Page 66 of Light Up
“Hardware and infrastructure functional assurance specialist tied to musical logistics.”
What the hell was that?Surely Tal wasn’t the only one wondering.
Corey’s hand was on Tal’s knee and Tal put his hand over the top.
“Tal’s an architect.” Corey smiled at him.
“Have you designed anything we might have seen?” Charlotte asked.
Oh God.Tal hated that question.
“Have you been to Alaska?” Corey asked.
“No.”
“Azerbaijan?”
“No.”
“Hmm.” Corey frowned. “Buenos Aires?”
“No.”
“You’re not well-travelled enough to have seen his best work.”
Tal struggled not to laugh, but the rest of the table did. How did they know Corey wasn’t telling the truth? Fortunately, the next course arrived and food stopped more conversation. It was at times like this that Tal felt even more out of place, but Corey had distracted him and distracted the others. Listening to Corey, feeling his hand on his knee and appreciating the reassurance, made Tal feel more comfortable, more settled.
“You okay?” Corey whispered.
“Yes.”
Corey removed his hand so he could eat the beef Wellington that had been served.
“At least the food’s nice,” Corey whispered.
“Yes.”
“I bet when you were a little boy and your mum was nagging at you to go out and play in the sunshine, you’d be quite happy in your room reading all about clouds or coins or corsets and youwere only prepared to move if it was to the bathroom or to get something to eat.”
“Corsets?”
“I just threw that in there. Another C word.”
Charlotte was entertaining the rest of the table with her and her husband’s plans for Christmas. They’d been driving home after a Christmas party and had decided to stop overnight when the snow began to fall but they were hoping to leave soon. They had a fabulous cook. An excellent nanny. Such a delight not to have to miss having fun with the family while she made dinner. They could spend the afternoon playing games while all the cleaning up was done for them.Hmm.
“I wonder if her fabulous cook and excellent nanny like spending Christmas away from their own families,” Corey said quietly.
“They’re probably paid enough to make it acceptable.”
“Not right though, is it?”
It didn’t sit right with Tal either.
“What do you usually do at Christmas? Same thing every year with your friends but in a different place?” Corey asked.
It was time to be honest. “I’m not actually meeting anyone in Cowdley. I was going to spend a few days on my own.”
“Oh.” Corey bit his lip. He busied himself eating and Tal knew he’d disappointed him.
