Page 10 of Playing the Field
His shoulders drop as the tension leaves them. ‘I had a feeling you might be thinking along the same lines, but I was still slightly worried in case I’d got it wrong.’
It’s my turn to laugh softly. ‘On the contrary– it turns out you know me pretty well.’
‘Well you might not believe this, but I would still like to hear how you get on with all the football stuff, if you want to stay in touch, that is. I know you think I don’t care, but I do genuinely want it to go well.’
‘I can do that,’ I agree with a smile. ‘And if you want to, you can send me pictures of all the sandy beaches and plates of fresh seafood I’ll be missing out on throughout the summer. If you want to make me jealous, that is.’
‘I think it’s more likely to be bunk beds in youth hostels and two-euro plates of pasta, but yes I can do that too,’ he says.
There’s a moment of silence then, in which I think we both reflect on what could have been. But it passes quickly.
‘It’s been a pleasure dating you, Lily Crawford,’ Greg says, visibly more at ease now. ‘You’ll make someone a very lucky man one day.’
‘I hope you find your person too.’ And I really do mean it. ‘You might even snare yourself a gorgeous Italian girlfriend and end up staying there.’
He laughs properly this time. ‘It’s kind of you to have such faith in my pulling power, but I think I’m just going to do me for the next couple of months. There’s plenty of time to think about everything else when I get back.’
I’m about to tell him he doesn’t need to worry about upsetting me– I think he’s probably just saying this because he doesn’t want me to think he might get together with someone else on the trip I was meant to be on with him– but we’re interrupted by my phone, vibrating loudly on the wooden table as it rings. ‘Dad’ flashes up on the screen.
I push it to one side and tell Greg I can call back later. Sometimes Dad’s timing can be terrible. But no sooner has it stopped ringing than it starts up again.
‘You’d better get it,’ Greg says. ‘It might be important.’
‘It’s fine,’ I insist. ‘It’s probably just something he’s remembered to tell me about the player tryouts tomorrow. I’m sure it’ll keep.’
But then a message flashes up on the screen, in capital letters, saying,‘Urgent family meeting. Get here when you can.’
‘Looks like he really does need to speak to you,’ Greg observes. ‘It’s okay, Lily. You should go. If you feel like you want to talk to me about us again later, you can call me, any time, I don’t mind.’
The right thing to do feels like staying here and making sure Greg and I both leave the pub feeling absolutely okay about everything we’ve decided, but Dad would not use the word ‘urgent’ lightly. And I’m distracted again when a message from Cassie pops up on the screen.‘I’m just watching telly, I can nip round. Lils, are you close to home?’
I can be there in thirty minutes, twenty-five if I’m lucky with the Tube.
‘Come on.’ Greg scrapes his chair back as he stands up and takes the decision out of my hands. ‘Let’s drink up and get out of here.’
He downs the remainder of his pint and twirls his hand to indicate I should do the same with my wine. Then we head out on to the street and there’s an awkward pause because neither of us really knows how to say goodbye now we’re no longer a couple. But then Greg mutters ‘oh, fuck it’ and pulls me into a hug that we stay in for a long time before he finally kisses me on the cheek and says, ‘Good luck with everything, Lil.’
Then he makes me laugh one last time by shooing me in the direction of the station and saying, ‘Now go! Go find out what the latest score is.’
It’s not his best pun, but I love that he tried.
Back at the house, Cassie leaps out of her chair and says ‘thank goodness’ the second I walk into the kitchen. She comes round the table and gives me a hug. ‘Dad’s been driving me mad.’
I look at him over her shoulder. He’s beaming at me so broadly it’s bordering on maniacal.
‘He’s been jiggling around like one of my Year Twos when they need a wee in class, but he wouldn’t tell me why till you got here,’ Cassie says, sounding frustrated.
‘You do look a bit crazy, Dad,’ I tell him.
‘That’s because I’m excited,’ he says, giving me a hug of his own once Cassie has released me.
‘So can you spill the beans please, now Lily’s here?’ my sister asks. ‘Have we won the lottery or not?’
‘Kind of,’ Dad teases.
‘Are you kidding?’ Cassie exclaims. ‘Am I finally going to be able to pay someone else to finish off the work on my house rather than having to do it all myself?’
‘Not exactly,’ Dad says. ‘But I think you’ll still be happy.’
