Ralph's Party (36 page)

'Realy! Hmmm, I have to say she seemed very sane to me. But she's absolutely mad about you, she realy is.'

Smith smiled smugly and shrugged. 1 know,' he said.

'But I thought you said it wasn't very serious ...'

'Wel' - he scratched the back of his neck - 'it's not -for me. D'you know what I mean? I think' - he looked around him and lowered his voice an octave — 'I think it's a bit of a case of unrequited love, to be honest. I mean, I'm very fond of Jem - don't get me wrong -

realy very, very fond of her. She's a lovely girl, as you so rightly said, but ... she's not "the One". You know what I mean, don't you, about "the One"?' He raised his eyebrows conspiratorialy and moved his body an inch or two closer to hers.

'Oh yes,' she replied, 'Mr Right. That sort of thing.' She flashed him a dazzling smile. What a slimy bastard, she thought to herself, gritting her teeth. Ralph had been so right about him. She'd had her misgivings about this whole scenario - she was only here for Karl and Siobhan, after al. And now they were happily ensconced together at the other side of the room, looking terribly pleased with themselves - it looked like her plan had been a resounding success -

and she could just cal it a night, go home. But she was in ful flow and after just five minutes with this scumbag she was keen to do whatever it took to get him out of Jem's life. She watchei Jem and Ralph move across the room, his large hand on her smal shoulders, guiding her gently around thf pictures he'd spent nine weeks locked in a damp, cole studio painting for her, pictures of
her.
She'd noticed the little
frisson
of discomfort that had flickered across Jem's face when she'd walked in and seen her and Ralph together, looking like a couple. Cheri knew that look better than most. She'd been jealous. She felt more than friendship towards Ralph, it was obvious. They looked right together. Ralph had been right, she could see that now. This awful Smith character was just an obstacle, She looked across ,the room again at Siobhan and Karl, deep in conversation and laughing together, and smiled to herself.

She was having so much fun being a good person! Now, if she could just get Smith out of the way tonight and clear the path for Jem and Ralph, then she realy
would
be a fairy godmother! Cheri smiled again as a lovely feeling swam through her stomach, a big, fat, happy fish of goodness. She turned back to Smith and stunned him with another of her prize smiles.

By eleven-thirty, most of the fake guests had left - they had to get up early the folowing morning to catch flights to New York and Tokyo and Sydney, for shows and shoots and castings - and Ralph's real friends had arrived, fresh from the pub around the corner, loud and drunk and ready to party. The evening, it seemed, was only just beginning.

Someone put Abba on the CD system and within the first three bars of'Waterloo' pretty much everyone was dancing, clutching champagne bottles in their hands and swigging from them as they moved to the music,

singing along to the lyrics at the tops of their voices. Smith had Cheri by the waist and was spinning her around the room, rather heavy-handedly.

Siobhan and Karl were sitting quietly in a corner absorbed in conversation.

And Jem was in the toilet, crying her eyes out.

She hadn't spoken to Smith al night. Not one word since they'd got there. First of al he'd been so deeply involved in conversation with that Cheri girl that she hadn't liked to interrupt, and then he'd whisked Cheri off on to the dance floor and they hadn't stopped dancing since. And Smith didn't even
like
dancing. She brought her tissue to her face as fresh tears began to cascade down her pink cheeks. She was embarrassed and she was humiliated. She wasn't used to being treated like this. Ralph had tried to console her, tried to put her mind at rest, convince her that there was nothing to worry about, but for God's sake, Smith was al over that girl.

And then there was Ralph. It looked like al that love stuff was going to come to the surface again any minute. Jesus — a whole room ful of peonies and paintings of her and al their favourite food and compliments and hand-kissing and tingles up and down her spine and the way... the way he'd put out his finger to touch one of her little satin roses ... it was al so intimate, so exciting, so gorgeous and so fucking wrong. It was al so fucking wrong. Smith was her boyfriend - although you wouldn't think it judging by his behaviour tonight - and Ralph was her friend, and now her feelings were every bit as confused as they'd been before Ralph had gone away. No, they were more confused, much more confused...

Jem marched out of the cubicle, splashed her face with water from the sink, mopped it off with a paper towel, adjusted her dress, poked at her hair and squared her shoulders.

