Clare tossed her hair which fell back perfectly into position. ‘And the thing you’d change?’ she challenged.
‘You’ve got a wee bit of chilli sauce on your cheek.’
Clare grabbed her napkin and everyone laughed again.
‘Do you want to play?’ Curtis asked.
His offer was met with an enthusiastic response, but my stomach churned again. I smelt trouble.
‘In that case,’ he said, ‘we’ll start with Nick. We need two fabulous things and one thing you’d change about Sarah.’
Nick smiled and took Sarah’s hand. ‘The first fabulous thing is your personality. You’re funny, intelligent, passionate, vibrant… I could go on and on. The second fabulous thing is that you agreed to be my wife and I get to spend the rest of my life with you. I’m the luckiest man on earth.’
A chorus of ‘awwww’ went round the table.
‘As for what I’d change, I was going to say absolutely nothing, but there is one thing. I wish you could see yourself through my eyes because you’d never again worry about your weight or your business being successful if you could see yourself as I see you: absolutely perfect.’
A tear fell down Sarah’s cheek at that point and she hugged Nick. I wiped at my eyes. Wow! I wanted to be alone for now, but if and when I felt ready to try another relationship, I wanted what they had. It reminded me of how things had been between Gary and me in our early days.
‘Ooh, pressure’s on,’ Curtis said. ‘Who can top that? I think we’ll go to Sarah who can tell us all what she thinks of…’ He paused for dramatic effect, ‘… her brother.’
Sarah played the game then Curtis pretended to scan round the table as if deciding who was next. But I knew it would be one of two people and they’d be talking about me. ‘Next up is… Michael. Telling us about… Elise.’
Michael’s eyes widened and he chewed on his thumbnail. ‘I haven’t known Elise for very long, but two fabulous things about her are…’ He looked down, no doubt thinking, ‘Ground, swallow me up, now.’ Poor Michael.
‘Go on…’ Curtis said.
‘Erm… It would be her gorgeous red hair and her brilliant laugh. And I’d change the first few times we met so that I wasn’t so hostile towards her because she didn’t deserve that.’ He grabbed his pint and gulped it as the group clapped.
Curtis put Clare on the spot next about Nick. Then, with a sinking feeling in my stomach, I knew where we were going next. ‘Stevie. Your turn to tell us about Elise too.’ No! Curtis was such a childish idiot sometimes.
Stevie fixed his eyes on me and smiled. Gosh, I loved those dimples.
‘Everything about Elise is fabulous,’ he said. ‘If I had to really narrow it down to two things, the first would be the fact that she tries to see the good in everyone and every situation, even with people who don’t really deserve that consideration. The second thing would be her amazing passion for her job and the huge difference she’s made to others like my neighbour’s kid, Brandon. As for something that I’d change, I wish I could take away the last few months of pain and hurt because someone as lovely as Elise doesn’t deserve to have gone through what she’s gone through.’
Curtis nudged me under the table. I ignored him, but I did notice the look on Michael’s face. He looked like a man whose lottery numbers had come up on the one day he’d forgotten to buy a ticket.
Waitresses appeared to clear our plates, which thankfully brought a natural conclusion to the game.
‘Did you see Michael’s face?’ whispered Curtis. ‘I bet I can tell you exactly what was going through his mind: “Shit, why didn’t I say that?” Round One to Stevie I think.’
‘I’m going to the ladies,’ I whispered back. ‘And, when I come back, this stops. This is not a game. Playing with people’s emotions is not a game. I should know. Gary played with mine for years.’
My legs shook as I lowered myself down onto the cool lid of the toilet and rested my hot forehead against the cold tiles, taking deep breaths. A wave of nausea swept over me. I leapt off the seat and raised the lid just in time. Damn! Why couldn’t I shake this illness? I dabbed my face with toilet paper and flushed. It would appear that Curtis was going to get his wish for an early pass, only it would be to go to bed instead of a pub crawl and clubbing. I felt a bit guilty that he’d travelled all this way, then I reminded myself of his childish behaviour and the guilt dissipated.
‘Elise? Are you in here?’
I opened the cubicle and smiled weakly at Sarah.
‘Oh my God! Are you okay? You look terrible.’
‘Thanks a lot! I spent ages getting ready.’
‘I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just—’
‘I’m joking.’ Exiting the cubicle, I washed my hands and glanced up at the mirror. Sarah was right. My eyes were red with huge shadows under them, my face pale and blotchy, and my hair was sticking up. I certainly didn’t do illness with dignity. ‘I’ve been sick again.’
‘No! Did you make a doctor’s appointment?’
I shook my head. ‘I got as far as picking up the forms to register with a new surgery, but I’ve been so busy with back to school that I never got round to it. I will, though, because it’s not improving.’
‘Good. Illness aside, are you okay after… well, after that little game?’
I shrugged. ‘I’m pretty mad at Curtis right now. He’s convinced that Michael and Stevie both fancy me, and I know he contrived that game to put them on the spot and embarrass the hell out of them. It embarrassed me, though. As if they’d both fancy me.’ I turned the hand drier on.
When the drying cycle finished, Sarah said, ‘I think he may be right.’
‘Really? Why? Have they said something to you?’
‘Not as such. Or at least not something outright, but now that I think back, they’ve both asked after you quite a bit recently. When I was at Bay Trade on Monday, I got the distinct impression from Michael that something might have happened between you and—’
‘We nearly kissed the night I found out about Daniel.’ I leaned back against the sink unit and briefly told her about the night in the car park. ‘What about Stevie? You said he’d been asking after me too?’
‘Just general interest and concern for you, which I didn’t really think anything of until I saw the way he was looking at you tonight which was mirrored by the way Michael was looking at you.’
Damn! How had that happened? I put my hands over my mouth and shook my head. ‘What a mess.’
‘You don’t like either of them?’
I removed my hands and looked at Sarah. ‘That’s the messy part. I think I may like them both, but I don’t want to have jumped from Gary to Daniel to one of them. I want some time alone. I need some time alone.’ I shook my head. ‘I think we’d better be getting back. ‘Curtis is going to hate me for it, but I just want to go home. Would you mind me leaving early?’
‘Of course not, especially when you’re ill. You get home and get an early night. You look done in.’
I felt it. ‘Thanks.’