Sushi for Beginners - Marian Keyes [101]
Dylan was half-appalled and amused as Clodagh pretended to stand up. Then she stopped and twisted and turned anxiously.
‘Why… ? Why am I sticking to the chair?’ She put a hand down to investigate. ‘I’ve a patch of black sticky stuff on my bum. Tar, maybe. Damn, on my lovely new dress. How did I manage that?’ Tentatively she brought her fingertips to her nose, sniffed, then started to laugh. ‘It’s blackberry jam. Bet it was Molly, the little brat. She’s a scream, isn’t she?’
‘She’s brilliant.’ Dylan wasn’t entirely undreamy himself.
‘Would you say they’re all right?’ Clodagh asked, suddenly anxious.
‘Of course! And Ashling and Ted have the mobile number. They’ll ring if anything goes wrong.’
‘Like what? What could go wrong?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Give me your mobile and I’ll make a quick call.’
Dylan’s eyes pleaded with her. ‘Can’t you just leave it for one night? We’ve only been gone an hour.’
‘You’re right,’ Clodagh agreed. ‘I’m being ridiculous.’
She turned her attention back to her chowder.
‘No, I can’t bear it,’ she burst out.’Give me the mobile.’
With a sigh Dylan handed it over.
‘Hello, Ted, it’s Clodagh, just checking that everything’s OK.’
‘We’re having a blast,’ Ted lied, as Ashling held her hands over Craig’s and Molly’s agape mouths.
So, can I have a word with them?’
‘They’re, um, busy. Playing. Yes, that’s right, playing with Ashling.’
‘Oh. Well, then, see you later.
‘It’s very annoying,’ Clodagh said mournfully, as she snapped the phone closed. ‘They drive me mad all week, I can’t wait for even five minutes away from them, then I go out for the evening and I worry about them!’
‘We can go home if you want,’ Dylan said tightly. ‘And have oven-chips and a non-stop string of demands.’
‘When you put it like that… Sorry, Dylan. I am actually having a nice time. A very nice time.’
Not quite the same could be said of Ashling and Ted. It had taken ages for Craig and Molly to stop crying after their parents had left. They’d eventually quietened down – but only after they’d commandeered the telly to watch The Little Mermaid and Ted had to forgo watching Stars in Their Eyes.
‘And it’s celebrity night,’ he complained bitterly.
To pass the time Ted went through Dylan’s enormous record and CD collection with jealous admiration, exclaiming when he found an impressively rare one. ‘Look at that. Bob Marley’s Catch a Fire – in its original sleeve. How’d he manage that, the lucky bastard?’
Ashling found it hard to care. Men and their music collections. Phelim used to be the exact same.
‘Fuck’s sake!’ Ted burst out. ‘Burning Spear’s first two albums on Studio One! I thought you could only get them in Jamaica.’
‘Dylan and Clodagh went to Jamaica on the honeymoon,’ Ashling deadpanned.
‘Lucky for some.’ He managed to inject a world of longing into those three words. ‘… The complete Billie Holiday on Verve,’ Ted sounded like he might puke. ‘Where’d he get that? I’ve been looking for years for it!… Tool,’ he added.
‘Aha!’ He pounced gleefully on something. ‘This is a right skeleton in the cupboard! What’s Mr Cooler-than-thou doing with a Simply Red album? There goes his street-cred.’
‘Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s Clodagh’s.’
‘Clodagh likes Simply Red?’ Ted’s face was a picture.
‘She used to, in any case.’
‘“Used to” is OK.’ Ted was weak with relief. He thought Clodagh was a goddess, but if she was a fan of Mick Hucknall’s he might have to reconsider. Surely no goddess could have such an inexcusable lapse in taste?
As soon as The Little Mermaid ended, Craig and Molly clamoured loudly to be entertained. But when Ted tried his owl routine on them, Molly told him to go home now and Craig began to cry. Ted took it hard, especially when Ashling hiding and reappearing from behind a paper bag had them in convulsions.
‘Little bastards,’ he muttered. ‘Loads of people would give their right arm for this opportunity.’
‘But they’re only kids.’
Craig began pulling at Ashling,