‘You too,’ I croaked, not wanting to give away the fact that I had been trying not to weep on public transport for much of the afternoon.
He showed me into an equally neat living room, a large sofa pushed back against the wall, on which sat Grandad, Howard and Arjun. Against the opposite wall a mahogany table was covered in wine glasses, all filled with varying degrees of liquid. I could definitely do with the drink and headed straight for the table.
Reaching out a hand (I believe Geoffrey had somewhat over-catered, there must have been eight times the number of glasses that we needed), I was stopped in my tracks by all four of the men shouting, ‘No!’
‘What? What is it?’ I cried, leaping backwards, one hand flying to my chest.
Geoffrey started forward. ‘They’re not for drinking. Let me get you something from the kitchen. Those are part of the evening’s entertainment.’
I frowned, unsure. Were we going to play drinking games?
My mind boggled as I took a seat on a stiff-backed wooden chair, the older men now taking their seats. I felt a surge of relief to see their kindly faces and wondered guiltily if Luke might refuse to come.
Geoffrey returned with a glass, two ice cubes fast melting. ‘It’s flavoured with warmed coriander,’ he said, handing it to me.
‘Disgusting,’ Howard said. ‘I threw mine away, Lottie. Try the wine.’
‘I’m all right,’ I said, simply grateful to be sitting down with a drink.
‘Any interesting cases?’ Arjun asked, leaning forward a little and bringing his hands together in a steeple as he looked at me. It struck me then that he looked different, his cheeks a little hollower, his normally glossy dark hair flecked with more grey. I frowned, wondering if it was the lighting or just my imagination.
‘Nothing too gripping. My guy broke another guy’s nose but my guy says that it was self-defence and he’s been stitched up because that guy fancies his wife. It got pretty ugly during questioning.’
‘High drama.’ Arjun lifted his eyebrows. Did I imagine him pausing to take a breath between those two words?
Just then the doorbell went and Geoffrey disappeared. I sat up in my chair, placing my glass on the floor to fiddle with my hair, straighten my top. I felt nerves flutter in my stomach. I could hear Luke’s voice in the corridor, footsteps getting closer. Grandad looked across at me, an inscrutable expression on his face. I swallowed, picked up my glass again and tried to look as casual as I could in the world’s most uncomfortable wooden chair when he appeared in the doorway.
He looked tired, his normally smooth face lined, bags under his eyes. He glanced across at me and then away. I felt my body droop, bit my lip to stop myself from reacting any more. I wouldn’t have a meltdown in Geoffrey’s living room. I remembered the words I had spat at him during our last row. Why did I always have to be so vicious to the one person who always supported me? I seemed to possess a self-destructive streak, tempting my relationship to implode. No wonder he was seeking solace in Red-Haired Cow Face.
‘Hey,’ he said, looking at me again, accepting another glass from Geoffrey and moving across the room to sit on the other side of the sofa next to Howard.
‘I don’t even want to smell it,’ Howard said dramatically, staring at Luke’s glass.
‘Hey,’ I replied a little too loudly, a little too bright. I felt my mouth ache with the false smile I had fixed on my face.
Geoffrey returned from the kitchen, fiddling with his collar as he cleared his throat. I wasn’t used to seeing him in charge, normally so softly spoken and happy for others to take the limelight. Now, though, his voice was direct, louder as he stepped in front of the table filled with glasses, clutching some A4 papers in his hand. For a moment I wondered if he had prepared a speech.
‘Well, we’re all here now and I am excited to introduce you to musical glasses, something extremely popular in the eighteenth century. I have spent the day carefully working out the correct levels of liquid needed in each glass—’
‘Loser,’ Howard heckled, earning a boo from the rest of the sofa.
Geoffrey flushed. ‘—and have printed off sheet music to be distributed amongst you.’ He licked a finger and carefully peeled off the top sheet from the pile in his hands, handing it to me, before