Page 34 of The Wedding Cake Wish
I laugh, rather too heartily. Having feared he might betucked up with Amelia, phoning me in between energetic sex sessions, the reliefrushing through me right now is so enormous, I actually have to sit down.
‘Was...Amelia all right when you droppedher off last night?’
‘Fine. I think the evening cheered her up a bit. Made herwant to start living her life again.’
‘Of course. So I suppose you’d have got home about...midnight?’
‘Well, it was nearer one. She invited me in for a coffee andI felt I couldn’t say no. I thought she might want to chat a bit more aboutMyles. You know?’
‘And did she? Chat about Myles?’
‘Erm, not much, actually. She thought her advert might be ontelly, so we watched for a while and it was.’
‘Heradvert?’
‘Oh, yes. You probably don’t know. Amelia’s an actress.’
Oh, bloody hell. Of course she is.
She couldn’t just be an accountant or a hairdresser or adriving instructor like everybody else.
‘Yes, so she filmed an ad at the start of the year and it’sfinally on TV which is quite exciting for her.’
‘Gosh. How amazing.’
‘No need to sound so sarcastic.’
‘Sarcastic? But I’m not. I think it’s...reallygreat that Amelia’s a thespian.’
‘She’s actually very good, Rubes.’
‘Oh, I’m sure she is. So what’s her advert for?’
‘Stubborn stains.’
‘Sorry?’
‘You heard me, Ruby. And I don’t think it’sthathilarious.’
‘No, of course not. That’s marvellous. Wow. So...isshe a soaker or a scrubber?’
‘For God’s sake.’
‘Well, I’m just intrigued to know how she gets thosestubborn stainsout?’
‘Stop laughing, Ruby.’
‘I’m not.’
‘Could have fooled me.’
He sounds more than a little annoyed, so I switch tack.‘Um...sowhat did you do after you watched Amelia’s advert?’
‘Oh, she opened a bottle of port and made inroads into that.She tried to persuade me to join her but I was driving, so obviously Iabstained.’
‘Obviously.’Maybe she was hoping he’d be forced to stayat hers, instead of driving home.‘So was she...drunk bythe time you left?’
‘No, no. Well, a bit. She said the port reminded her ofMyles, which puzzled me a bit because he couldn’t actually stand the stuff.’
