Page 80 of The Cocktail Bar
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“You never cease to amaze me,” said River, arm in arm – to keep his teeth from chattering above all else – with one of the most incredible women he thought he would ever meet.
“It’s pretty much physics,” said Hayley, pulling away from him to pluck at the long grassy blades which fringed the River Brue, running her fingers along the length of their pale seed displays and scattering husks onto the water’s surface to mingle with the pond skating insects, “wherever the head moves the body follows.”
“Come again?”
“Krav maga, mate. You never do know when it’s gonna come in useful, like. I’ve had to resort to using it more times than I’ve had hot dinners with some of me passengers over the years. All’s I can say is I’m mighty glad to have befriended the bride and groom courtesy of your bar over the course of this year… looks like I well and truly saved the wedding day.”
Hayley stopped to adjust her faux fur stole, an accessory which put River in mind of the Egg Nogs circuiting the after party, something he’d be happy to down immediately, should a waiter care to pass this way.
Alice appeared from the windmill’s doorway then, a glass of Eggnog in her mittened-hands.
“Why the wistful look? Surely you two haven’t had a ding-dong again?”
“It’s not her, it’s me.”
“Oh don’t feed me that line. If there ever was a sentence that needs to be deleted from the male bleedin’ vocabulary, it’s that; drives me up the wall.”
“Well, in my case it’s true. She’s perfect, I’m an idiot. There’s nothing more to say. I had my chance, I blew it.”
“But what did you do this time?”
River’s brain began to weigh up the pros and cons of going into full blown details, and then Terry made the decision for him.
“Ladies and gents, hope you’re enjoying the day… well done Hayley for earlier and rest assured I shall be having words with… with… it pains me to say it, my kids.”
“The pleasure was mine, Tel. Andwhois this?”
Hayley turned to the unconventional, yet somehow dashing guy who was accompanying Terry. River definitely hadn’t spotted him earlier in the church.
“The name’s Bob.” The mystery man held out his hand to take Hayley’s for a rather corny kiss. River was stunned to see her oblige.
“Yeah, this here is the one and only Bob, aka the geezer who’s turned my life around.”
Aha, TV Exec Dude.
Well, little did Bob know he wouldn’t be standing here now losing himself in the eyes of this lady had River not followed his instinct and penchant for a shot of Tequila, but that was the best thing about all of this, having this amazing secret and not being tempted to tell a soul about it. Okay, with the exception of Lee that one time. But it hardly counted, and besides, he hadn’t believed a word of it anyway.
River and Terry gave each other The Mutual Nod and peeled off in their separate directions, each instinctively aware their presence was no longer required. Unsure quite where he was heading, River began to whistle, like most men inexplicably seem to do, as if to put in a little premature practice for the big 4-0. It worked a charm to attract the attention of a waiter, even if the Eggnog was ‘temporarily on hold’. A mulled wine was no bad substitute. He took a sip and closed his eyes, resurrecting their Prague Christmas bauble of a bubble. Oh, to go back there, to say the three words he should have spouted back at Alice, to personally see to the depositing of red rose petals on a seventies bedspread himself, to deck Piet and throw him into the Vltava.
When he opened his eyes he saw his opportunity to catch Alice alone instead, as she stood serenely in a chocolate box pose, elbows propped against the gates of the orchards flanking the river. He knocked back his mulled wine so fast it almost winded him, recovered; straightened up his tie, and soon his legs appeared to be transporting him to her, despite the lack of an invite.
“It wasn’t so long ago that we were jumping over these with a fleet of bulls’ horns at our backsides.”
He climbed on top of the gate, wincing at his dreadful attempt to break the ice, and looked down on her golden halo with a smile. It still looked like she’d ‘just stepped out of a salon’, to quote one shampoo advert. She’d definitely picked up far more style tips along the way than he had.
“Don’t remind me.” She allowed herself a more modest curl of the lips, before reverting to the seriousness with which she’d greeted him once more.
“Are you getting the first coach back, or staying on a little?”
Talk about a mawkish chat-up, River. Is that the best you can do after all these weeks of purely platonic behaviour?
“I hear they’re going to have thirty outdoor heaters tonight,” he heard himself plough on. “The mind only boggles at the bill, but then again, Lee can certainly afford—”
Damned alcohol and lack of nourishment! Please don’t put two and two together, Al, please.
Her eyes flickered, as if registering this remark about Lee’s newfound abundance, but if she’d made the financial connections, she certainly wasn’t letting on. Thank God for that. It wasn’t that he’d never planned to tell her, and it certainly wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, but it was Lee’s secret, and hardly your bog standard one at that.
