Chapter 7.
Joshua sipped his wine slowly, like a pro. Nat gulped his beer down nervously, like a drama queen. Joshua looked at him with a quiet amusement, or so it seemed to him at the time, now he wasn’t so sure.
“So, tell me all about last night, lover boy.”
Nat looked around nervously, quickly from side to side, afraid that he would be caught at any moment. Caught by whom, well who knew, but it wasn’t his time to be confident.
“What do you mean?”
He glanced across at the bar.
“Well” Joshua slowly pushed a beermat towards Nat. Why? Was this a sign? “When I left, you two seemed to be having a very… shall we say, intimate, time?”
“We were?”
Joshua chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m not jealous. We were just friends. I honestly don’t mind. Good for you, I thought. Admittedly, we didn’t have the chance to catch up in the way that I would have liked… And also, I was a little surprised….”
“You were?” Nat swallowed. Sweat ran down his face, he had that cold, cold feeling, right down into his stomach. Oh God, oh God.
“Well” Joshua leaned forward, in that casual, elegant way that smart, elegant people like him have. “To be quite honest, I didn’t think you were quite her type. I mean, she’s quite sophisticated. And please, don’t take this as an insult, but you are more, shall I say, a little rough around the edges?”
Nat wouldn’t have taken it as an insult, ever, but there was something about Joshua’s confident tone that was condescending, judging, and Nat could feel himself bristle at the edges. Like a smirk, only the version of a smirk that posh people have.
But he didn’t say anything. A pint seemed to arrive for him, he didn’t remember asking for it, and he drank gratefully, only vaguely aware that he had been drinking a lot, and that probably wasn’t a clever thing to do at the moment.
“Ah well” Joshua smiled, “maybe she likes the rough type. I didn’t know her very well, to be honest. We just ended up sharing a taxi to this godforsaken town together, heaven knows how. At least it’s a little more sophisticated than the last time I was here” he added, glancing around.
He lent forward, conspiratorially. “Anyway, Nathan, do tell, when you were canoodling on the sofa, do tell what happened next.”
Nat sighed. He looked at this man and wished he could lie, wished he could spin some tale of romance and brush off his worries, but of course he couldn’t. But tell the truth? Admit his fears, admit what he might have done, to this man who he didn’t really know? No, of course not. That would be really stupid.
“I think I may have killed her” Nat blurted out and then put his hand over his mouth.
Joshua froze. He glanced around, at the other people there, as if to make sure no one was listening.
“Excuse me?”
Nat couldn’t control his hands, they were writhing around as he started talking quickly. It was out there now. “Well, I don’t know! I don’t know!” his voice was getting higher and people were starting to look.
“Calm down.” Joshua put his hands over Nat’s and brought them to the table. “Calm down. Talk slowly. Take a deep breath. Tell me everything.”
Nat took a deep breath. He shook his head. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t remember you leaving, and I don’t remember saying anything to that girl, except when I went out to get that drink for her. I mean, I remember coming back to an empty flat. You’d both gone!” he looked at Joshua imploringly.
But Joshua just shook his head. “I don’t think that’s true, Nathan. You came back, and then I left. I just had one glass of champagne, and then I left. It was good champagne, actually, a good choice, well done. Not the best, of course, but then I doubt you’d be able to afford it. If you could find it here, which is even more doubtful.” He paused. “Maybe they serve some here. I’ll ask in a minute, can you please remind me?”
“Okay” Nat’s voice was feeble.
“Apologies, apologies, I’m distracting you.” He gazed at Nat. “You…” he started. “You forget things, I think. At school… I remember…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I do, my mind just goes blank and sometimes things get really confused. That’s why, I’m just telling you what I remember, but it may not be right. Course. I still get that. They never found out what was wrong with me, they did so many tests, I got my brain fried, so many times, but nothing” he was rushing his words out and Joshua put a calming arm on his elbow.
“Calm down, my friend. You’re safe here. Don’t worry” and bizarrely, for no reason, Nat did feel safer, did feel calmer.
“That’s all I remember. I came back, and the flat was empty…” he started.
Joshua looked at him intently. “Completely empty?”
“Yeah” Nat sighed. “Well, no. Not completely. It was… there was. Oh shit, I can’t say it.”
“What had you done, Nathan?” whispered Joshua.
“May I help you, sir?”
They both turned around, surprised, but Joshua recovered in an instant. “Ah, Marco, good to see you.” He patted Marco on the shoulder and the man gave a courteous smile. “We’re good friends, Marco and I. Only met a few days ago, but already he understands me. He’s a good man, Marco, you remember that. Now Marco, this is my friend, Nathan.”
“Yes, sir, we met a few minutes ago.”
“I know, I know you did. I’m not a fool, but I didn’t introduce you properly…”
Marco took a step back. “My sincere apologies, sir, I didn’t mean to infer that you were, at all. I was just…” He looked crestfallen.
“No, no, don’t apologise. Just a simple misunderstanding. Some of us are forgetful, we need reminding, of course, I understand that. My point…” he squeezed Marco’s shoulder, “is that this is my friend, Nathan, and he lives in this wonderful town…”
“That’s good to know, sir.”
“So” Joshua lifted his finger. “So, if he comes in here, which I am sure he will” he nodded conspiratorially at Nat, “when he comes in here, I want you to look after him. All right?”
“But of course, sir, it would be my pleasure. I assume we will continue to have your custom, as well, sir?”
“Well, yes of course, Marco, but you know, I don’t live here…”
“You don’t, sir?” a note of surprise in his voice.
“Well, no, of course not” said Joshua gruffly. “Anyway, moving on, how can we help you?”
“Ah” the smile returned to Marco’s lips. “I was just here to offer you gentlemen another drink.”
Nat glanced at his pint, now half empty, scratching his head, he had assumed that Marco had brought it. “Erm” he started, but he didn’t know what he wanted to say, or wanted to ask, so he stopped.
“Mmmm?”
“What my friend wants to say… in fact, what I want to say. In fact, what I want to ask, is whether” Joshua grasped his hands together in front of him as if in prayer, “you have Krug?”
Marco smiled. “Sir. We have two bottles of the Krug Clos du Mesnil 2000. It is” he paused leant over to Joshua, whispering something in his year.
“Of course” smiled Joshua. “We’ll have a bottle.” He sat back in his chair and rubbed his left shoulder absent mindedly.
Marco smiled, bowed and walked away.
“I don’t like champagne” Nat looked doubtful.
White Eyes Page 7