part0006

On the train to Reading Sally had decided that she wasn’t going to get in touch with Jake and if he contacted her she would tell him she was with someone else now and to stop bothering her. She had thought she would have been able to say this over the phone but she found that she wasn’t saying it. Instead she said

Back in the bar everyone sat round the big wooden table talking about what next year might bring and what they hoped it would bring. Cleo resolved to move out. She wanted freedom and privacy. She didn't tell the assembled table that she might go back to Cov and that Jez had asked her to move in with him but she squeezed his hand under the table. It would mean finding a job in Cov just when she'd found employment she enjoyed in Reading. It would mean leaving Peggy and her friends behind. But she would be with Jez in a city she loved and which was cheaper to live in than Reading so she could visit her friends and Peggy often. Jez resolved to not let more than two weeks pass without seeing Cleo because it made him miserable he said. Everyone around the table ‘aahed’ at this. He also resolved to join a gym. He felt he was losing the battle of looking young, mostly because he wasn't that young any more.

Ian’s resolutions were for him and Terry to visit Gavin in Japan and to make the Pandas a success. Sally said she didn’t have a resolution but actually she did. It was to decide who she wanted to be with and quickly. She felt terrible. She had meant to tell Jake she was with Ian but hadn't. Ian was being so sweet and attentive she felt like the World's biggest bitch. Gav wanted to spend more time in England. He’d found that Terry and especially Betty looked much older than he’d expected.

Dean resolved to write some kick-ass songs for the Pandas (and secretly vowed to find some way of spending time alone with Lucy). Lucy wanted to learn to play an instrument and to build the English Asimo. Dean promised to help with both. Phil wanted to make the Pandas a success before he was too old. Cleo pointed out that there was no such thing as too old and that she didn’t believe in age appropriate behaviour. Privately Phil was looking into baldness remedies in a big way. He wanted to be ready when the Pandas took off. Suzy wanted to make the Pandas successful. Nick and Ian would soon stop questioning her methods when they got big. In her heart and her pants she resolved to be faithful to Phil. Seeing Jez this evening had made her sad for opportunities lost and experiences un-experienced.

Nick said he wanted a new job. He said he couldn't escape the feeling that he wasn't making the most of himself and of life in general. New Year always depressed him. He was thinking of asking Jenni to marry him after her Masters. Jenni wanted to get a distinction in her Masters and then a PhD in heart disease research. As usual she didn’t hesitate for a moment when asked what her ambitions were. Paul resolved to be a good husband, Dad and drummer. Angie wanted to be happy. Her ambition of having a happy family was intact but it had nearly been lost this year. She thought Paul was the love of her life and she hoped she was not wrong.
Just before midnight everyone was given a glass of cheap champagne. One of the bar staff turned the TV on so they could see the countdown in Trafalgar square. They joined it when it was at seven. Everyone fell silent, almost holding their breath, waiting for the New Year to begin. They had lit the blue touch paper of hope by making resolutions. Now they would have to watch and see if what they wanted rose straight and true, brightly and beautifully into the sky or if it floundered on the ground, smoking evilly and going off in their faces.