Page 28 of A Wish For Jo
As Harvey approached, Jo battened down a frisson of excitement. It was all a bit much, considering what had happened onAll Rise. The trophy, stuffed in her handbag, made it real, even though it wasn't.
Her genie-inspired cake had sealed the deal, her rivals left with a unicorn and a mermaid. The judges were less than impressed when the unicorn's cream-filled horn ended up on the floor, and they pronounced the green-tinted flower petals of the mermaid's tail 'chewy and tasteless'. Using Aaliyah for inspiration, Jo had crafted a curvaceous buttermilk sponge base with a hint of cocoa to reflect her dusky skin tone. Black gel food colouring gave the hair the right look, and a gold-leaf bra top added just the right amount of glitz.
'Hi, Jo. You look, erm, lovely.' Harvey stuttered over the words, making Jo smile. Compliments didn't slip easily from his mouth. Not that she was any better at accepting them. She normally replied with, 'This old thing? Had it for donkeys’ years,’ or 'Have you been to Specsavers recently?' But she'd put on a new dress, taken longer with her make-up than usual, and knew that much of her sparkle owed itself to her unsharable win in front of the cameras.
'Thanks, Harvey. I took the liberty of ordering drinks. Well, a bottle of fizz. I wanted to celebrate.'Oops. What exactly was she celebrating? She could hardly 'fess up to herAll Risewin, and celebrating being on a date smacked of desperation.
Harvey nodded, took the bottle of prosecco from the ice bucket, and filled two glasses. 'Celebrating isn't something that comes naturally to me, but whatever you want to toast, count me in.'
They chinked glasses, neither sure what to say. Jo fiddled with a cardboard coaster, and Harvey smoothed back a rebellious strand of hair. Out the corner of her eye, Jo spotted Jinnie and Sam sliding onto a bench, Angela and Ed joining them. She contemplated waving, but didn’t want to intrude on their cosy foursome. Better to focus on the not-so-cosy twosome she was currently part of.
‘Have you had a good day?’ Jo longed to scream and shout about her unbelievable experience, wave the trophy around, and revel in gasps of admiration from The Jekyll and Hyde faithful. But only Aaliyah could share her joy, and she’d been conspicuous by her absence. She certainly wasn't at A Bit of Crumpet, as Jo had legged it there in a panic after her head-spinning return to reality. It was all closed up — and rightly so, at six pm.
’What’s a good day?’ Harvey folded a corner of his coaster. At this rate they’d be trying to out-origami one another. Who said romance was dead?
’One when something nice happens, I suppose, or when bad things don’t. When you get out of bed and feel positive instead of wanting to kick your cat. Not that I have a cat or would injure a defenceless creature, just to be clear.'
Harvey took a contemplative sip of his fizz and gave Jo a wan smile. 'I never imagined for a moment that you would. Feel free to kick me instead. I came here with the intention of being Prince Charming and I've already ballsed it up, haven't I?'
'That depends.' Jo ditched her coaster in favour of the bar menu. 'Maybe if we stuff our faces with food then the awkward pauses won't matter so much. I can't stand people chatting with their mouths full. Are you hungry?'
Right on cue, Harvey's stomach gave a snarl worthy of aJurassic Parkdinosaur. Jo took in his embarrassed expression and her heart melted faster than dark chocolate in a bain marie.
'Hey, how are you?'
Jo jumped and turned round. The speaker was Jamie, his smile stretching from ear to ear.Wait a minute.Jamie's smiles were thin on the ground and he never asked how anyone was.
'Erm, we're fine. Just trying to decide what to eat. Harvey, what do you fancy?'
Before Harvey could utter a word, an all-too-familiar figure came into view. Planting a kiss on Jamie's cheek, Aaliyah regarded Jo with a look of triumph. 'Seems like we're both winners, eh, Jo? And I've already got exactly what I fancy!'
CHAPTER30
'Haddock and prawn pie?'Harvey tried to capture Jo's attention, but her gaze was fixed on the retreating backs of her assistant and the young barman. Speaking of fish, her mouth was opening and closing in a passable imitation of a gulping goldfish. 'Or maybe the lamb dhansak? You can't go wrong with a good curry, in my humble opinion.' Still no response. Jo seemed transfixed by the loved-up duo, Aaliyah fondling the lad's bottom as they re-entered the pub.
One last try.'OK, let's go for the goat's intestines with a side of sautéed eel and witchetty grubs.'
Finally! Jo's head whipped around, a look of horror on her face. 'Please tell me you made that one up,' she gasped, snatching the menu from Harvey. 'Thank goodness. I was worried for a moment that Ken had gone weird on the food front.'
'You don't look very happy about Aaliyah and that young man. Don't you approve of their relationship?' Harvey topped up their glasses.
'No, I don't. I mean … Aaliyah's free to see whomever she wants, but it's just not right. I can't explain: it's complicated. Anyway, I'm not here to discuss somebody else's love life.'
'Ah, that's a shame, because I was hoping to talk about mine.'
Where in the name of the wee man had that come from?Harvey absolutely did not want to discuss his love life. He didn't want to open his battered heart and spill out the whole sad tale of Lindsey and how his life had turned to dust. Maybe he should leave now, and let Jo find a decent man without enough baggage to give a Heathrow handler a hernia.
'I'm all ears.' Jo tucked her hair behind said ears and gave them an impressive waggle.
'Can you touch your nose with your tongue too?' asked Harvey, in an attempt to change the subject.
Jo stuck her tongue out — not too far — and crossed her eyes for good measure. 'Now you've seen my full repertoire of silliness, why don't you tell me about your wife? I get the feeling that talking might help, unless you'd rather I attempted a couple of backflips to lighten the mood. And as I'm distinctly rusty in the gymnastics department, that might not be wise.'
Harvey inhaled sharply. The wound he carried ached, and memories of his wife pierced his soul like hot needles. And yet something about Jo acted as a balm, tempering the pain and dulling its ferocity.
'Should we order some food first? Full confessions aren't good on an empty stomach.' Not that Harvey planned on sharing the whole sad tale of his screwed-up life.
Ten minutes later, with two plates of lamb curry steaming fragrantly in front of them, Jo took the lead. 'So, I know you were married, but I suspect she passed away and there's an ocean of grief inside you. She was your everything, Harvey, and it's been an almighty struggle to get back on your feet.'