She needed reassurance. She needed to know that Smith loved her.

For the first time ever, she needed to hear him say it. She was going to walk out there and grab him away from that horrible girl and make him tel her then and there, so she could hear it, so she could get her mind straight and stop al this Ralph nonsense once and for al.

She gave herself one last stern look in the mirror, turned on her heel and strode out into the galery.

Siobhan had been trying to tel Karl, al night, about her and Rick.

She'd taken a dozen deep breaths at appropriate moments, steeled her nerves, and then lost it. How could she? He looked so happy, his face was aglow with joy. He was so thriled to see her and was trying so hard to make a good impression, to say al the right things.

He'd asked her how things were going at her mother's; that would have been the perfect opportunity to have said something, but she just couldn't. He'd be so hurt, so angry. She'd said something inconsequential in reply and changed the subject. She'd suggested that they get up and dance, to avoid conversation, but he'd said no

— I just want to sit here and talk; I've missed you so much; I want to talk al night. So they sat and talked and now they were talking about Karl's radio show, the infamous one, and Siobhan knew that any moment now the conversation was going to get serious - very serious indeed.

Smith was absolutely plastered. Completely, totaly and utterly hammered. It was only because Cheri was such a good dancer and was so strong that he hadn't falen over yet. His thick hair was matted to his forehead with sweat, his shirt was damp and crumpled, and he had a ridiculous expression on his face which he probably thought was a suave smile but which looked more like the vilage idiot's on a bad day. He was hopelessly out of rhythm and kept singing the wrong lyrics to the songs, without noticing.

Cheri had had enough of dancing with this cretin -he was making her look bad - and she encouraged him off the dance floor with the suggestion of getting a drink. He folowed her like a pissed puppy.

'Cheri,' he slurred, leaning awkwardly against the wal, clasping a glass of champagne, quite obviously trying to look cool and failing miserably, yet again, 'you and me. We should get together, y'know

- some time.' He raised his eyebrows lazily, in a 'How about it?' sort ofway.

'Oh, yeah?' Cheri replied wearily. She was tired of this now.

Yeah,' leered Smith. You and me - we're good together, aren't we

— we've got something — special. Can't you feel it?'

Yeah, I suppose so.'

That night at Oriel, that was great, wasn't it?'

'Uh-huh.'

'And tonight. Shit - it's been briliant. We've talked al night and danced and everything...'

Cheri was looking franticaly around the room, for Ralph or Jem or anyone to come and rescue her. She was bored stiff.

'... and I realy think that you and I — wel, I think it's destiny ...

d'you agree?'

Cheri wasn't even listening any more. Yeah,' sh murmured. Yeah, sure.'

Smith had failed to notice that Cheri was stifling
i
yawn and looking at her watch. He'd decided thai enough was enough. He'd waited long enough and now, this instant, this very moment, was the right moment. This was it!

He slammed his drink down on the bar, threw himself to his knees and grasped Cheri's hands in his. 'Oh, God, Cheri! I love you. I've always loved you!' His voice rang out around the room; he didn't care who heard! Ralph looked away from the conversation he was having with his mate John's girlfriend and watched with horror. He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands, Smith was up to his old tricks. Tve loved you for five years and ... I want us to be together for ever.' Smith slavered wet kisses on to the backs of Cheri's hands. Ralph's eye was caught by someone emerging from the toilet at the back of the room. It was Jem, looking red-eyed and walking forcefuly towards Smith and Cheri with a determined look on her face. He saw her jaw drop when she noticed Smith's lips on Cheri's hands and he watched her stop in her tracks when she heard Smith, at the top of his voice, with al the abandon of a man in love who has had too much to drink and is no longer in control of his senses, shout out for the world to hear, 'Cheri, I love you. Wil you marry me?'

For the second time that night, the room fel silent. Cheri looked horrified, Ralph gasped, and Jem screamed. Smith turned around, almost faling from his knees in the process, saw Jem and began one of his trout impersonations, turned back to Cheri, saw the look of disgust on her face and dropped his head into his chest.

Jem picked up her coat from a chair, threw on her furry wrap, grabbed her handbag and ran from the galery, out on to the dark, wet street, her sobs swalowed up by the sound of passing traffic as the door opened and closed. Ralph threw Smith a look of pure contempt, picked up his coat and ran out after her.

