The Casual Vacancy
Sammy?’
She expected this from Shirley, but not from Howard. Both of them drained their glasses, and Samantha watched Gavin drift away without trying to stop him.
Gavin was wondering whether it would be possible to slip out unnoticed. He was nervous, and the noise was making it worse. Ahorrible idea had taken possession of him since meeting Gaia at the door. What if Kay had told her daughter everything? What if the girl knew that he was in love with Mary Fairbrother, and told other people? It was the sort of thing that a vengeful sixteen-year-old might do.
The very last thing he wanted was for Pagford to know that he was in love with Mary before he had a chance to tell her himself. He had imagined doing it months and months hence, perhaps a year down the line … letting the first anniversary of Barry’s death slip by … and, in the mean time, nurturing the tiny shoots of trust and reliance that were already there, so that the reality of her feelings stole gradually upon her, as they had upon him …
‘You haven’t got a drink, Gav!’ said Miles. ‘That situation must be remedied!’
He led his partner firmly to the drinks table and poured him a beer, talking all the while, and, like Howard, giving off an almost visible glow of happiness and pride.
‘You heard I won the seat?’
Gavin had not, but he did not feel equal to feigning surprise.
‘Yeah. Congratulations.’
‘How’s Mary?’ asked Miles expansively; he was a friend to the whole town tonight, because it had elected him. ‘She doing OK?’
‘Yeah, I think—’
‘I heard she might be going to Liverpool. Might be for the best.’
‘What?’ said Gavin sharply.
‘Maureen was saying this morning; apparently, Mary’s sister’s trying to persuade Mary to go home with the kids. She’s still got a lot of family in Liver—’
‘This is her home.’
‘I think it was Barry who liked Pagford. I’m not sure Mary will want to stay without him.’
Gaia was watching Gavin through a chink in the kitchen door. She was clutching a paper cup containing several fingers of the vodka that Andrew had stolen for her.
‘He’s such a bastard,’ she said. ‘We’d still be in Hackney if he hadn’t led Mum on. She’s so bloody stupid. I could have told her hewasn’t that interested. He never took her out. He couldn’t wait to leave after they’d shagged.’
Andrew, who was piling additional sandwiches on an almost empty platter behind her, could hardly believe that she was using words like shagged. The chimeric Gaia who filled his fantasies was a sexually inventive and adventurous virgin. He did not know what the real Gaia had done, or not done, with Marco de Luca. Her judgement on her mother made it sound as if she knew how men behaved after sex, if they
were
interested …
‘Drink something,’ she told Andrew as he approached the door with the platter, and she held up her own polystyrene cup to his lips, and he drank some of her vodka. Giggling a little, she backed away to let him out and called after him: ‘Make Sooks come in here and get some!’
The hall was crowded and noisy. Andrew put the pile of fresh sandwiches on the table, but interest in the food seemed to have waned; Sukhvinder was struggling to keep up with demand at the drinks table, and many people had started pouring their own.
‘Gaia wants you in the kitchen,’ Andrew told Sukhvinder, and he took over from her. There was no point acting like a bartender; instead, he filled as many glasses as he could find, and left them on the table for people to help themselves.
‘Hi, Peanut!’ said Lexie Mollison. ‘Can I have some champagne?’
They had been at St Thomas’s together, but he had not seen her for a long time. Her accent had changed since she had been at St Anne’s. He hated being called Peanut.
‘It’s there in front of you,’ he said, pointing.
‘Lexie, you’re not drinking,’ snapped Samantha, appearing out of the crowd. ‘Absolutely not.’
‘Grandad said—’
‘I don’t care.’
‘Everyone else—’
‘I said no!’
Lexie stomped away. Andrew, glad to see her go, smiled at Samantha, and was surprised when she beamed at him.
‘Do you talk back to your parents?’
‘Yeah,’ he said, and she laughed. Her breasts really were enormous.
‘Ladies and gentlemen!’ boomed a voice through the microphone, and everyone stopped talking to listen to Howard. ‘Wanted to say a few words … most of you probably know by now that my son
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