Page 27 of In the Same Boat

‘I can see that,’ he replies. ‘How did you get so covered in mud?’

‘I, er, I fell over, in a field,’ I confess.

I didn’t feel like I didn’t have his attention before, but suddenly I feel like I have a little more.

‘Are you okay?’ he asks.

‘Oh, I’m fine,’ I insist. ‘The only thing I hurt was my pride.’

He pauses for a moment.

‘I don’t think they’ll be long.’

I nod. Boy, I hope so.

He reaches for another olive before casually popping it in his mouth. Is everyone having a lovely time here apart from me?

There is movement overhead. It’s the floorboards again but this time it comes with voices. Chatting, getting louder as they finally come downstairs.

‘Brace yourself,’ Nico whispers.

My mum appears in the doorway first, very closely followed by Hank, both of them wearing a bright, happy expression, the kind people have when… Oh, boy, I can’t even finish the thought.

‘Oh, you’re back,’ my mum says, as though I might not be expected in the home where I live.

‘Yep – home in my home,’ I reply.

‘And covered in mud,’ she says with a chuckle.

‘A new beauty treatment?’ Hank jokes. Ugh, I hate it.

‘Another tough day at the office,’ I say. ‘I need a bath.’

‘It’s a gorgeous bath,’ Hank says. Nico and I both stare at him. He means it as a compliment but only highlights the fact that he’s been in the bathroom. ‘Really lovely place you’ve got here,’ he adds.

‘Thank you,’ I say. What else can I say?

Silence follows, no one quite having the right words to say, until…

‘We should probably head off,’ Hank tells Nico.

‘Probably,’ Nico agrees, jumping to his feet. He hands me his can – it feels almost full. ‘Thanks for the hospitality.’

‘And me,’ Hank adds.

Oh, it’s so much weirder coming from him.

‘You don’t want to stay for dinner?’ Mum asks them. ‘You’re both welcome.’

‘Nico was just telling me how he needs to go,’ I say without missing a beat.

‘And Sammie really needs a bath,’ Nico adds.

I’m relieved that we’re on the same page. I’m annoyed he somehow managed to make it sound like an insult.

‘Right,’ my mum says. ‘Well. Lovely to see you again.’

‘You too,’ Hank says. ‘And thank you.’