Cheri looked down at Smith's slumped figure at her feet. She tugged at his hands and puled him into a standing position.

'Pathetic,' she sneered at him. 'Absolutely pathetic.'

Siobhan and Karl had missed al this drama. They were already in the street, having some of their own. Karl was pacing up and down the pavement, gesticulating wildly with his hands. Siobhan stood with her head downcast and murmured gently under her breath.

They stopped their conversation momentarily as first Jem and then Ralph emerged from the galery and began running down Ledbury Road, Ralph shouting 'Wait, Jem, please,' after her receding figure.

They looked at each other, shrugged and continued. What they were talking about was too important to alow even the most dramatic of goings-on to disturb them.

'So - if you're not living
at
your mother's — where exactly are you living?' Karl turned away from Siobhan, not wanting to watch the discomfort on her face. With your
new boyfriend?
He spat this out.

He felt sick, violently sick.

Siobhan nodded glumly.

'Oh! And where exactly does this
new boyfriend
live? Somewhere nice?'

This was horrible, truly horrible. They'd been getting on so wel, and then Siobhan had dropped the mother of al bombshels. She was seeing someone. 'Is it someone special?' Karl had asked.
'Yes,'
she'd nodded. 'Is it -serious?' She'd nodded again.

'Jesus — how long?' Karl was becoming increasingly distressed.

Siobhan had shrugged. 'A few weeks.' Karl's face crumpled and his lip began to quiver. 'But... but... we've only been split up a few weeks.' Siobhan had started crying then and had buried her head in Karl's chest. They'd hugged and Karl had moved their trauma out on to the pavement to avoid becoming a topic of conversation amongst the party-goers.

'Wel?' he demanded, a sob catching at the back of his throat. 'Do you and your
new boyfriend
live somewhere nice — Siobhan —

tel me, tel me al about it...'

'Oh, please, Karl, don't...'

'No. Siobhan, I want to know everything. Tel me everything.

What's his name? What does he look like? What does he do for a living? Is he handsome? Huh? Is he? Is he good in bed?'

'Oh, Karl

'Wel — is he? Jesus. Siobhan. What's going on here?' Karl ran his fingers through his hair and drooped backwards into a shop doorway, draping his coat over his knees and rubbing his face with his hands. 'I thought we were having some time apart. Why couldn't you wait, Siobhan? Shit — how did you manage to get over me so quickly? Over
us?'

'I
don't know, Karl, I don't know. It didn't feel quick, it felt like an eternity, sitting in that bedroom, alone, missing you, missing the flat, missing everything. It felt like for ever, just waiting, hoping that you'd come and get me.'

'I caled you! I caled you every day, every hour of every day. You wouldn't take my cals.'

'Oh, God, Karl, it's easy to cal. I wanted you to take action.
Do
something. I wanted to hear the sound of your car engine turning over in the driveway, wanted to hear the car door slam and your footsteps in the gravel. I wanted to hear the doorbel and I wanted my mother to cal up the stairs to tel me that you were there, that you'd come for me. Every night I waited -and you never came ...'

'But your mother said she'd cal the police if I even
phoned
again.

How could I, Shuv? How could I just turn up? I didn't know what to expect.'

'Oh, please! Don't tel me you were so scared of my mother, my tiny little sixty-nine-year-old mother, that you couldn't fight for what you realy wanted. I always had to do
everything,
Karl -

everything. Don't you see? That was the whole problem. You just always wanted everything to stay exactly as it was — me, the flat, life, everything. If I hadn't dragged you up to London al those years ago, we'd stil be living in that shithole in Brighton. If I hadn't phoned Jeff after that wedding you'd never have gone for that interview. If I hadn't sat up half the night with you, persuading you, you'd have turned down the job. I even had to be unfaithful to you to get you to notice that I was unhappy, that there was something seriously wrong with our relationship. I had to kick you out when I found out about you and Cheri and I was
damned
if I was going to be the one to make the running again, Karl, to reconcile our relationship -it was your turn! It was your
fucking turn\
I waited for you, Karl, and you didn't come. You didn't write. You didn't give me one decent reason why we should try to