into Joaquim’s lap. ‘Oh my God, what is this?!’ I splutter.
‘Gin and tonic,’ Kate says, shouting across the table.
‘I asked for water.’
‘I must have misheard.’ Kate laughs before turning back Emanuel.
Joaquim offers me a napkin. ‘Here.’
I take it and he indicates my dress where I’ve spilled or spat some drink. I dab at it.
‘Excuse me,’ Joaquim is standing up, trying to get past me. I move to let him out and he disappears hurriedly into the crowd. I wonder what I said to make him bolt. I check the time. It’s one-thirty in the morning. ‘Do you think we should go?’ I ask Kate but she doesn’t hear me – she’s flirting too hard with Emanuel, touching his thigh as she emphasises a point.
‘Kate?’ I say louder, trying to get her attention.
She turns to look at me. ‘Yes?’
‘Shall we go?’
‘What?’ she asks, frowning. ‘We just got here.’
‘I’m tired,’ I tell her, frustrated and suddenly angry at her for dragging us here, for foisting more alcohol on me and now for ignoring me as she works to get in some random stranger’s pants.
She frowns. Emanuel’s hand is brushing her arm, his fingers tracing a circle on her shoulder. Goodness, that moved fast, even for Kate.
‘Get a rum and Coke or something,’ Kate tells me. ‘Come on, let’s stay, I’m having fun.’
You might be, I want to grumble, but I’m not. I’m not single. I’m not trying to pick up a stranger for a one-night stand. I make to stand – deciding to head back alone – but before I can leave Joaquim returns, drink in hand.
‘Here,’ he says, offering it to me. ‘It’s water.’
‘Thanks,’ I say, grateful and not a little surprised.
‘You’re welcome,’ he says with a smile that immediately defuses some of my anger. I move aside to let him get by into the booth, his aftershave filling my nostrils and making me dizzy. My headache starts up again and I realise how drunk I feel, the world blurring at the edges. I down the water in one go.
‘Better?’ Joaquim asks.
I nod, noting he’s sat down closer than he was before, his thigh almost brushing mine and his arm resting again behind my head. Normally I’m the first to get annoyed by manspreading but there’s something about the languid ease of his body and his confidence that’s sexy.
‘Cheers,’ he says, tipping his glass to mine. ‘Here’s to new friends.’
I knock my empty glass to his. I’ll give it five more minutes, I decide. I don’t want to appear rude to Joaquim.
‘What do you do, Joaquim?’ I ask, setting the water glass down.
‘I run a business,’ he says. He points at his friend. ‘Emanuel and I are business partners.’
‘What kind of a business?’
‘Design,’ he answers. ‘What about you? What do you do?’
I’m about to answer that I’m on maternity leave but the split second before I blurt it out I change my mind. ‘I work for a housing association,’ I say.
He looks at me blankly.
‘A charity,’ I explain. ‘Sort of. It helps people on low incomes.’
He leans in closer, head cocked to one side, as though it’s the most interesting thing he’s ever heard. ‘You help the poor. That’s nice.’
I study him. Is he being sarcastic? I don’t think so. He looks genuinely curious. I’m so used to English people and their sarcasm that when I meet someone genuinely earnest I’m always suspicious.
‘I mean, it’s not that exciting,’ I add, my cheeks warming again under his incessant gaze. Does he have any idea of his effect on women?
When Joaquim reaches for his own drink his hand brushes my knee, and my pulse leaps and skitters like I’ve been whipped by a stinging nettle. He must have noticed and I feel mortified. I don’t know how to flirt anymore, and definitely not with someone who isn’t my husband.
‘You’re married?’ Joaquim suddenly says, pointing at my wedding ring.
‘Oh,’ I say. Rumbled, I hold up my ring finger as though I’ve only just noticed it myself and am wondering how on earth it got there. ‘Yes.’
He cocks his head, a smile playing loosely on his lips. ‘But your husband is not here.’
I shake my head and my vision swims from the sudden movement. I was hoping the water would help me sober up but instead I feel even drunker. That sip of gin has pushed me over the precipice between mildly drunk and completely wasted. I need to drink more water. Joaquim inches closer to me so our thighs are pressed together and his