Nine

‘I’m home!’ Pran called out as he opened the front door, which led directly into the living room of their flat. Sitting on the sofa, a glass of white wine in his hand, Alan frowned as he looked up at Pran, then glanced pointedly at his watch.

‘I was expecting you at least half an hour ago. Had you forgotten we were going to the pictures at Trinity tonight?’

Pouring himself a glass of wine, Pran said, ‘We’ve still got plenty of time.’

‘So how was your first day?’

‘Mm. Not bad,’ Pran said as he sipped his wine. ‘Very busy day. Straight in at the deep end.’

‘So what took you so long to get home?’

‘I went for a drink after work.’

Alan gave him a long, hard look, waiting for an explanation.

‘I couldn’t get out of it, Al. It’s a real pub culture there.’

‘But why tonight, of all nights?

‘I was sort of railroaded into it.’ Pran settled on the sofa next to Alan. ‘Then I couldn’t get out of it. It’s the sort of place if you want to get on, you have to network.’

There was a pause, while a small, self-satisfied smile tugged the corners of Alan’s mouth. Pran guessed what was coming.

‘Still, no doubt the informal pub atmosphere gave you an opportunity to be open about your sexuality.’

Pran stared into his wine glass, sniffed it, then took another sip.

‘Last week,’ said Alan, ‘when we went out for dinner, you promised you’d be open about it.’

‘It was difficult. It’s a real laddish culture. And you needn’t worry about my coming home late, because I won’t be going to the pub again. Not with that lot.’

Alan shook his head in disbelief. ‘You’ve gone back on your word.’

‘I couldn’t help it.’

‘Yes you can. It’s about having the courage of your convictions, Pran.’

‘You weren’t there. You didn’t hear the constant pub banter, the poof jokes flying around.’

Annoyed, Alan snatched the wine bottle and topped his glass up. ‘Oh come on! Spare me! Once they know who you really are, Pran, that’ll stop.’

‘I’m not so sure. You should have heard some of the things they were saying to this gay barman. Not directly to him, but he couldn’t fail to hear.’

‘So what are you going to do?’

Pran shrugged, and his mind was swamped by a grubby tiredness. But Alan was relentless, and wouldn’t let it rest.

‘You can’t just keep your head down, you know. It won’t work.’

‘It’s finding the right time.’

‘The longer you leave it, the worse it’ll get. You need to deal with it. Soon.’

Pran felt like screaming. His neck and shoulders ached with tension, and he felt like slapping Alan. Sensing his partner’s pent up anger, Alan got up and moved towards the kitchen.

‘I’ve just got time to make us a sandwich before we go.’

‘What’s this film we’re seeing?’

‘Coriolanus.’

‘Oh great! Heavy, heavy Shakespeare. That’ll be a barrel of laughs.’

‘You’re such a philistine.’

‘I’d sooner see Titanic in 3D.’

Alan smiled, a touch patronisingly. ‘And you’re such a child. It could be why I love you.’

***

Under the pretext of popping out to the corner shop to buy a magazine, Vanessa slipped out of the house and called Jason from her mobile. After having tried him several times since Saturday, and being fobbed off by his answering machine, she was surprised when he answered with a cursory ‘Yes?’ after only one ring.

‘Jason,’ she said hurriedly, as if she expected him to hang up. ‘It’s Vanessa here. I’ve been trying to get hold of you.’

A slight pause from his end, and then a quick intake of breath. Perhaps he’d been expecting someone else to call and she’d caught him unawares. But - she had to hand it to him - he recovered quickly. ‘Hello, sweetheart. Let me guess why you’re ringing. You’ve been wondering why I haven’t been in touch. Fact is, I’ve been up to my eyes. Work and all that.’

‘It’s the “all that” I’m interested in. Why did you see Nicky on Saturday?’

‘Well ... because it was already arranged. I mean, before you and I...’ He paused. ‘Have you both been talking about me? Comparing notes?’

‘Don’t be stupid. Nicky doesn’t know about you and me. She confided in me because she’s the one who’s supposed to be going out with you.’ Infuriatingly, he laughed suddenly.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘Well, I know we danced between the sheets on Saturday morning, just before I saw Nicky, but it takes two to tango, sweetheart.’

‘I feel really guilty now. I wish I’d never ... Nicky’s been in floods of tears. She knows something’s wrong.’

‘So what d’you want me to do about it?’

Vanessa’s voice rose a little higher. ‘Well, for a start, you can tell me why you tape recorded her saying she’d slept with you.’

‘Oh, she told you about that, did she?’

‘You recorded me, as well.’

Jason’s tone became defensive. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘You told me it was a cordless razor. It was a tape recorder, wasn’t it?’

‘Sorry?’

Vanessa began shouting. ‘You recorded me saying how I’d slept with you on such and such a date...’

A couple walked by, giving Vanessa startled, surprised looks, before falling close against each other and giggling as they walked on.

‘Look,’ said Jason, ‘I swear before Almighty God...’

‘Don’t give me that crap, Jason. Just give me the truth.’

‘I’m telling you the truth. I didn’t make a single tape recording when we were together.’

‘You’re lying.’

There was a brief pause before Jason said in a mid-Atlantic voice: ‘I’m outa this.’

The line went dead. Vanessa gripped the phone tight. She felt like screaming, took great gulps of air, and eventually managed to control herself. As she stared at the mobile, she could imagine Jason’s grinning, cocky face at the other disconnected end. ‘I’ll get you for this, Jason, that’s a promise,’ she said. ‘I’ll have your balls cut off!

Then she burst into tears.