‘It’s OK,’ Kate replied. ‘I’m just glad I could be there. And sorry that you were feeling so glum.’
‘Tonight helped. It was nice,’ he said, and there was that tiny, secret smile again.
‘Well, that’s what friends are for . . .’
After a moment of silence, Kate said, ‘Want to swap numbers?’ at the same time as Freddie said, ‘We should hang out again.’
‘We can be each other’s support animal,’ she laughed. ‘If you get in trouble or want to vent or get lost walking or something, you can text me.’
‘Yeah, support animal,’ he said. ‘I wish I could offer you interview advice or something, but I’m pretty bad at that kind of stuff too. But, if you need to vent or want to walk somewhere . . .’ He paused. ‘Swapping numbers would be cool.’
‘I think so too.’
They swapped numbers.
‘I’ll see you at the next group?’ he asked as she moved to leave.
‘Not if I see you first!’ She couldn’t believe she’d said that – what was she, ten years old? – and she squirmed with embarrassment as she walked away.
Chapter 13
Hope the dinner isn’t too bad!
The text from Kate came in as he was on the train to his brother’s house, causing Freddie to marvel a little at how nice it was to have someone thinking about him, someone new on his side.
His evening with Kate had been a revelation, a tiny island of peace in a world that sometimes felt too frantic and lonely. Over the next couple of days, he had found himself smiling unknowingly, realising that he felt lighter than he had in ages.
They had been messaging. Just a tiny trickle of them at first, but lately he realised she was sounding like herself, as if the words on his phone screen reflected the cadence of her real voice: honest and fun. He hoped that he sounded like himself too, but then worried that it meant he would come across as dull and too shy.
But Kate seemed far away now as he headed to his brother’s house. Freddie couldn’t remember the last time he’d casually hung out with his brother and his family. He and David moved in different circles and never really shared any interests growing up. While Freddie was introverted and spent most of his time indoors, David was outgoing, always involved in some rugby tournament or another, always outside having adventures. He wondered if David felt the dissonance as keenly as he always had.
Their house looked like an immaculate show home, the fake lawn lit up under tiny spotlights in the evening dusk. Freddie wondered at the three cars parked directly outside the house, in addition to David’s Mercedes and Stella’s Land Rover, but maybe there was a party next door and there was nowhere else for the cars to go.
‘Freddie!’ Stella greeted him with a kiss on each cheek when she opened the front door, wearing an apron, an oven glove still attached to one hand. ‘David is just upstairs getting Lacey to sleep. He’ll be down in a bit. Come in, come in!’
The house smelt of expensive candles and flowery perfume. From the lounge the muted tones of dinner jazz drifted towards him. It seemed a little much for an informal dinner.
‘What’s happening? I thought this was a casual thing?’ Freddie asked, taking in the dimmed lighting, the aura of candlelight that was coming from the dining room, and then, wafting from the kitchen behind Stella, the smell of minted lamb. Stella looked immaculate too. While he had turned up in his favourite slacks and a T-shirt under a casual checked shirt, beneath her apron Stella was in a flowing dark dress, full make-up and large, jewelled earrings.
‘Oh well,’ Stella started, ‘I thought that if I was making something for you, then I might as well make something a little bigger. Still a casual thing, but now a bit more of a get-together. Come on, there are some people I would love you to meet!’
‘I thought we were going to discuss our parents’ anniversary party?’ Freddie asked as David came down the stairs.
‘This was Stella’s idea, not mine,’ David replied.
‘Oh come on,’ Stella said after clocking Freddie’s concern. ‘If I had warned you then you never would have come. And I’ve been so excited about doing this for you!’
Freddie started to wonder what exactly was being done for him.
Too uncertain to do or say anything else, he followed Stella into the lounge, where he was introduced to Jemima and Paul, a couple David worked with at the bank, and then to Evie and Amos, a couple Stella worked with at her PR consultancy. And then, finally, she handed him a large glass of wine and drew him towards the fireplace where she introduced him to Kevin.
‘I just think you two are going to get along famously,’ Stella said, switching her gaze as if observing a tennis match, looking keenly into each of their faces before clasping her hands together (one still attached to the oven gloves) and trotting back to the kitchen to check on the lamb, her high heels clicking on the wooden floor.
Kevin was a handsome guy, frighteningly so. They were about the same height, maybe Freddie was a touch taller, but Kevin was filled out in a way that implied a commitment to good nutrition and exercise. His shoulders were so packed out that Freddie wondered if his arms still had full rotation. His chest was broad and shielded behind a pale grey jumper over a patterned shirt.
‘So, Stella tells me that you work with computers?’ Kevin asked.
‘I work in the IT department for a finance company,’ Freddie said, ‘mostly help-desk stuff. What about you?’
‘I work with Stella. We’re on different teams, though. I’m in accounts whereas Stella is more on the creative side, but I’ve known her for a few years now. She’s been talking about you a lot.’
Oh. Oh God. Freddie fought the heat as it crept up the back of his neck. Was this a set-up? If it wasn’t for the wine glass he was holding, Freddie would have been wringing his hands together. Instead, he stuffed the free one into his trouser pocket, and scrunched it up so hard that he could feel it going red then white.
No, he reasoned. Stella wouldn’t do that to him. Not like this.
‘Do you like your job?’ Freddie asked as he took a gulp of his wine.
‘It’s fine. Been there a while. I’d like to have my own company one day, though, be my own boss. How about you?’
‘Oh, you know,’ Freddie replied, not wanting to go much further into it.
‘Stella says that you like reading?’
Reading?
‘Um . . .’
‘What kind of stuff do you read?’
‘Comics, mostly,’ Freddie admitted.
‘Oh yeah? What are you into right now?’ Kevin seemed genuinely interested, which was a welcome surprise.
‘Actually, I’m rereading the Starboy Sequence by Brian Teller at the moment.’
‘No way! I was at a signing of his, a while back. That man is an absolute legend.’
‘Really? At Ben Day Comics?’
‘That’s it!’
‘Oh wow, I was there too. I have the entire first run of single issues, so I got him to sign all of them. I’m rereading them all now before I put them away for safe-keeping.’
OK, Freddie thought with relief. This isn’t a dating thing. This is a friends thing. Stella had found someone for him to talk to about comics.