The Reunion

there. I’ll get you a cup of coffee.’
    Lilah allowed herself to be dragged over to the fire; she flashed Andrew her best naughty little girl smile.
    ‘Went out for a fag, innit?’ She gave him a wink. ‘How are you, Drew? You look knackered.’
    ‘Thank you, Lilah. You look… freezing.’ Lilah sat down and crossed her legs, allowing her kimono to slip off her thighs. From underneath lowered lids, she looked up at him.
    ‘Oh, come on. I look better than that, don’t I?’
    He shook his head impatiently, as though dealing with a naughty child, but she could see the blush creeping up from the neckline of his sweatshirt.
    Fights over radio stations notwithstanding, they had been very happy here, she and Andrew. Yes, she would have liked to escape to the Riviera to drink cocktails and go dancing every once in a while, but most of the time she was content, working on the house and working on her tan, playing volleyball on the lawn, making love with Andrew on steamy afternoons in the bedroom upstairs, the two of them bronzed and fit, as perfectly, beautifully athletic as they were ever going to be. Looking at him now, greying, a little overweight, his shoulders a little hunched, his jaw just a bit too heavy, the contrast with that Andrew might have been shocking. Only Lilah wasn’t shocked, because the grey, and the exhaustion, and the slope of his shoulders, that hadn’t taken the best part of twenty years. That came pretty much overnight, and she’d been there to witness it.
    Dan and Nat entered the room, from opposite directions, at almost exactly the same time. Lilah smiled at Natalie, who ignored her, and went over to speak to Andrew in hushed tones. Lilah sighed loudly.
    ‘Do you have tomato juice, Jen? I fancy a Bloody Mary. Dan? Can I tempt you?’
    Dan shrugged, then nodded. His eyes were only half open and bloodshot, he looked like he hadn’t had much sleep.
    ‘Bloody Mary, Jen?’ She declined. ‘How about you two?’ she asked, addressing Andrew and Natalie.
    Natalie looked up at her, face expressionless, mouth set in a line.
    ‘Ummm…’ Andrew said.
    ‘No, thank you, we’re fine,’ Natalie said. Nothing. Not the slightest flicker of emotion.
    Lilah lowered her eyes, looking over her shoulder at Andrew, a half-smile on her lips. ‘You sure? Drew?’ She could see the muscle tense in Nat’s jaw, but she didn’t say anything. Lilah was a little disappointed, she thought that one would have landed for sure. After all, no one but Lilah had ever called him Drew: to them he was always Andrew. She’d just have to push harder. ‘Come on,’ she said, grin widening. ‘You know you want to.’ She slid one leg off the other and got up to make the cocktails. She could feel Natalie’s eyes boring into her back and her adrenaline starting to rise.
    Lilah turned her attention to Dan, who was eyeing her a little nervously. He was thinking about what she’d said the night before, she could tell. He was wondering whether she was going to start up again, to give him a hard time. She smiled at him sweetly as she handed him his drink.
    ‘You sleep OK, sweetie?’ she asked.
    ‘Uh. Yeah, fine, thanks.’ He looked puzzled, which was just the way she wanted him. She needed to throw him off his game, wrong-foot him. Start off mean, then go charming. Like negging, only backwards. That’s the way to get what you want from them. She sat down at Dan’s side, directly opposite Andrew, diagonally opposite Natalie. Jen buzzed around them, bringing food, pouring coffee. The fire crackled, the sun shone. Lilah raised her glass.
    ‘Cheers, everyone,’ she said with a smile. ‘It really is lovely to see you all again.’
    They clinked. Lilah enjoyed their slightly bemused expressions.
    ‘Is your… uh… is Zac not joining us for breakfast?’ Jen asked her, placing a large jug of orange juice in the centre of the table.
    ‘He’s still in bed,’ Lilah replied. ‘Let him sleep,’ she went on coyly, keeping her eyes down. ‘I think I may have worn him out.’ She looked up at Andrew and smiled.
    Andrew’s cheeks reddened again, Natalie rolled her eyes, exhaling through pursed lips.
    Lilah wasn’t looking for the eyeroll, though, she didn’t just want an exasperated sigh. She wanted Natalie to say something, she wanted her to react. Any sort of reaction would do, even a furious one. She just couldn’t bear
this
, the silence, the sense of being ignored, the utter disconnect. Even last night, when