‘So give me the details again.’ Glenda sipped her tea. ‘He just walks past, asks you about your picture and you end up spending the afternoon with him?’
‘Yes, that’s about the sum of it.’ Lilly put the milk back in the fridge.
‘Well, I’m not sure what I think about that.’ Her friend pulled the face of disapproval she’d been pulling for the last fifty years or more.
‘You don’t have to think anything about it, Glen. I’m a grown-up. I made a decision and went for it, trusted my gut, and it was only a drink – we didn’t elope!’
‘Yes, but you don’t know the first thing about him! He could be an axe murderer!’
‘Why is that always the first place people go? Why don’t they think he could be a scammer or a strangler or a con artist or a knife-wielding maniac? Why do we always go for axe murderer?’
‘I don’t know, Lil.’ Her friend took another gulp of tea.
‘I mean, how many murders are actually committed by axe? I’m guessing not many.’
‘I know you’re being funny, so I’m just going to ignore you.’ It made Lilly smile. ‘So was it a date?’ Glenda asked as she reachedfor a Hobnob, snapped it and placed one half in her mouth so the pointy angles stuck out in her cheek.
‘I feel daft sayingdate– I’m seventy!’ Lilly then giggled in a way that was girlish and giddy and all the things she most definitely was not.
‘But if pressed, would you say it was?’ Glenda persisted.
‘I suppose, if pressed.’ She smiled.
‘And you’re seeing him again tonight?’ her friend asked with the unmistakeable undertone of disapproval.
‘Yes.’
‘Bit keen, isn’t it?’ Glenda crunched her biscuit.
‘I suppose it is.’ She sighed, secretly thrilled at the idea of his keenness. ‘We’ve arranged to go out for supper, the Gordon Ramsay place in Battersea.’
‘Ooh, very nice. Hardly sharing a bag of chips, is it? That’ll cost a few bob.’
‘Yep.’ It was then she decided not to share the words ‘fortune’ and ‘farm’, knowing how Glenda could be about money.
‘You should have a look at the menu online and see what you fancy before you go.’
‘That’s a good idea!’
‘Norm always does it, in case a place is only vegan or vegetarian and he can pop a sausage roll in the glovebox for on the way home. Makes the kids laugh. Our Bradley’s vegan now.’
‘Oh, I didn’t know. Alfie is a pescatarian, so just fish.’
‘Pescatarian? What’s that all about!’ Glenda scoffed. ‘I mean, is it any less cruel to eat something that’s had a hook through its arse than it is to eat something that’s had a bolt through its head?’
‘Hmmm, that’s a very good question, Glen, and one I shall be sure to raise with him.’
There was a knock at the front door, and Lilly went to open it.
‘Clodagh! Hello, love. Glenda and I were just having a cuppa. Would you like one?’
‘Yes, please.’
Lilly noted the way the young woman avoided eye contact and had clearly been crying. She placed her hand on her narrow back the moment she walked inside.
‘Apollo not with you?’ It was strange to see her alone outside of school hours.
Clodagh shook her head.
