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Kim growled in frustration as once again Tiff became obscured from her view.
THIRTY-EIGHT
By her count, the man at the bar had been watching her for a good five minutes.
Tiff hadn’t noticed where he’d come from, but she had seen him do a quick sweep of the room before settling his attention on her. She’d continued with her act and had been careful not to look in his direction. It was more of an effort to look miserable than she’d realised, and her facial muscles were aching. Her natural resting face was quite open and relaxed with wide eyes and the hint of a smile.
She was saved from analysing herself any further when the bar guy appeared in front of her.
‘Hey, are you okay?’
She allowed herself to offer a small, tight smile and a nod.
‘My mum told me never to talk to strangers but you looked safe enough,’ he said.
In spite of herself, Tiff laughed.
‘I’m Neil,’ he said, offering her a nod.
‘Tiffany,’ she answered.
‘And just like that we’re not strangers any more. My mum can rest easy.’
The smile grew on her face.
‘That’s better. It can’t be as bad as that, eh? Tonight’s supposed to be a bit of fun – at least that’s what I’m hoping. You on your own?’ he asked, looking around.
She nodded. ‘Yeah, but I haven’t come for fun. I’m hopeful. Are you on your own?’
‘I am indeed. I got these tickets for my mum’s birthday. She loves this kind of stuff but she came down with flu yesterday. She insisted I use the tickets, and surprisingly none of my mates wanted to tag along.’
Again, Tiff chuckled. He was very personable and she suspected he wasn’t the stooge, but just like serial killers, who knew what one looked like?
‘So, you hoping for contact from a loved one?’ he asked, his voice softening with sympathy.
Oh well, she had her story. She might as well use it.
‘My grandma. She died recently.’
‘I’m sorry. Were you close?’
Tiff nodded and the tears pricked her eyes. She had been close to her maternal grandmother and had decided to stay close to the truth.
‘We were. She was more like a mother to me. We used to watch musicals together. She took me to amateur productions of shows when I was a kid.’
All true. As was the fact that her grandmother had stepped in when her own mother had been consumed with caring for her brothers, always the priority.
‘She sounds amazing but I suppose age gets us all.’
‘Oh no, it wasn’t old age,’ she said, realising how easily she was sliding into the detail. ‘She had a fall, down the stairs. Fractured skull.’
‘Oh, how awful. So you never got the chance to say goodbye?’
‘I never had a chance to put things right.’
‘An argument?’
‘Yes. We had a row just a few days before. It was over something silly. I was late to pick her up for bingo so she refused to go. I shouted at her for being stubborn, and then I showed the exact same trait by not giving her a call to patch it up.’
