Page 22 of Real Rocks
“He’s coming here around seven and we’re going to eat out, so I won’t be here for dinner.”
Aunt Annie’s face fell. “Oh, I thought you might stay here?”
“I’d rather be on neutral territory,” I said, as I propped myself up on my elbows.
“Well, if you’re sure?”
There was nothing I was sure of right now. “Just think it would be easier.”
She shook her head and sniffed. “And if you’re not going out with your friends, you can come and help me with the shopping. There’s no point in staying here and dwelling on Saff. Getting out of the house will do you good.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, but maybe she was right. Anything to stop her going on about Saff.
After traipsing around the supermarket for over an hour and then loafing about all afternoon watching crap television, I ended up taking a longer than anticipated nap on the sofa. When I woke, I only had ten minutes before my dad was going to be there. I glanced at my phone, which somehow had been switched to silent, and saw a missed call from Saff. No voicemail, but a message.
Tris, call me when you get this. We need to talk.
A sourness settled in the pit of my stomach.
The doorbell rang, signalling Louis’ arrival. Shit, he was early.
My finger hovered over the call button.
“Hello, son.” Louis appeared in the living room, followed by Aunt Annie. “Ready to go?” He beamed at me.
“Yeah, give me a couple of minutes. I fell asleep,” I admitted and slipped my phone into my pocket.
He laughed. “That’s what your mother used to do, although it was mostly because you tired her out.”
Hearing him speak of Mum so fondly came as a surprise. The majority of our conversations had been arguments or shouting matches, not reminiscing about what Mum did when she was alive. I screwed up my eyes. It was going to be a long night.
Half an hour later, we were in a corner table at The Mason’s Arms. I kept looking around for Andy and Jason, knowing they might walk in at any moment.
We sat in silence after the waitress had taken our food order, sipping our beer. I couldn’t remember the last time we had sat like this, if ever. He’d always been more interested in his latest girlfriend and pretty much left me to get on with my own life.
After what felt like ages but was probably only a couple of minutes, I spoke. “How’s Donna?”
Louis nodded. “Good, she’s good. And Saff?”
I debated telling him the truth. As an impartial observer, he might have something to say which wouldn’t be tainted by his opinion of her. “Not so good.”
“I guessed something was up. You’re back at Col and Annie’s for a start.”
“Only because she’s gone out on tour. And her cousin has got a new boyfriend, so he wanted the house to himself for a bit.” I fiddled with the beermat on the table. “But I think she might be cheating on me.”
“What makes you say that?”
Unable to articulate the situation, I reached for my phone and opened up Scott’s social media post, holding the device out for my dad to see. “Speaks for itself, doesn’t it?”
He scanned it and shook his head. “Don’t believe everything you read.”
“Two steaks? Both medium rare?” The waitress appeared with our food in record time, although for a Saturday night the pub was fairly quiet.
“Yes, thanks, love.” Louis flashed her a broad smile. “Have you got any mustard?”
“Of course, sir. I’ll go and get it for you.” She looked at me. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, I’m good.”
