Last Chance Saloon - Marian Keyes [144]
Katherine was sorry she’d ever told Tara her thoughts on the Gillette incident.
‘Fintan is going to be thrilled.’ Tara sang, absolutely delighted herself. The more Katherine and Joe became a reality the better the chance that Fintan would take the pressure off Tara. Although it had been a few days since he’d brought up the subject of Tara leaving Thomas, once she thought about it. In fact, it was nearly a week since he’d mentioned it. Not that she was taking that as any reason to relax.
53
‘Well!’ Ravi declared, when Tara hung up.
‘Well, indeed,’ Tara agreed.
‘So she bagged a date with the chap from her work.’
‘Certainly did.’
‘And he’s an Arsenal supporter. Sounds like a nice bloke to me. Don’t think much of his taste in women, though.’
‘Ravi!’ Tara paused from her scolding and clutched her stomach. ‘Oh, Ravi…’
‘What is it this time?’
‘Almonds. Bakewell tarts.’
Tara was once more back on starvation rations. Not only did everything she see and hear remind her of food, but now even smells were tormenting her.
It began that morning when the strawberry air freshener in her car put her in mind of the fake sugary smell of jelly babies. The urge to screech to a halt outside a newsagent’s and buy up their entire stock possessed her like a demon. As soon as she got on the Westway, the focus changed and she had an almost irresistible desire to lick herself. She smelt of delicious, sweet Bounty bars or coconut ice-cream. Which drove her mad until she remembered that the body lotion she’d slapped on after her morning shower was coconut-flavoured. Then when she arrived at her office she was hit by a profound urge for lemon cheesecake. The entire building seemed to be fragranced by it. She wondered if she was finally cracking up, until Ravi pointed out that the agent used by the contract cleaners to wash the corridors was lemon-scented.
‘Where are the Bakewell tarts coming from?’ Ravi asked.
Tara pointed towards Evelyn and Teddy, and Ravi got up and began sniffing around them.
‘What are you doing?’ Teddy demanded.
‘Checking for Tara. Do either of you have almond perfume? Or almond soap?’
‘Actually,’ Evelyn sounded amazed, ‘I washed my hair with almond shampoo this morning.’
‘Perhaps you could use another flavour until Tara falls off the wagon again,’ Ravi asked. ‘Something inedible.’
‘Sure.’ Evelyn eyed Tara with compassion. ‘Eucalyptus do you?’
‘Sorry,’ Tara mumbled, mortified. ‘Pay him no heed…’
Tara remained haunted by food. When she and Ravi went for their aimless lunchtime ramble to Hammersmith, she was briefly distracted by the new long-last lipstick from Clinique. Distracted enough to buy two colours. But when they came back out on to the street the round green, orange and red traffic lights looked so like giant fruit gums that Ravi almost had to restrain Tara from shinning up the pole and licking them. ‘I’ll buy you a tube,’ he offered.
Tara shook her head. ‘I used up my week’s calories last night. I blame Milo O’Grady. He made us all go for a Vietnamese meal after the pub. He’s mad keen to try everything London has to offer.’
‘You should eat.’ Ravi displayed some rare common sense. ‘With Fintan being ill, it’s a rotten time for you.’
‘Life’s got to go on.’
‘You’re being rather tough.’
‘I am not. I’m a mess. Between Thomas and Fintan I’m a complete state.’
‘Um, so how are things with Thomas?’
‘Dreadful! I don’t understand why but we’re barely civil to each other. I have this continual terrible feeling that something awful’s about to happen.’
‘Maybe it’s actually Fintan you’re thinking about.’
‘Not really,’ she admitted. ‘At least, not only. Which makes me feel even worse. How can I be worried about my boyfriend when one of my oldest friends is really sick? But the thing is,’ she justified quickly, ‘even though Fintan looks terrible, he still has eight months of treatment to go, so there’s plenty of time for him to get better. And because he’s not getting obviously worse, things feel… well, not exactly normal,’ Tara mumbled, ‘but I’ve got used to it. Katherine feels the