Page 79 of The Reboot
‘Is that why you split up? Because she wanted to move back to England?’
‘Not entirely. Her getting offered the job at Oxford was the catalyst, but we could have made it work, if we’d really been committed to each other.’
‘But you weren’t?’
‘Not enough, in the end. What about you?’
‘I haven’t had the time – or, most importantly, the energy – for a relationship. There hasn’t been anyone since you. But my social life is picking up.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yeah, I’m really liking living with Roly, and I go out with the crowd from work most Fridays for drinks, and karaoke.’
‘Karaoke!’ He gave a hoot of laughter. ‘Oh god, poor you!’
‘It’s fun! I enjoy it.’
‘Seriously?’ He gave her a pitying look. ‘I feel like I hardly know you.’
Yeah, she thought. Same.
‘And I can’t imagine you and Roly have much in common. I mean, he seems like a nice guy, but what do you find to talk about?’
‘Plenty,’ she said with a shrug. ‘TV, music, films, our families, the news of the day … you know, what everyone talks about.’
‘Well, I suppose it can’t all be sitting around discussing Heidegger,’ he said with a supercilious smile.
Thank goodness!
‘Did you see that documentary about Rothko on TV the other night?’
‘No, I missed that.’
‘It was brilliant! You know I don’t watch much TV, but every so often there’s something worthwhile that makes me glad I didn’t get rid of it.’
‘I think it was probably on at the same time asCelebrity Masterchef.’
‘Good lord, is that what you’re reduced to?’
‘It’s good, I like it. And it’s interesting because Alex Sutton is in it – you know, from Oh Boy! He’s doing really well. Last week he made this amazing chocolate soufflé that reduced John Torode to tears.’
‘Who?’ Andrew screwed up his face, and she wanted to slap it. He knew damn well who John Torode was … probably. Actually, now she thought about it, there was probably a good chance he genuinely didn’t.
‘Well, there’s a Wim Wenders season starting at the IFI next week. Why don’t we go to something?’
‘Sure. As long as it’s not Friday.’
‘Of course. You wouldn’t want to miss karaoke night,’ he said sarcastically.
‘No. I wouldn’t.’
Roly arrived home when they were lingering over coffee on the sofa and Ella was draining the dregs of the wine. He seemed to bring an air of energy and positivity into the room with him that was cheering to Ella.
‘So, how was your evening?’ she asked as he flopped into the seat beside her.
‘Great!’ A wide smile spread across his face. ‘It’s going really well.’
‘Roly’s working on some stuff with Phoenix,’ she told Andrew smugly. She knew he’d be impressed by that, though he’d hate to admit it. He was a massive Walking Wounded fan. He used to have posters of them on the wall of his room in uni, and he could bore on about them for hours to anyone who’d listen, as if they were some esoteric band that he’d discovered.
