Page 126 of Where Do We Go From Here?
‘No, I took the train. Our car’s playing up. And to be honest, I think the train’s easier. There’s so much traffic on the roads these days.’
‘As long as you can afford it,’ Sue says. ‘It’s always so expensive. I’m shocked every time.’
‘It was OK, actually,’ Wendy says. ‘But I suppose I’m travelling off peak.’
‘Milk? Sugar? I should probably remember that, so sorry.’
‘Yes, you probably should remember that.Just milk. Milk is fine.’
‘D’you want to…?’ Sue asks, turning with the two mugs in her hands. ‘Shall we sit in the lounge or…?’
‘No, here’s good,’ Wendy says. There’s something about the lounge that might feel too soft for such a hard conversation. They take their seats, equally spaced around the circular kitchen table. Wendy and Sue nurse their mugs of steaming tea.
Wendy reaches out to touch the flowers on the table and is surprised to discover they’re plastic. They’re exceptionally realistic.
‘The weather’s been awful,’ Sue says, glancing out of the window.
‘Yes, it has.’
‘So how was France?’ her brother asks. ‘Did you enjoy it? Or did you hate it, hence the early return?’
‘No it was good, thanks. Interesting.’
‘And worthwhile?’ Sue asks.
‘Yes. It was quite life changing, actually.’
‘Oh, gosh,’ she says. ‘Do tell.’ She’s trying so hard to be enthusiastic that Wendy feels a bit sorry for her. Her efforts to be upbeat seem proportional to how far their friendship has waned.
‘It’s not that easy to explain,’ Wendy says. ‘But spending that much time alone was interesting, to say the least.’
‘So did you have…?’ Sue asks. Then, ‘I think Fiona said something about you having a revelation. Or hoping for one? I’m not sure which.’
Wendy laughs. ‘Did she? Our Fiona said that?’
‘Something like that. Maybe I got it wrong.’
‘That’s funny. I don’t remember saying anything like that. Not to Fiona, at any rate.’
‘So no bolts of lightning?’ Neil asks, sounding dismissive. He smiles at the end of his sentence to soften his unintentional blow.
Wendy forces a laugh. ‘No bolts of lightning. I haven’t become a Hare Krishna or anything. It didn’t really happen in the way I thought it would. I did expect something… I don’t know. Well, I didn’texpectanything. I washopingfor some sort of revelation, I suppose. But it didn’t really happen like that. I did have lots of new thoughts, though. But it was more a case of little insights than one big one. I do feel quite different now I’m home, though, so hopefully it wasn’t all for nothing. I’m blathering, aren’t I? Sorry.’
‘No, that’s great, isn’t it, Neil?’
‘Yeah. Totally.’
‘Neil! Do try to wake up a bit, honey. I’m sorry, he can be a bit vague sometimes after his snooze, can’t you?’
‘I’m not being vague at all. I’m just waiting to find out what this is all about. You said you wanted to talk, Wens. And I’m assuming you didn’t mean about the weather.’
Wendy blinks at this sudden slip of cordiality, at the glimpse of animosity it reveals.
‘Neil!’ Sue says, shooting a frown at her husband. ‘Sorry, Wendy. Why are you being like this, hon?’
‘I’m not being like anything.’
‘Well, please just stop it, then.’
