Page 71 of The Lie
‘Mum?’
Swallowing hard, she said, ‘Hi, sweetheart.’
‘You sound rough.’
‘Just a bit of a throat thing.’
‘Poor you. Are you at home?’
‘No, I dropped in to see your father.’
‘Great, how is he?’
‘He’s fine.’
‘Good. I’m calling about Lucy. It’s her thirtieth next week. She doesn’t like fuss, but I thought it might be fun to go out, have a celebratory meal together somewhere. I wanted to ask if you thought Dad might be up for it.’
‘Right …’
‘So what do you think? Would he manage … even if just for an hour or so? We could do lunch, somewhere near the flat … Aragosta, perhaps? They love Dad there.’
‘Which day?’ she asked, trying to focus her thoughts.
‘Saturday? Day after tomorrow. Short notice, I know. Her actual birthday’s next Thursday, but she’s seeing her family then.’
Romy didn’t answer immediately and she heard Leo’s voice, ‘Mum? Listen, say if you think it’s a bad idea, bringing Dad. We just thought he might enjoy getting out. Seems a bit mean to ask you and leave him behind.’
‘Yes …’
‘So shall I book for four?’
Romy didn’t know what to say, so she muttered, ‘That would be lovely,’ just so she could get her son off thephone. She wanted never to see Michael again. But she told herself she would do this last thing for Leo. She didn’t even bother to call goodbye as she left the flat, just laid her keys on the ledge in the hall, slammed the front door behind her and hurried to Victoria to catch the train home.
51
Leo was nervous. He wanted Lucy’s day to be perfect. But as they waited for his father to get ready, he had a bad feeling. His mother – who was meeting them at the restaurant – had seemed tense on the phone earlier, almost short with him. It was the way she’d snapped at him when he’d joked about his dad wearing his grey sweatpants to Aragosta that had unsettled him.
‘I don’t give a toss what your father wears,’ had been his mother’s terse response – almost as if she hated him.
‘I’ll just go and see how he’s getting on,’ he said to Lucy now, standing up from the sofa. ‘The car will be here in a minute.’
Leo found he was holding his breath until his father was safely seated in the corner table of the restaurant, being fussed over by the owner.
‘It is so good to see you, Mr Claire,’ Antonio gushed, endearingly ignoring the change in his dad or his obvious disability. ‘We have missed you and your lovely family.’
His father was making a huge effort, shaking the Italian’s hand warmly and sitting up straight, smiling in a way Leo hadn’t seen in a long while. ‘We’ve missed you too, Antonio.’
Just like old times, Leo said to himself cynically, knowing it was nothing like the occasions when he and Rex hadcome here as teenagers, their parents bright and energetic, chatting to each other and to them. It was as if someone had come along with a paintbrush and a jar of water and wiped the wet bristles across his mother and father until the colour ran and they faded to the jaded pair sitting opposite him now.
Although his mother was being alarmingly over-bright – chatting non-stop with Lucy like a wind-up toy. She had given his girlfriend a lovely present of a silver bracelet, nicely wrapped in tissue paper with a ribbon and a card, but Leo sensed she was making a considerable effort to hold herself together. At first he’d thought she was ill with the throat bug she’d mentioned two days ago. But as the lunch went on, he knew it was something more fundamental than that. She could barely look at his father.
Things went reasonably well during the antipasti, the veal chop and right up until after the coffee semifreddo. Antonio had stuck a candle into Lucy’s, written ‘Happy Birthday’ in piped chocolate around the edge of her plate, the waiters gathering round to sing to her – much to Lucy’s intense embarrassment. Then, almost as if a switch had been thrown, his parents seemed to give up on the whole event.
‘I need to pee,’ his father said, uttering the now familiar refrain.
Which took for ever, as the Gents was down in the basement and Leo – who chaperoned him – was terrified he’d fall on the steep stairs, especially after two glasses of wine.
As his dad was peeing in the single urinal, Leo hovering nearby, Michael turned to look at him, stating baldly, ‘I’ve upset your mother.’
