Craig’s music. He keeps telling us that as though it’s a good thing.
“She won’t come to hear me,” he says, laughing. “She won’t come on tour. Will you, babe? Just refuses.”
“Blink Rage!” says Nadine in return, and takes a swig of prosecco. “What kind of name is that? And have you heard the noise they make?” She runs her eyes disparagingly over my skull tights again. “But maybe you’re into all that, Becky?”
“I’m eclectic,” I say with a casual shrug. “I used to hang out with Craig’s band at Bristol. That’s how we got together, back in the day. Good times,” I add reminiscently.
I’m expecting Nadine to ask more, but she says, “Mmm,” with a supreme lack of interest, then turns to Luke.
“Now, I know all about your company,” she says. “Brandon Communications. It’s famous. Where you are, that’s where I want to be one day. Believe you me, you’re my inspiration.”
She’s leaning forward and gazing at Luke with clear blue eyes. And boosting her cleavage with one arm, I suddenly notice.
“Nadine’s doing really well with her marketing company,” says Craig. “She’s got a new client. Sportswear.” He gulps his wine and pats her arm proudly.
“I’d love to learn from you, Luke,” says Nadine breathily. “Anything you can teach me. How did you start out? What was it like at the beginning? You’re such a role model.”
Every time she speaks, she juts out her cleavage a bit more. Is she for real? I glance at Luke, wanting to catch his eye—but he seems captivated by Nadine.
“You don’t want to hear my long and tedious journey into business,” he says with a laugh.
“Oh, I do!” Nadine bats her eyelashes at him. “Believe you me, I want to know every detail. I can learn so much.”
“She does,” agrees Craig. “She’s been on at me! ‘Introduce me to Luke Brandon.’ You know, forget meeting Blink Rage. Not interested. She wants to meet you.”
“Well,” says Luke, looking amused. “I’m flattered. Do you want another glass of wine, Craig?”
“I’ll get them,” says Craig easily, getting to his feet. “You two have your chat. Becky, you OK?” He shoots me a fleeting glance.
“I’m fine!” I say with a bright smile. “I’m fine! All good!”
* * *
—
But it’s not all good. An hour later, my smile has frozen solid. This evening is the opposite of what I expected.
Luke and Nadine have been engrossed in boring, technical talk about marketing, which nobody else can join in with. Nadine has told Luke about a thousand times how he’s her inspiration, “believe you me, Luke.” (She says “believe you me” about every five minutes, and it’s driving me nuts.) But Luke doesn’t even seem to have noticed. He just seems delighted by the attention.
Meanwhile, Craig has ignored my attempts to make conversation. I’ve tried every topic, from music to Kiev (I did some research) to telling him about our brunch in Shoreditch. But each time, he’s broken off midstream to tell Luke what a hard worker Nadine is or how she’s a total tech expert and redesigned his whole website.
“Another drink, Luke?” says Nadine, seeing that his glass is empty, and he glances at his watch, then at me.
“We should probably get going,” I say, trying to sound regretful. “I told Suze we wouldn’t be long. It’s been fab to meet you, though.”
“Oh, you too, Becky!” says Nadine insincerely, then she looks at my spiky boots. “Don’t those kill your feet? I can’t do heels. I don’t do rock music and I don’t do heels over two inches. End of.” She gives Craig a satisfied look and he gazes at her admiringly.
“She knows what she wants, Nadine does,” he says with pride in his voice. “Always does.”
“Did you go to Warsaw for the weekend?” I can’t help asking her.
“Warsaw?” says Nadine, flicking her hair back. “No chance! I was working. Anyway, I don’t like Craig’s musician friends. Too grungy.” She wrinkles her nose. “And I’m not much of a traveler.”
OK, I do not get this relationship. She doesn’t like musicians or rock music or travel. What do they have in common? What?
“Well, see you!” I say, getting to my feet. “It was so nice to catch up, and welcome to Letherby….”
“You must come over,” says Craig, standing up too. “See the cottage. Try out the hot tub.”
“Ooh, the hot tub,” says Nadine, with a flash of enthusiasm. “Now, I do like that. I could stay in that all day. You like hot tubs, Luke?”