She hadn’t thought she would be needing it tonight. She walked over and checked the screen, already knowing what it would say.
14
The mood around the table was strange. To Leo it seemed as if everyone was acting a part that was different from any version of themselves she had ever seen. As an observer of this intriguing phenomenon she had the best seat in the house, between a slightly manic Max who appeared determined to be jolly, and a very subdued Pat. She was opposite the new neighbour, who appeared remarkably sane in comparison to everybody else, and looked casually trendy tonight in a white linen short-sleeved shirt over dark blue chinos. She was keen to learn his story, but now perhaps wasn’t the right time.
Mimi was like a limpet around Pat - whom she insisted on calling Patrick because apparently Pat was a girl’s name. Max, being Max, had tried to oblige for about two minutes, but had quickly forgotten and reverted to the name he had been using since they met at university nearly eighteen years ago. Pat, on the other hand, seemed almost uncomfortable. There was no evidence of his occasional moments of dry humour tonight.
She felt a bit sorry for Ellie and Max’s builder. He had been seated between Mimi and Gary, and was definitely ill at ease. Mind you, that wasn’t surprising as Mimi wouldn’t speak to him in case she missed something that Pat was saying, and Gary, as usual, was only interested in talking about himself and in an even louder voice than normal. Leo hadn’t seen Gary for some time, and had forgotten what an idiot he could be - especially in the way he spoke to his wife. Penny had hair the colour of butter shortbread, and she’d grown it long so that when she leaned forward a shiny curtain of pale gold hid her face from view. With a sixties style fringe, there wasn’t much of her left to see. She had barely lifted her head all evening, apparently intent on focusing on the food, but on the occasions that she did look up, Leo noticed that the skin under her eyes was tinged with purple, as if she wasn’t getting enough sleep. Penny had been a kind and thoughtful neighbour for Ellie, especially after the twins were born, and Leo was sure that Max only put up with Gary because he was Penny’s husband.
Gary had the sort of haircut that required constant brushing back with the fingers, or even - God help us - the occasional flick of the head like a shy girl on her first date. There was no doubt that he was technically a handsome guy, with piercing blue eyes, a broad forehead and sensuous lips, which opened to reveal the brightest teeth that Leo had ever seen. Somebody had been a little excessive with the whitening treatments, it would seem. But he wore the look of a person who believes himself to be superior, as if he were looking down his nose at everybody around him. Leo couldn’t help enjoying the fact that she could see the back of Gary’s head in the mirror on the wall behind him, and there was undoubtedly a sign of thinning there. He wasn’t going to like that one little bit.
As Mimi was whispering in Pat’s ear, Leo took the opportunity to lean across them and talk to Sean.
‘You’ve made a wonderful job of renovating the house, Sean. It’s superb.’
Tom chipped in too, obviously realising that Leo was trying to bring Sean into the conversation.
‘Yes, it’s beautiful. I’ve recently done my own place. Not a patch on this, of course. Are you working on any more projects?’ Tom asked.
‘I’ve got something on the go, but it’s still a bit hush-hush. We’re hoping to get everything signed in the next week or so,’ Sean answered. ‘And then we need to get the plans approved, which my friend on my right here tells me shouldn’t be a problem.’
He nudged Gary as he spoke.
‘What do you do then, Gary?’ Tom asked
‘I’m head of planning for the council,’ Gary answered. ‘Crap job, but somebody’s got to do it!’
Leo knew all about Gary’s thwarted ambitions. His favourite line was that he was originally going to be an architect, but Penny buggered all that up for him by falling pregnant. She wasn’t going to give him the opportunity to bore everybody with that line again, so Leo turned to Ellie.
‘The food is amazing, Ellie. As