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Dominic rang the bell and waited. He was looking forward to the evening. Hopefully Emily would have calmed down from the shock of her father’s new house guest, because he had news of his own to share. He rang the bell again, grinning to himself.
‘Hi!’ Helen threw the door open in a flurry of flour and enthusiasm. She held up her fingers. ‘Sorry. I was making pasta. Covered in flour.’
He leant forward and kissed her cheek, trying not to coat his clothing in baking debris. ‘You make your own pasta? Seriously?’
Helen nodded. ‘I thought it might be cheaper.’
‘And is it?’
She laughed. ‘Not if I have to chuck it out and use regular pasta anyway.’
Dominic followed his hostess into the living room. He’d known Helen for years, since she was his student in fact, and earnest, passionate twenty year old who ... He shut down the train of thought. He knew too well where it always led.
‘So Dominic, this is Alex. Alex, Dominic.’ The man lounging on the sofa hauled himself to his feet and shook Dominic’s hand. He was slim, with a shadow of stubble across his chin. He looked familiar but Dominic couldn’t place him.
‘Hi. And you’re ...’ Dominic’s voice tailed off. What exactly was he trying to ask? There was a man in Helen’s living room, a man who looked very much at home. He knew he’d been distracted with his dad’s condition recently, and tired from driving back and forth up the M6 for hospital visits, but he was pretty sure he’d have remembered Helen moving a boyfriend into her home. ‘So you and Helen are ...’ His eyes flicked from Helen to Alex and back again.
‘No!’ The stranger sounded horrified at the notion. ‘No. Definitely not. We’re practically related.’
Dominic glanced at Helen. ‘My mum is Alex’s godmother.’
Alex interrupted. ‘And vice versa.’
‘Alex is taking over Professor Samson’s classes for the rest of the year, and he’s renting Susie’s old room.’
Dominic nodded. Suddenly the fug of the vaguely familiar face cleared. ‘You’re a grad student! I’ve seen you around.’
‘Yep.’
Helen laughed. ‘You’ve seen him around the university? A rare sight.’
Alex flicked his middle finger in Helen’s direction. ‘I’m on campus loads.’
Dominic sat down in an armchair in one corner of the room. ‘Well you must be doing well if they’ve offered you Samson’s job.’
Alex shrugged. ‘They were kind of desperate. Did you hear how he died?’
Dominic nodded. The entire university had heard how Samson died. The only thing that had stopped Professor Midsomer actually having a heart attack over the whole thing was the fact that the man had had the decency to do it during the university holidays.
Dominic accepted the offer of a beer and sipped. It was odd talking to Alex tonight. A young man setting out on the career that Dominic was tiring of. ‘Actually I’ve got something to tell everyone this evening.’
Helen looked curious. ‘What?’
It was tempting to tell them in ones and twos, but he was using tonight as his dress rehearsal. If he could get through the big announcement once, then he might have a fighting chance of repeating the feat with his parents. He shook his head. ‘When Emily gets here.’
‘Right.’ Helen nodded. ‘I see.’ She looked around the room for a second. ‘I’d best get back and finish in the kitchen.’
Dominic was left alone, in the living room, with this new Alex person. What to talk about? He nodded, in what he hoped was a friendly, relaxed sort of way. Alex responded with a non-committal sort of noise, accompanied by a shoulder shrug. Dominic was on the verge of raising his eyebrows and nodding again, more vigorously, possibly adding a vague, ‘So ...’ sort of noise, when the doorbell rang. Oh thank the Lord.
‘I’ll get it.’ Alex jumped out of his seat as if it had been wired to the mains. Dominic smiled to himself. Well, at least it wasn’t just him who was feeling awkward. Presumably it would be Emily at the door. He glanced at his watch. It looked like her driving lesson had finished early. He hoped she hadn’t broken another instructor.