Page 19 of Crazy in Love at the Lonely Hearts Bookshop
‘Oh, I was just having a good night,’ Noah muttered.
Noah was very respectful of other people’s feelings. Not once had he made any of his teammates feel bad about their own general-knowledge shortcomings. Nina mentally scrolled through her list of exes to see if any of them would have behaved in a similar fashion. Not that a single one of them would have been able to correctly answer a question about political dissidents or cheeses of the world and if they had, they wouldn’t have been very gracious about it either.
And if they had single-handedly led their team to victory as Noah had, none of them would have ducked their heads and insisted that everyone had contributed as Clive announced Team Tote Bag as the winners, to stunned disbelief then a smattering of applause.
‘We couldn’t have done it without you,’ Nina told Noah, having to raise her voice over a commotion in the corner where The Battering RAMs were not taking the news of their defeat quietly. ‘Honestly, we usually manage second from last. This is all down to you.’
‘It is,’ Posy agreed fervently, waving the envelope with their winnings in it. ‘And now we’re rich! Rich beyond the dreams of avarice!’
They’d won the princely sum of ninety-eight pounds and seventy-six pence, some of which they immediately spent on more alcohol and cheesy chips. Nina liked to think they were good winners, calm and composed, unlike The Battering RAMs.
Big Trevor stormed over to demand a recount, then he pored over their quiz sheet to query each answer and finally demanded that Clive disqualify them for bringing in a ringer.
Clive was having none of it. ‘The quizmaster’s decision is final and abiding,’ he insisted and Nina could take it no more.
‘Hey! Big Trev! Nobody likes a sore loser!’ she called out. ‘Now, stop bellyaching and show a bit of dignity.’
It wasn’t often that Nina got to lecture people on their lack of dignity. Usually it was the other way round, she thought as Trevor slunk back to his corner.
‘My God, I thought it was a pub quiz but it seems to have turned into some kind of blood vengeance,’ Noah said. ‘Is it always like this?’
‘No, because The Battering RAMs always win.’ Tom shuddered. ‘We’ll have to leave together in case they’re waiting outside to jump us.’
‘Talking of leaving, it is very late for a school night.’ Posy looked flinty-eyed at her younger brother. ‘And just how many shandies have you had?’
‘This is my second,’ Sam replied with a slightly hurt intonation to his voice, like he couldn’t believe that his sister was implying that he’d broken her ‘two shandies on a school night and any other night, come to that’ rule. It might even have been convincing if Nina didn’t know for a fact that it was actually Sam’s fourth shandy, which was why he’d been getting increasingly giggly. ‘I’m not even a little bit drunk. Anyway, it’s only nine. It’s still early. Let’s stay for a bit.’
It seemed a pity to break up the party but Nina had an elsewhere to be. ‘Actually, I have to bail,’ she said with genuine regret because it was very comfy on the banquette, even though she was still thigh to thigh with Noah, and she could easily go another bowl of cheesy chips. ‘Got a hot date with that guitarist I met the other night.’
There were blank looks.
‘Come on! I told you all about him. His name’s Rob, he plays guitar in some whiny rock band and he broods beautifully,’ Nina told her colleaguesagain.
Tom shook his head. ‘No, doesn’t ring any bells. But there have been a lot of brooding guitarists in your life.’
‘Well, I’m sure he’s lovely,’ Posy said supportively and Nina pulled a face. She didn’t want lovely. Lovely brought to mind the kind of men who gave you teddy bears with ‘to the world’s best girlfriend’ printed on their stomachs and wanted you to meet their parents before you’d even had sex with them.
‘I don’t want lovely,’ she insisted, as she got to her feet and began to gather her belongings together. ‘But I do want my very own Heathcliff and, like I said, Rob is very good at brooding.’
To her slight horror, Noah was on his feet too. ‘I’ll walk you out if that’s all right. Time I was going home anyway.’
Nina shrugged like she wasn’t bothered one way or another and tried to ignore Tom’s pointed look, which implied that he was very disappointed at her failure to flirt with Noah.
Noah held the door open for her and adjusted his quick stride to a slower pace to accommodate Nina who could only hobble over the cobbles of Rochester Street if she was wearing anything with a heel.
‘Which way you heading?’ he asked.
‘Camden, so just to the nearest bus stop,’ Nina said and as they turned the corner into Theobalds Road, the bus stop was in sight.
‘I’ll wait with you,’ Noah said even though it wasn’t even nine thirty and it was perfectly safe. ‘See you on the bus.’
Noah was as lovely as Posy wished Nina’s suitors to be. Even Nina’s mother would love him and she was a tough crowd. But not my type, Nina reassured herself, as they lapsed into an awkward silence. Still, she’d been on enough dates to know what to do with an awkward silence and it wouldn’t hurt to indulge in a little light flirtation. If nothing else, it would limber her up for her date.
‘So, you really do have some amazing pub-quiz skills,’ Nina said, because everyone liked getting compliments. ‘When you’re short of cash do you hunt around for a pub with a general-knowledge quiz machine so you can win a few quid?’
‘It never crossed my mind but now that you mention it, it could be a lucrative side gig.’ Noah smiled. ‘Although there are whole areas that I’m patchy on.’
‘Like, what?’ Nina challenged. ‘Seemed to me like you knew everything.’
