ED
‘Grab that table, Ed. I’ll get us some food.’ Claudia pointed to somewhere right over on the other side of the café. I looked across the sea of office workers and took a deep breath before wading in. As I wove between tables, it became very obvious to me, and most likely the entire bloody café, that I was the only man in the room not suited and booted. The men’s glances only grazed me as I passed them. He’s obviously not worth networking with, I could hear them thinking. But perhaps I was being unfair. They probably weren’t even thinking about work at all. In fact, the conversations I heard snatches of were mostly about games played at the weekend. Of course they were. But the women were different. I could feel their glances burning holes through the back of my trousers. I was a bit of rough standing out in all the suits. Ha! That improved my mood.
Claudia brought over a mountain of food.
‘Thanks! What do I owe you?’ I asked her.
‘Absolutely not, this is my treat.’
I knew better than to argue. Claudia is aggressively generous and there is no point fighting it.
‘So what brings you down here? I presume it’s not the fishing?’ she asked as she passed me a plate.
‘You’re right. Although if I was in the mood, Canary Wharf wouldn’t be a bad place for it,’ I said, bending my head to a table of women nearby.
‘I didn’t know you were into the polished variety, Ed. Wouldn’t have picked them as your type at all.’
‘No. You’re right.’ Of course she was. She usually was, which is why Claudia was such a good person to talk to. She didn’t bend anything to make it easier to hear.
‘But it has been a long time between drinks, has it not?’ Claudia asked.
Oh, and she never edged around a topic.
‘It’s Sam,’ I said.
‘I thought so.’
‘Have I been that obvious?’
Claudia put down her sandwich and looked at me with pity. I didn’t like the look of that at all. ‘Do you want an honest answer?’
‘I suppose so.’ Yes, of course I did, but for a moment I wasn’t sure if I was ready for whatever she had to say at all.
‘It’s obvious to me but I’m not entirely sure if Sam has figured it out yet.’
I supposed that was a good thing in some ways, but the whole reason for coming back from India so quickly was to see if she would notice, wasn’t it? The café clattered with chatter and metal on china and suddenly it seemed too loud in there, like everyone else was having important conversations, living their important lives, while I was there to ask my friend a question that had no point to it at all. It was obvious Sam was never going to look at me as important, never see me as central in her life. I would remain on the outside, just like my scruffiness set me apart in this company. Suddenly all I wanted to do was leave.
‘Tell me what you want to know, Ed. You can’t come all this way and then look terrified.’ Claudia reached out and laid a hand on my sleeve, as if she knew she had to keep me sitting there for a few more minutes.
‘Why can you read me so easily?’ I said.
‘It’s a gift, one of my few.’ Claudia grinned at me. Was I seeing things or could I see a hint of sadness behind that smile? Maybe, maybe not. But she was right – I did have to ask her.
‘I wondered if you knew who she was seeing,’ I managed to say, my voice coming out all quiet and uncertain.
Claudia raised her eyebrows at me, took another bite of her sandwich and chewed it slowly. I tried again.
‘She was out really late on Saturday with someone . . .’ My voice petered out. I sounded like a petulant child who wasn’t getting what I wanted, which I was really.
Claudia finally put down her sandwich.
‘Are you asking me to tell you something that Sam told me in confidence?’
‘So you know?’ My heart beat faster.
Claudia sighed.
‘Ed, I will tell you, only because you’re going to have to be patient with this one. He’s a biggie.’
‘A biggie?’ I didn’t like the sound of that.
‘Her first love.’
I racked my brain for a name.
‘Charles Hugh-Barrington. Otherwise known as Charlie. Saw him in her last year at college.’
It wasn’t ringing any bells but all the same my hands suddenly felt slick.
‘Ed.’ Claudia reached across the table for the second time. ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen with this but I’ve got a feeling that Sam might need to get him out of her system. And she may never move on from him,’ she added.
I looked at the cheesecake I knew I couldn’t possibly eat.
‘Were you finally going to do something about her?’ she asked me.
‘About who?’ said a woman’s voice.
Out of nowhere, standing next to our table, was Rebecca.
‘Jesus!’ I recoiled from her.
‘Sorry, didn’t mean to give you a fright!’ What was with this girl? She was everywhere.
‘What are you doing here?’ Claudia asked.
‘I work here!’ She was glowing with pride.
‘You do?’
‘Yes and apparently you know my boss? A certain John Morgan?’
Claudia looked shocked. ‘You’re his new PA?’
‘That’s me! Exciting, isn’t it? Mind if I join you? You could dish all the dirt on him.’
‘Actually . . .’ Claudia stood up and shot me an apologetic look. ‘I’ve got to get back. Have my seat.’
‘Oh are you sure?’ But Rebecca sat down before I’d even had time to blink, let alone say goodbye to Claudia. This was too much to take in. Now I really had to get as far away as I could from this hive of chirpy office workers, particularly the one beaming at me across the table.
‘I wasn’t interrupting anything, was I?’ Rebecca asked brightly.
I started getting out of my chair.
‘Actually, I really need to go. Sorry. Running late.’ It was completely against my nature to be so rude but I really couldn’t do this.
Rebecca looked a bit shocked but then stood with me.
‘Of course, sorry, I shouldn’t have just barged in like that.’
‘Oh you didn’t, honestly, I just have to go.’
Rebecca motioned to my food. ‘You’ve hardly eaten anything.’
‘You can have it!’
Rebecca looked blank. Of course she wouldn’t eat my leftover food. God, this was awkward.
‘I mean . . .’
Rebecca smiled brightly. ‘Look, you go, Ed, but before you do I was just this moment wondering who might come to a party I’ve been invited to on Friday night.’
I was doing a bad job of putting my jacket on. I couldn’t seem to negotiate my left arm into the armhole. I was distracted. I was in a hurry.
‘Oh, right.’
‘Would you like to come with me?’
She totally nailed it. All I could answer, before my mouth could engage with my brain was – ‘Sure, sounds great. See you soon.’