Page 88 of The Truth About You and Me
‘That would be great,’ I reply.
She passes me the cup. I hesitate before reaching for it.
‘Shit sorry, I didn’t think…’ She places the cups down with a clink, concern around her eyes.
‘It’s fine. Thank you.’
‘Phew. Thought I’d fucked up at the first hurdle. Jack has warned us not to make a mess of things and here I am, practically about to hold your hand.’
I’m slightly taken aback by the F-bomb but Jack had already warned me that his mum swears like a sailor.
‘Greta!’ Charl bellows from the other side of kitchen as the kids run away and out of the kitchen, Jack making growling noises behind them until they run up the stairs. ‘Put some clothes on!’
‘Oh, let her be,’ Tom adds barely looking up. ‘She’s not going to get hypothermia.’
Charl lands her hands on her hips. ‘Do I need to remind you that Ididget hypothermia when I was her age?’
‘That’s completely different.’ Gilly shakes her head. ‘You were in the sea and not wearing a wetsuit.’
‘If I recall…’ Jack adds, his dark hair flopping forward into his eyes as he reaches over for a biscuit on the counter. ‘You were wearing Mum’s bikini, which you’d superglued shells onto.’
‘I didn’t superglue them, I used Blu-Tack.’
‘And you made a magnificent mermaid,’ adds Tom but with his eyes still on the newspaper in his hands. ‘Triangulate.’ He mutters, hand pressing a biro onto the page.
‘So, Maggie…’ Gilly takes a sip of her coffee. ‘Jack tells us you have your own cleaning business?’
‘I, no, I clean; I don’t own a business. I have a few regular gigs?—’
‘And you clean the cinema too?’ My head turns to Charl, who opens a bottle of vodka and pours half of the bottle into a large glass drinks dispenser.
‘Yes, I?—’
Gillian jumps in, ‘Such a cool place. I’ve been a few times…’
Tom mutters another clue to himself, pen tapping his bottom lip.
‘I can’t believe you got Jack to go and seeNotting Hill,’ Gilly says under her breath.
‘Is that the one about the sports agent?’ Tom asks glancing up.
‘No that’s…’ I begin.
I’m trying to keep up with the discussion bursting with different personalities surrounding me, but it’s hard. Fireworks of conversation are exploding in every direction; my body wants to duck beneath them. I can’t remember the last time I was this close to so many people, being part of the conversation rather than spectating from a distance. I look over to Jack, warmth floods through me but I know my hands are quietly shaking. Jack turns, looking back as though I’ve pulled on the toggle of a kite string. He says something to his sister who rolls her eyes, and then he walks towards me.
‘Tell me you’re going easy on her?’ he asks his family, eyebrow quirked.
‘Honestly, Jackson!’ Gilly says, taking another sip. ‘You make us sound like the Spanish Inquisition.’
‘Do I need to remind you of the first time I brought a girl home?’
Charl snorts as she twists a cap, then pulls out a chopping board.
Gillian laughs. ‘What? We were being welcoming!’
‘Mum, you asked her what her intentions were,’ Jack challenges.
‘Well… I was interested.’
