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Dad made it pretty clear they had no other options. So as much as I would love them to…
I grab my phone from my pocket and, without really thinking it through, I open up Matcher and hit that button – the ‘feeling brave’ button that adds all events to your calendar.
‘Here, see,’ I say, as I quickly switch from Matcher to my calendar app, and hold up my phone for them to see how stacked my social calendar really is. The calendar events will show up on the smart hub in the kitchen too – only as little dots, though, so no one will know where I’m actually going to be – but it will just go to prove how ‘busy’ I am.
Okay, so stacked is an exaggeration, the uptake here is still reasonably low, but there’s still at least one thing a day I can take myself off to, to get out of the house. I suppose, just because not many people have organised events, doesn’t mean there won’t be many people at them. Hopefully.
‘Wow, you are a sociable girl,’ Dad says.
‘Yeah, well, single girl in my thirties,’ I remind them. ‘I’ve got to keep myself out there.’
I don’t believe that for a second.
‘I didn’t realise you had plans,’ Mum says with a smile that looks almost optimistic for me. ‘What are you doing this evening?’
I hold my phone up and point to the day with my finger, as if to show everyone while I tell them, but it’s going to be news to me too.
‘Bingo,’ I announce, unable to hide the surprise in my own voice.
Jess leans in, to look at my phone.
‘Oh, wow, boozy bingo,’ she says.
‘Yep – do you want to come?’ I ask her.
‘No way,’ she replies. ‘That sounds even more lame than regular bingo.’
‘Well, anyway, let’s show you guys to your room, because I’ll need to start getting ready soon,’ I tell them.
I guess I really will.
I’m impressed that I managed to pull something out of the bag, and find somewhere for me to escape to, but I’m not jazzed at the thought of having such a hectic social calendar – yes, even one event a day is hectic to someone like me, who has spent pretty much all her free time over the past year in her house.
I’ve never played bingo before, never mind boozy bingo, so that will be interesting, at least. I’d prefer a night on the sofa, watching a movie, eating my weight in Quality Street, but this is my only other option.
Stupid open-plan house. All that time and effort taking the walls down – only to leave myself with nowhere to escape to. I really stitched myself up with that one.
8
Never, in a million years, under any circumstances, did I think I would be spending my Saturday night at a bingo hall. But here I am, dressed in my best (the best I could be bothered with, at least), trying to pluck up the courage to head inside.
I’ve driven past the House of Bingo many times – it’s the only bingo place in town – but never been inside, obviously. It’s a large old building with insides (as far as I can tell, from glancing inside the lobby) that do not match its classic exterior. Well, classic apart from the big blue sign, surrounded by lights, with the name of the place in big gold lettering.
I walk towards the entrance, careful not to get too close, so that I keep up the pretence that while I might be here, I’m not actually here. I’m walking past the bingo, not into it. That sort of thing.
I’m lingering around the entrance when I notice a guy appear. He’s a twenty-something, dressed to impress – well, in that way twenty-something lads who are going out-out do, in a pair of tight jeans and a clingy T-shirt with a neckline that looks way too low.
Is he here for boozy bingo? He must be, surely? Eventually a girl approaches him. I watch as they greet one another. Okay, they’ve got to be here for the bingo.
I feel strangely nervous, like I’m on a first date, which is daft. I try to find my confidence as I approach them.
‘Hello,’ I say, all bright and breezy. ‘Matcher?’
Best to be direct.
‘Erm, yeah,’ the guy replies. His cheeks flush slightly.
‘How did you know?’ the girl asks. She seems kind of embarrassed too. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about – going on these Matcher nights out – I don’t think… it’s only as embarrassing as we make it. I need to find a little more confidence, to channel the teacher in me, to take charge and help these two feel less uncomfortable about the whole thing.
