‘There’s no going back for us. He’s leaving theUKanyway. He’s worked abroad most of his life. I’m sure he’ll get over me pretty fast. He doesn’t strike me as the type who lacks female company.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I’m okay, I promise. Anyway, enough about me, what’s happening with you?’
‘I had a bit of a blow-up with my parents,’ she said.
I couldn’t imagine Alice blowing up at anyone. ‘About what?’
‘We’re serving chicken at the wedding and they want lamb.’
My first instinct was to laugh. She was winding me up, wasn’t she? How could they have fallen out over this? But from the look on her face, Alice wasn’t joking.
‘Can you elaborate?’
‘We settled on lamb months ago, even though Pete hates it. I talked him round because my parents insisted that chicken was a bit, well,common.’ She looked embarrassed. ‘They were being terrible snobs.’
‘So, we’re having lamb – is it really a problem?’
‘Pete shouldn’t have to eat something he hates at his own wedding. I was wrong to side with my parents, or rather, avoid going against their wishes.’
‘Pete would have been fine with the lamb – it’s one meal.’
‘But the principle of it bothered me and I told them that. I should never have made Pete agree to the lamb. I should have persuaded my parents to accept the chicken.’
Alice was talking about meat, so why did I find myself tingling?
She was getting up now and gathering her stuff. But I was still trying to work out what she’d said that had affected me so much. This was madness.
‘See you tomorrow,’ she was saying. ‘For our Greek night.’
