Page 57 of Never Too Late
‘And so far, that seems to be working out more to his advantage than yours.’
‘That’s not true. I was heartbroken that my friendship with Gabrielle became a casualty of my relationship with Tomas failing. Meeting her again last night was incredible and I’m very grateful that I was in the right place at the right time to start rekindling that.’
‘Anything else you might be rekindling?’
I got up and walked to the cupboard, reached up for a glass and filled it with water and popped out two paracetamol from a packet on the top, gulping them down with the water. When I turned back to face the living area, Sasha was watching me, apparently still waiting on an answer.
‘I thought I was supposed to be the mother in this relationship.’
‘You are but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you.’
‘Sash. I’m a big girl. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m more than capable of looking after myself. So if you’re alluding to me rekindling anything with Tomas, then no. I have no plans in that direction.’
‘I know you’re capable, Mum. But you can be a bit naïve sometimes.’
My brows raised and Sash held up her hands.
‘And I don’t mean that in a bad way.’
‘Is there a good way?’
‘It’s just that you and Dad kind of kept to yourselves or stayed within the realms of Dad’s academic circle. I’m not saying you don’t know what’s going on in the world or anything.’
‘Well, thank you,’ I interjected with a shovelful of sarcasm.
‘Don’t be offended.’
‘I’m doing my very best not to be.’
She shifted in her seat. ‘People can take advantage of others who might not be as street smart as them,’ my daughter continued in a knowing way.
‘Sash, I know you mean well. And you’re right, me and your dad did keep a fairly small life, compared to yours, but that doesn’t mean we’re unaware of things. Believe it or not, we were once your age and despite not having smart phones, rolling news and being connected twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, somehow we managed to survive this far. People using others for whatever purpose is as old as time itself. I might not know the latest Taylor Swift song or how to do what you do on YouTube but I’m not entirely hopeless.’
Sasha was quiet for a moment, flicking her thumb. This usually meant she was thinking something over, a tic she’d developed as a small child. As I had said, I might not know facts about the latest fad but I knew my daughter and right now, I knew she was pondering over whether to continue this debate or withdraw. Thankfully, and wisely, she chose the latter. With a raging hangover, I wasn’t in the mood to continue it either.
‘I’m just trying to look out for you, Mum. He obviously really hurt you before and I don’t want that happening again.’
I held out my arms and Sash came over and allowed herself to be wrapped in a hug.
‘I know. And he won’t.’
She pulled back suddenly. ‘So you are seeing him again?’
‘No. Not like that.’
She frowned.
‘I mean, possibly not at all. He has an exhibition at a local gallery. That’s why they’re here. I mean, Gabby does live in Paris again now, but now I think about it, I never asked Tomas where he was living now. It never occurred to me, if I’m honest.’
‘Well,’ Sasha said, straightening, ‘that’s a good sign. It shows you’re not interested.’
I wasn’t entirely sure it showed anything of the sort other than the fact we’d had thirty years to catch up on in the space of a few hours and certain things naturally got left out or forgotten.
‘Why don’t you go back to bed for a bit?’ my daughter suggested.
‘No, no.’ I waved my hand. ‘I’m fine. I want to hear all about your evening.’
‘Mum. Don’t take this wrong, but you look like shit and I’m not sure you’d be absorbing much of what I tell you anyway.’
