‘But he must do it sometimes.’ Ellie frowned. ‘I mean, like today, while you’re here working.’
‘Oh, he’s not looking after him now.’ More amused resignation. ‘Niall likes his lie-ins on a Saturday morning. I drop Benjamin off at my mum’s before I come into work.’
‘This is interesting,’ Ellie murmured when Yasmin disappeared to attend to another client. Roo must be devastated to discover that her boyfriend’s wife was so nice.
‘See? I told you she was a nightmare,’ Roo whispered back. ‘She’s just a complete control freak.’
***
Todd was waiting for them in the pub watching tennis on the giant TV screen up on the wall.
‘Well? How’d it go?’
‘I had my nails done.’ Roo showed him her hands. ‘Actually, she did a good job.’
‘Thank goodness for that.’ Todd’s voice was heavy with sarcasm. ‘What was she like?’
‘Lovely,’ said Ellie.
‘Oh please, that’s not fair.’ Roo shook her head. ‘She was pretending to be lovely because she was doing my nails. She’s at work, I’m her client, of course she’s going to put on a good show. But you could tell what she’s really like.’
‘She was great,’ Ellie insisted. ‘Cheerful, warm, working her socks off. Do you want my honest opinion?’
‘No.’ Roo was busy fiddling with her sunglasses.
‘Niall sounds like an arse.’
‘You’re biased.’
‘Because he’s an arse.’
‘I wish I’d never taken you along with me now.’
‘And Yasmin’s like a single mother,’ Ellie went on. ‘She does everything and he does nothing.’ How could Roo not see it?
‘Because when he does try to do anything, she tells him he’s doing it all wrong!’
‘He told her he was working last night. But he wasn’t, he was with you.’
Roo was defensive. ‘If he goes home, all she does is nag him.’
‘Probably because she’s exhausted looking after the baby on her own!’
‘Look, she was exaggerating, making herself sound hard done by to get the sympathy vote.’
Todd, his head swiveling between them, said, ‘This is better than the tennis. So come on, are you going to finish with this bloke?’
‘Don’t be so horrible! I love him!’
He looked exasperated. ‘The guy’s a liar and a cheat.’
‘Everyone tells lies.’ Their drinks arrived and Roo took a gulp of hers. ‘You should have heard Ellie going on about her baby.’
‘What baby?’
Roo spread her arms. ‘I rest my case.’
But Todd had missed the joke; he was busy staring at Ellie. ‘Are you pregnant?’
Ellie spluttered into her glass of wine. ‘No! How could I be pregnant? We just pretended I had a baby so we’d have something in common.’ She saw the look of relief on his face. ‘It was a white lie, that’s all. Harmless.’
‘Speaking of white.’ Roo checked her watch, knocked back the rest of her vodka, and ruffled her spiky white-blond hair. ‘I’ve got an appointment to get my roots done, so I’m off. Have fun watching the tennis without me.’ She looked at Todd. ‘I’d say it was nice to meet you, but that would be another lie.’
He said pleasantly, ‘That’s because I’m right and you’re wrong. And you know it.’
***
The tennis had evolved into a tense five-set match that had got everyone in the pub cheering and on their feet. Afterwards Ellie and Todd went out for pizza, before heading off to a club in Camden to see a band.
‘That was… loud,’ said Ellie three hours later as they made their way back through Chalk Farm to Primrose Hill. ‘My ears are ringing.’
Todd nodded in agreement. ‘They were so loud I couldn’t even tell if they were any good. Is this a sign that we’re getting old?’
‘We are old. Maybe next time we could stand outside on the pavement, just hear it from a distance.’
‘Why stand? We could take a couple of deck chairs along. Get comfy, roll up our trouser legs.’
‘Wear knotted hankies on our heads,’ Ellie said. ‘You can’t beat a knotted hankie. In fact, why bother with going to see a noisy old band anyway? What’s wrong with watching some nice Morris dancers instead?’
‘Now you’re talking, Ethel, that’s a grand idea. We’ll take along a Thermos of tea and a packet of ham sandwiches.’ He paused, checking she was OK.
Ellie managed a smile to reassure him she was fine. This had been his and Jamie’s thing, taking an idea and running with it, inventing characters, and creating impromptu sketch shows. From time to time she and Jamie had done the same, but it had never happened between her and Todd before. It was a weird experience, like holding your toothbrush in the