I pull the scrunchie out of my hair and laugh. Instead of the usual movie trope of my hair falling all around my face in soft waves, it stays exactly where it is.
Suzy shrieks with laughter. ‘You look like a clown!’
‘She looks very nice,’ says Alex. ‘Like a young Leonardo da Vinci.’
‘Do you know what he looked like?’ I say.
‘Not exactly,’ he admits. ‘But he was probably covered in paint by the end of the day too.’
‘I wouldn’t mind being dipped head to toe in paint if it meant I could draw like him,’ I say.
He pulls the sheet of notepaper out of his pocket. ‘He would never have been able to draw this.’
‘That’s because The Wind in the Willows wasn’t invented back then,’ says Suzy.
We find a table at the far end of the pub garden and sit down.
‘Alex and I will go inside and order,’ says Suzy. ‘They’ll freak out if they see you looking like that, Annie.’
‘What would you like?’ Alex asks me.
I give a huge yawn. Now that I’ve stopped painting, my shoulders are starting to ache. I feel as though I could sleep for a week.
‘Surprise me,’ I say. ‘Suzy knows what I like.’
They reappear a few minutes later carrying three glasses of cider.
‘The food will be out in a minute,’ says Alex. ‘Suzy assures me that I have to try the cider. It’s all part of being accepted as a local.’
I take a grateful gulp of the icy drink. ‘But you said you weren’t going to become a local.’
‘I said I may not,’ he corrects me. ‘It really depends where I manage to get a job.’ He gives me a half smile. ‘I wouldn’t have any serious objection to finding a job around here.’
There’s a beat of silence between us. Suzy interrupts before I can answer.
‘You should! It’s a lovely place to live. Annie wants to get a job in London, but I can’t think why.’
I look at her in surprise. Suzy spent our entire childhood grumbling about how much she hated living in the countryside and how she couldn’t wait to get away to the city. She’s certainly changed her tune. But it’s probably all part of her flirting technique. She doesn’t really mean it.
‘I don’t mind cities,’ says Alex. ‘I went to university in Manchester and had a great time. I’ll probably end up living in one again. There isn’t a whole lot of call for big engineering projects in places like this.’
‘We’ll keep our fingers crossed,’ says Suzy.
I notice without surprise that she’s sitting very close to Alex, and he isn’t moving away. To be fair, it’s a small bench. If he moved any further down it, he’d fall off onto the grass. And at least he’s facing me, which makes it easier to talk to him. On the other hand, I’m not sure I want to give him a clear view of me while I look like this.
How much better it would have been if we’d met in a more normal way. During an evening at the pub, perhaps. I’d have been dressed in something a little more glamorous than my current outfit, and I’d have used something other than Dulux as a hair product. Still, there’s nothing I can do about that now.
A server appears carrying a tray.
‘Hi Annie,’ he says, putting a plate in front of me.
‘Hi, Max. I haven’t seen you for a while. How are you doing?’
‘Can’t complain,’ he says. He looks at me more closely. ‘You look like hell. Did you get caught in an explosion?’
‘Yes, at the paint factory,’ giggles Suzy.
‘Is this your famous steak pie?’ I ask.