Least Said (42 page)

‘Keep
hold
of
our
hands,’
Jon
urged
sharply,
as
Will
skipped
out
of
the
restaurant
and,
moving
steadily,
we
joined
what
appeared
to
be
hordes
of
people
of
all
ages
heading
into
the
wonderful
old
theatre.

A
sudden
surge
forward
wrenched
William’s
hand
from
mine
and
sent
me
staggering
forward
until
I
came
to
an
abrupt
halt
as
I
slammed
up
against
a
tall
figure.

I
don’t
know
what
made
me
glance
up,
because
my
focus
was
on
finding
Jon
and
Will
in
the
crowd,
but
look
up
I
did
–
and
I
felt
as
if
I’d
been
turned
to
stone.

Chapter 11

Time
stood
still
as
the
crowd
continued
to
push
their
way
around
us.
It
was
him
.
There
could
be
no
mistaking
who
he
was
up
this
close.
I
hadn’t
been
mistaken
that
day
in
the
department
store
either, not
even
with
the
gap
of
several
years
to
dull
memories
of
a
man
I
would
far
rather
forget.

I’d
forgotten
he
had
a
slight
cleft
in
his
chin
and
about
the
small
mole
at
his
temple,
but
not
the
green
of
his
eyes
or
the
proud
jut
of
his
nose.
I
brought
my
hands
up
in
an
instinctive
movement
and
prepared
to
thrust
him
away.
Then
I
realised
he
wasn’t
looking
at
me
–
in
fact,
he
seemed
totally
unaware
of
me
and
was
looking
at
something
over
my
head.
I
turned
to
see,
and
felt
the
blood
turn
to
ice
in
my
veins
when
I
saw
the
focus
of
his
attention
was
on
Jon
standing
with
William
held
high
in
his
arms.

I
felt
a
terrified
moan
lodge
in
my
throat,
but
before
any
sound
could
escape
a
woman
grasped
him
by
the
arm
and
said,
‘Don’t
just
stand
there
staring
into
space,
Gareth.
We
need
to
round
up
the
children
and
find
our
seats
or
the
show
will
start
without
us.’

Mesmerized,
I
watched
their
slow
progress
through
the
throng
of
excited
theatre-goers.
It
wasn’t
difficult
to
track
their
movement
because
he
stood
head
and
shoulders
above
everyone
else.
She
was
only
fractionally
shorter
with
a
cap
of
shining
blonde
hair
and
the
sort
of
eye-catching
looks
that
set
her
apart
from
the
crowd.

‘
There’s
Mummy,’
Will’s
voiced
shrilled
above
the
general
hub-bub
and,
suddenly
they
were
there
beside
me
and
Will
was
leaning
forward,
leaving
Jon’s
grasp
to
cling
to
me
like
a
little
monkey,
arms
tight
around
my
neck
and
legs
around
my
waist.
I
hung
onto
him
for
dear
life.

‘We
thought
we’d
lost
you,’
Jon
wrapped
his
arms
around
us
both
for
a
moment,
and
then
looking
down
at
me
he
held
us
tighter
and
sounded
quite
shocked
as
he
said,
‘Hey,
you
look
frightened
to
death,
love.
It’s
ok,
we
would
have
found
you,
however
long
it
took,’
and
then
laughing
lightly
he
ushered
us
into
the
grandeur
of
the
theatre
itself.

The
front
row
seats
that
matched
our
tickets
were
a
surprise
that
Jon
had
kept
from
us.
Will
was
soon
bouncing
on
his
chair
between
the
two
of
us,
literally
beside
himself
with
excitement,
as
were
all
the
children
around
us
as
they
looked
forward
to
the
treat
to
come.

I
couldn’t
relax
at
all.
The
back
of
my
neck
positively
prickled
at
the
thought
that
he
–
Gareth
apparently,
though
I
hadn’t
known
his
name
before
today
–
could
be
sitting
somewhere
behind
me
watching
us
and
thinking.
Thinking
what,
I
had
no
idea,
no
idea
at
all.

I
surreptitiously
peered
first
over
one
shoulder
and
then
over
the
other,
but
the
sea
of
faces
behind
just
merged
into
one
whole
ocean
of
constant
movement
as
children
jumped
up
and
down
and
people
frequently
stood
up
to
let
others
get
to
their
seats.

He
was
here,
in
the
same
theatre,
waiting
to
watch
the
same
show
on
the
same
day.
What
sort
of
coincidence
was
that?
I
asked
myself.
I
hadn’t
set
eyes
on
the
bloody
man
for
seven
years
–
seven years
–
and
suddenly
I
was
seeing
him
everywhere
I
went.

Well,
I
tried
as
hard
as
I
could
to
rationalise
that,
as
Tina
would
surely
have
done
–
and,
oh,
how
I
wished
she
was
here
–
to
remind
myself
that
I
had
actually
seen
the
guy
only
twice
before
today,
and
one
of
those
sightings
wasn’t
a
definite
one.

As
for
him
being
in
this
theatre
today
of
all
days,
as
Tina
would
have
been
quick
to
remind
me,
thousands
came
from
all
over
the
UK
to
see
The Lion King
on
a
daily
basis
–
two
thousand
one
hundred
at
each
performance
I
seemed
to
remember
reading
somewhere
–
so
it
would
be
pretty
marvellous
if
you
didn’t
bump
into
at
least
one
person
you
knew.
It
still
seemed
like
a
spectacular
coincidence
that
it
had
to
be
him
of
all
people.