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I incline my head slightly to try to inform my friend that the object of her derision has heard this and very clearly. But Nina is oblivious.
‘He’s as fit as you like, Janie. You should get in there instead of mooning over someone a million miles away. The bloke looks as if he needs a bloody good shag,’ she decides. ‘If you’re not going to give him one, then I just might.’
Mike grins good-naturedly at me over her shoulder. ‘I’ll look forward to that, Nina.’
My friend splutters her vodka back into her glass. ‘Oh, God,’ she says, hand to head. ‘Sorry, Mike. Just joking. I’d better be off. Mingle.’ And with that, she disappears into the throng.
‘I think that was sound advice,’ Mike says.
I thump his arm playfully. ‘I’m really sorry. She’s absolutely trollied.’
‘She’s fun,’ Mike says, looking after my friend admiringly. ‘Ballsy.’
‘Mouthy,’ I add.
‘Look,’ he studies his glass, ‘I know how you feel about this guy. It’s pants when you can’t be with the one you love.’
‘Yes,’ I agree, ‘it is.’
‘Sometimes a bit of moping can be very therapeutic,’ he continues. ‘Goodness knows, Janie, you helped me enough when I was going through the mill after Tania left.’
‘That’s what friends are for.’
‘Let me know if you want to slope away,’ Mike says. ‘I know how hard these situations can be.’
‘I’ll stay. For Nina’s sake.’
‘Let’s go in the other room,’ Mike suggests. ‘There’s a bit of boogying going on. I’ll show you some of my new dance moves.’
I laugh. ‘Been practising in front of the mirror?’
‘You’d better believe it.’
He takes my hand and together we weave through the crowd and into the living room. It’s fast approaching midnight and the revellers are losing any inhibitions they might have had.
Rug rolled back, the team from the salon have commandeered the middle of the room as the dance floor. They’re currently po-going, arms around each other to Prince’s ‘1999’. Our boss, Kelly, is in the thick of the fray, pointedly enjoying herself while her older boyfriend sits and watches from the sofa looking distinctly unhappy.
‘I don’t think I’m that energetic,’ I whisper to Mike.
‘Me neither.’
Someone switches on the television and there on the screen is Big Ben. The minutes of this year tick steadily away. This year when I never expected to find love and have.
Then suddenly we’re on the countdown to midnight. ‘Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six!’ the crowd chant. ‘Five! Four! Three! Two! One!’ Big Ben chimes out. ‘Happy new year!’
Mike takes me in his arms and kisses me softly. ‘Happy new year, neighbour,’ he says. ‘May it bring you all that you hope for.’
‘And I wish the same for you too, Mike.’
He smiles at me sadly. ‘I’m not sure that’s going to happen.’
‘You never know,’ I say. ‘Look at me. I never expected love to find me, but it did.’
We join in a robust chorus of ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Nina works her way over to us and kisses both me and Mike, even though she seems to be having trouble focusing her eyes. Her kiss with Mike lingers longer than it needs to, in my opinion. And when she comes up for air, she’s wearing an expression of pleasant surprise. As is Mike. Hmm, feeling a bit of a gooseberry for a minute or two there. Then they look at each other and go down for another session. Oooh. I’m definitely not sure where to put myself now.
Tyrone and Clinton are snogging passionately in the corner – but not quite as passionately as Nina’s husband, Gerry, and their neighbour. Steph and Cristal seem to have bagged themselves spare men and it looks like some festive spirit may well be exchanged later. I hope Cristal remembers to get the name and number of this one.
I’m smiling at the drunken scene and then, unbidden, an overwhelming wave of sadness crashes over me and I bite back a tear. No one should be alone on New Year’s Eve. It’s a time for being with loved ones, and mine isn’t here. He’s thousands of miles away under the African sky. I wonder exactly where Dominic is now. Is he working at the camp? Or is he at home in the manyatta with his family? I do hope so. What do the Maasai people do to bring in the new year?
‘Phone him,’ Mike says in my ear. Clearly he has finished snogging my friend for the time being. ‘Go into the garden and phone him.’
‘I’ve no credit left on my mobile. I should have topped it up today, but we were so busy at the salon, I clean forgot.’
