The Men in her Life

that lot. It’s not that they hate men, it’s that they think they’re laughable. I’ve never been to a strip show with female strippers, but I bet it’s completely different. I mean, for us, this is a kind of team sport, but I bet with men, they think she’s doing it just for them...’
    ‘I’m as inexperienced as you on that subject,’ Robert said wearily. ‘You’re in a very philosophical mood. I’d have thought you’d be out there screaming with the best of them. You’re not even drunk. What’s wrong with you?’
    ‘I really think I’ve changed in the last few weeks,’ Holly told him, ‘I’m much happier, don’t you think?’
    ‘If you say so...’
    ‘The thing is, I started reading this script today and you know when you’re onto something good, you just can’t wait to get back to it...’ Holly explained.
    ‘Oh I see,’ Robert said, understanding perfectly, ‘someone new?’
    ‘Friend of yours, as a matter of fact. Ginger Prospect. You know, married to Charlie Prince?’
    ‘Oh yes, I know Ginger...’ he made it sound as if they had shared an interesting past. ‘Has she really written something?’
    ‘It’s very funny...’
    ‘I’ve no doubt about that... now, we have to stop. I’m under strict instructions not to talk about work. I don’t want to be tom into little pieces by your friend Colette and the others. There’s something rather uncomfortably Bacchanalian about this gathering...’
    ‘Do we have to go back in there?’ Holly whined. Robert poked his head round the door to the bar. ‘They’re down to their jockstraps, and everyone’s singing “YMCA”, so there can’t be long to go,’ he informed her.

    Clare couldn’t remember the last time she had talked so much. In Penderric she had grown used to not talking. It was the only way she had of preserving her sense of self. Experience had taught her that if she revealed her thoughts to anyone there she would not own them any more, and there had been so little that was exclusively hers, it was the only way she had of keeping something. She could tell from the way that Simon was looking at her that he was listening to what she said, not just lying in wait, as Joss used to, impatient for the first opportunity to jump in and demonstrate his brilliance in a put-down.
    They had eaten their fishcakes, drunk their milk shakes, but half the bottle of champagne remained in its ice bucket.
    ‘Do you want any more of this?’ Simon asked, picking it out.
    ‘Actually, I don’t. Do you mind? I just feel pleasantly relaxed, I don’t want to be hungover for my seven-hour flight with a toddler... What I would like more than anything is a cup of tea,’ Clare said. ‘God, that sounds so middle-aged!’
    ‘I suppose we are middle-aged. I mean we’re old enough to have children who could vote...’
    Clare laughed. ‘I do have a child that age, remember?’
    ‘Sorry!’
    ‘Ella was very annoyed she couldn’t vote this time... half of her was wanting a hung parliament so that there’d be an election soon after her birthday...’
    ‘Yes, I can imagine that... she’s very determined, isn’t she? Are you really going to drive across America together?’ Simon asked, picking up on what she had been talking about.
    ‘Yes. It’s something I’ve always secretly wanted to do. And now there’s nothing to stop me. Not Joss, not lack of money. I’m really extremely lucky...’
    Simon looked at her childishly animated face and smiled.
    ‘I’ve always secretly wanted to sail round the world...’he confessed, a little wistfully.
    ‘Mmm. That would be wonderful,’ she agreed. ‘One of the things I always regretted about life in Cornwall was that I only went sailing a few times. Joss didn’t really get on with the sailing set, you know... I loved it. I loved the exhilaration, and the hugeness of the sky. Well, you’ve got a boat, so what’s to stop you?’
    ‘It’s not big enough for going round the world, but fine for popping across the Channel,’ Simon laughed, ‘not that I imagine I’ll be allowed to very often...’
    ‘What could you mean by that?’ Clare asked in mock innocence.
    ‘Holly is not a good sailor...’ he sighed, then looked at her, ‘you’re so different...’
    ‘In what way?’
    He thought seriously about his answer for several seconds, then said, ‘Holly always seems to be on the move, and you have a kind of stillness, serenity...’
    In the mirror, behind his head, she saw herself