Page 56 of Fling

‘Colin, for God’s sake, it’s a bag of prawn crackers. You always say I’m too picky when I ask for salad dressing on the side in a restaurant. Let it go.’

‘They should at least refund me,’ Colin said, stubborn as ever.

‘It’s one euro for prawn crackers, Colin. I’ll give you a euro if you’re that out of pocket over it. Dr Burke said you need to stop being so stingy, remember?’ she said.

‘She never said that!’ Colin snapped.

‘She didn’t need to say it, Colin. It was needless to say,’ Tara said.

‘Yet here you are . . . saying it,’ Colin muttered.

‘Can we just continue with our nice evening, please? We’re not allowed fight, remember?’ Tara said, diffusing the situation. She pulled the cork out of the wine and began to pour.

‘OK . . . you’re right,’ he said, cooling down. He took a deep breath and continued to dish out the rest of the food. He handed Tara over her tub of chicken curry, only to hear a shriek immediately after.

‘OH FOR GOD’S SAKE!’ Tara shouted.

‘What’s wrong?’ Colin asked frantically.

‘I asked for no onions!’ Tara said, distraught.

‘Jesus, you nearly gave me a heart attack, Tara.’

‘This is a disgrace! Ring them!’

‘You just told me not to ring them!’

‘Well . . . it’s different now,’ Tara said, knowing well it wasn’t.

Colin raised an eyebrow in disbelief. ‘Oh, because it affects you? You can eat around the onions and still enjoy your meal. Dr Burke said you need to be more adaptable, remember?’ he said, giving her a dose of her own medicine.

‘She never said that!’ Tara shrieked.

‘She didn’t need to say it, Tara. It was needless to say,’ he said, smirking.

‘Yet here you are . . . saying it.’ Tara smirked back.

Tara and Colin looked at each other and laughed. It was their typical tit-for-tat behaviour at its finest, and in that moment they chose to appreciate the humour of the situation rather than let it escalate into an actual fight.

‘I actually feel bad for Dr Burke having to put up with us,’ Tara laughed.

‘Well, at three hundred euro an hour, I wanna make her work for it,’ he joked.

‘The wine is amazing by the way, great choice,’ Tara said, taking a sip.

‘Thank you, but this meal looks like it’s missing one thing,’ Colin said, comically scratching his head as if he didn’t know.

‘If you say prawn crackers, I’ll scream,’ Tara said.

‘No . . . but I would love to try some of your famous air-fried garlic bread,’ he said.

Tara knew this was Colin’s way of apologizing.

‘Coming right up,’ she said.

After their meal, Tara cleaned up and Colin tried to figure out how to get their DVD player to link up to their TV, so they could watch their wedding video. When Tara walked into the living room to join him, she realized it was the first time she had properly entered Colin’s man cave.

‘Oh my God, it smells like a man in here,’ she said, after getting a whiff of the room’s new scent.

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