Straight to You Page 0,17

my glass and I looked up to see that all the faces around the table were fixed in Mark's direction. He seemed uncomfortable and looked at each of us in turn as he continued to speak.

'I've heard it said that things are going to get worse before they get any better.'

Mark swilled the dregs of his beer around in the bottom of his glass before drinking them down and wiping his mouth. I glanced anxiously across the table at Samantha and she returned my concerned expression. She shuffled to sit upright in her seat and, as she did, her foot rested against my leg. I was glad that she kept it there and did not move away - to feel her body next to mine was welcome and comforting.

A bell rang out and the landlord of the pub yelled for last orders in a deep, gruff voice. In an instant, the bemused quiet which had been so very evident in the building was replaced with sudden, frenzied activity as people rushed towards the bar to buy one final, nerve-settling drink. Mark nudged my arm.

'We'd better make a move, mate,' he whispered. 'I've got a busy day tomorrow.'

I nodded and stood to move away from the table. Samantha also got up and walked over to me.

'See you about half past one tomorrow?' she asked.

'Is that all right?' I replied rhetorically.

'It's fine,' she said. 'I'm looking forward to it.'

'I'll help take our minds off all of this,' I said, gesturing outside.

Sam smiled and I moved towards her and out of the way so that Mark could get past. Had we been alone, I would have kissed her goodnight but the presence of our friends managed to diminish the self-confidence that the little alcohol which I had consumed had built up within me.

'It was nice to have met you all,' Mark said to those who remained seated around the table. 'We'll have to do it again sometime, when it gets a little warmer perhaps!'

I shook my head in disbelief at my companion's bizarre sense of humour as he walked past Samantha and myself towards the exit. I said goodbye to Sam's friends before turning back to say goodnight to her.

'See you tomorrow then,' I said, not really wanting to leave. Mark and I walked out towards the carpark but, before we had even reached the door to leave the building, I could not stop myself from turning around and looking at Sam once more.

I felt as if I was floating on air as we staggered back to the car. Ignorant of the muggy heat and of Mark's tedious conversation, all that I could think of was the beautiful girl that I had just left.

Chapter Seven

As we had been forced to make an unexpected diversion earlier in the night, the drive back to Mark's house took longer than usual. He was tired and although he tried to deny it, slightly drunk. With no cassettes in the car to listen to, I switched on the radio in a vain attempt to drown out the constant and uninteresting noise that he made.

The radio crackled and spat static and the reception was so poor that it was difficult to find a signal of any strength. I eventually gave up trying to find something to listen to amongst the high-pitched hiss of the VHF and so switched to another waveband. The noise that the radio made was deeper and flatter but was still devoid of any human sounds until I finally managed to tune into the faint conversation of a late-night discussion programme. It sounded dull and boring but, as I moved my hand towards the set to switch it off. Mark stopped me.

'I want to hear this,' he said, slurring his words. He brushed my hand away and turned up the volume. 'This could be important - we should listen to it.'

I decided not to spoil my drunken friend's enjoyment of what sounded like a tedious debate. A panel of invited 'experts' was sat in a studio discussing the present conditions and hypothecating about what might one day happen if things did not change. As with all debates, there were two opposing sides. The difference here was that neither of them seemed to know anything about the subject which they argued over. They all knew what had already happened, but could only speculate and theorise as to what the future might hold in store.

'Professor Cunningham,' the host of the programme said from somewhere in the midst