wine and bubbles. They set the huge, mahogany table in the dining room with eight places. The walls were lined with coral wall paper, giving the room a warm and cosy feel. While Rory assembled the most enormous trifle Lucy had ever seen, layer upon layer of colourful calories, Lucy set about preparing the mixture for the cheese soufflés. When she was happy with its creamy consistency she poured it into eight individual ramekins and set them to rest in the fridge until she was ready to cook them later on. With a quick phone call to Ginny to run through the recipe for beef Wellington, she began to prepare the meat. Rory wanted to learn how to cook it so was getting a step-by-step tutorial from Lucy as she went. He was so impressed with her cooking; he proved the theory that good food was the way to a man’s heart.
‘You know you really are the ideal woman,’ he announced admiringly, watching Lucy wrap the pastry carefully around the cylinder of beef as she rolled it up snugly in its pastry blanket.
An hour or so later, both Lucy and Rory were showered and dressed. They lit candles in the kitchen where they would have pre-dinner drinks and also in the dining room. The fire was flickering in the wood burner at the end of the room, the only kitchen in London with a fire, as far as Lucy knew, and bowls of crisps and dips were scattered across various surfaces. Rory had cranked up his old record player. The needle ran smoothly around the ridged orbits of the disc, filling the room with crackling, atmospheric blues.
Ben and Christina were the first to arrive.
‘Lucy how lovely to meet you!’ said Christina.
‘It’s lovely to meet you too,’ said Lucy, kissing Christina and then Ben, who were both clearly thrilled at the opportunity to have a night without their children.
‘Can I offer you my cocktail of the night?’ asked Rory.
‘And what might that be?’ laughed Ben.
‘It’s gin and tonic with elderflower liqueur… as yet to be named,’ said Rory. They both wasted no time in accepting.
The other two couples arrived simultaneously a few minutes later and soon they were all chatting happily in the kitchen, sipping their refreshing drinks with remarkable enthusiasm. As their cocktail glasses slowly emptied, Ben and Rory reminisced about their days working in a cocktail bar as students.
‘I didn’t know you were barmen,’ said Lucy.
‘We were indeed,’ said Rory proudly.
‘They were both savvy enough to realize that their chosen trade would not only give them extra, much-needed, beer money but also teach them a trick or two to last them into later life. Am I right, lads?’ laughed Ed.
‘It was definitely a sure-fire way to meet lots of women,’ said Anna.
It seemed that Ben, a blond Leonardo di Caprio look-a-like in his youth, valiantly took on the challenge single-handedly, doing his utmost to plough his way through both men’s allocation of ladies with serious dedication.
Amused by the recollection of theirCocktaildays, John challenged Ben and Rory to see if they could still remember any of the tricks they used to practise from their days of flair bartending. Both men accepted the contest with relish, surprisingly competent given their years out of practice as they flipped and spun the bottles on their arms.
‘Come on boys… you have to show Lucy your old party trick,’ said Anna to rapturous cheers from the rest of the gang. Their party trick double act seemed to involve passing the bottle between the two of them with a risky catch in the air, three hundred and sixty degree turns and a bit of juggling. Rising to the occasion, they gave it their best shot, but unsurprisingly the bottle slipped from their grasp mid-air and went crashing to the floor, covering the tiles in Tia Maria. The whole party collapsed in laughter, with Rufus doing his best to lap up the spillage.
‘Oy Rufus, no!’ shouted Rory, shooing him away. A drunk dog would be just what they needed to add to the chaos the evening would undoubtedly bring.
A short while later they sat down for dinner, everyone well-lubricated and bright-eyed after their cocktails. The soufflés were crisp and golden brown on the surface but perfectly mousse-like in the middle. The watercress with balsamic glaze was the ideal combination of bitter and sweet to go with it.
‘This is absolutely delicious,’ said Daniela.
‘May I propose a toast?’ said John. ‘To the chefs!’ he said, raising his glass.
‘Hear hear,’ cried the others, clinking their glasses.
‘To the chefs!’
‘And to Rory… for hisamazingtaste in women!’ said Ben, winking at Lucy as he did so, prompting another flurry of cheers and chinking glass around the table as Lucy tried not to blush.
The beef was resting and the potato dauphinoise was bubbling happily away in the oven so Lucy stayed at the table and settled back into the conversation. ‘So Ben, tell me more about your lothario days,’ said Lucy.
‘I blooming wish I still had that pulling power!’ laughed Ben.
‘I don’t know what went wrong,’ chuckled Christina, ‘You were so promising when I married you!’
‘I think it’s called middle-aged spread…’ said Ben, patting his slight paunch and reaching for the wine.
‘Better keep working on it,’ agreed Ed. ‘This kind of peak physical condition doesn’t come easily you know!’
Glancing at her watch five minutes later, Lucy excused herself and popped back into the kitchen to steam the spinach and broccoli while Rory began to carve the meat. She could tell he was thrilled to have the house filled with his friends, good conversation and a delicious meal. It was great to see him so happy. Not that he ever really seemed to get down. Unlike Alex. She raised her eyebrows and shook her head once again in disbelief at him turning up out of the blue like that earlier in the week. She marvelled at how far she had come since their break-up and smiled to herself when she thought how much better Rory was for her in every respect.
