Page 87 of Musical Games
‘I know, I know, we need to read the small print, yada, yada, yada and we need to make this work around the rest of our lives, but Jamie! This could be it! The chance of a lifetime!’
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Sam was bouncing with excitement, throwing scenarios at him that sounded like they belonged to a different person in another life. He couldn’t take any of it in. He’d reached capacity. And now it was time to meet her parents.
They stopped outside an old Georgian building with ornate stone carvings around the entrance. The restaurant was so upmarket it didn’t even have a menu displayed outside. Instead stood two doormen who looked like they modelled for Armani when they weren’t being hitmen for the mafia.
Sam faced him, her forehead creased. ‘Look, I know I haven’t told you much about my family.’
‘They’re all doctors. Your dad’s Swedish and called Leo. Your mum is Jennifer, and your sisters are Esther and Anna.’
‘Yeah. They’re perfectly pleasant, but just don’t be put off if all they talk about is medicine. And don’t ever admit you’ve got something wrong with you or Anna and my mum will take your trousers down and make you cough.’
He sucked in a shocked breath and started choking.
‘Jamie, that was a joke!’ She held his arm. ‘I’m sorry. I love my family, but I find them hard work. Just bear with the Adamson family for a couple of hours, then we can go home and talk. Okay?’
Jamie wasn’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t a group of glamazons. Sam’s family were all tall, blonde and beautiful. Sam’s mum was the smallest but even she was as tall as Zoe. Anna and Esther were both over six feet and Leo was as tall as Rory. He looked between Sam and her family as his brain struggled to add her to the group portrait. They were clearly genetically related, with the same blue eyes, high cheekbones and naturally blonde hair. But either the rest of them had taken growth hormones, or Sam had been shrunk.
‘Smulan!’ said her father, enveloping her in a hug.
Her smile froze.
‘Come sit next to me.’ He extended his arm to Jamie. ‘I’m Leo, nice to meet you.’
Her father led the introductions and Jamie sat between Sam and her brain surgeon sister, Esther. It couldn’t be more different to the family mealtimes he was used to, with all of them crammed around the dining room table, shouting over each other.
Sam’s family were so well-mannered. They listened to each other and didn’t interrupt. If he’d ever harboured hopes he could have a relationship with Sam, the image of their families meeting was the final nail in the coffin.
‘So, Jamie. You’re an electrician?’ asked her mother.
He nodded.
‘What does that involve?’
He hesitated. He couldn’t exactly say he spent his days on a building site, dusty and dirty, trying to control a couple of useless, porn-addicted Neds.
‘I work on new-build projects. Small housing estates, doing both the first and the second fixes.’
‘And what does a first and second fix entail?’
‘Er, the first fix is the preparation work. The cables and wiring, back boxes and so on. The second fix is what you see after the plastering has been done. The light fixtures and fittings, sockets, consumer units.’
‘Fascinating. And how long did you study for?’
‘Three years.’
Her mother smiled at Sam. ‘The same as you, darling.’
Leo nodded. ‘But working with electricity is far more dangerous and takes more skill. If Smulan forgets her lines, no one is going to go up in a puff of smoke.’ He laughed at his own joke.
Sam leaned back to speak to a waiter. ‘Could I have the gluten-free menu please?’
Her father ruffled the top of her head. ‘Come on, Smulan. Live a little.’ He broke open a bread roll, scattering crumbs over the table.
Sam flinched and brushed them away from her plate.
‘Iamliving, Dad. More than I was before.’
