Read Online Homework by Margot Livesey - Free Book Online Page B

turned to address me. “So you’ll have great plans for tonight? Are you going first-footing?” He was smiling, but the long vertical creases in his cheeks gave his expression a melancholy quality.
    â€œIsn’t it a bit cold to wander around in the middle of the night?” I said, as I searched for my purse.
    â€œAway with you. Nothing that a drop of whiskey can’t cure. Here, have a dram, to get the evening off to a good start.”
    It seemed churlish to refuse. I took the open bottle he was proffering and under his approving gaze pressed it to my lips and swallowed the smallest possible amount. “Now no more nonsense about staying home. Tonight’s the night you’ll meet that tall, dark stranger. I feel it in my bones.”

    As I climbed the stone stairs I heard Deirdre’s voice. “I’ll get it,” she said loudly. “I’ll get everything. You just concentrate on the balloons.” She was standing in the doorway of her flat. Pulling the door to, she turned around and saw me. “Celia,” she said. “I didn’t know you were coming back today. I’m giving a party. Will you come?”
    I thought it was the last thing I would do, that by ten o’clock I would be in bed with a book, but I said that I would love to. Perhaps not very convincingly, for Deirdre, continuing down the stairs, called over her shoulder that if there was no sign of me by eleven she would send Big John to fetch me.
    During the autumn I had grown accustomed to Malcolm’s flat; now the contrast with Lynne and Greg’s was unbearable. Even Tobias’s rapturous welcome could not make me feel at home. Miss Lawson had been taking care of him during my absence, but he had clearly felt neglected. I put the kettle on and made a mug of tea. I drew the curtains, I went around with a milk bottle, watering the plants, I turned on the radio, I unpacked. Nothing could distract me from the fact that it was New Year’s Eve. It was not that I had a history of exuberant celebrations—perhaps my happiest years had been as a teenager, when I was much in demand as a baby-sitter — but I had never before faced the turning of the year in such utter solitude.
    I puttered around, telling myself that I did not enjoy parties, until eleven o’clock. Then I went into the bedroom and changed my old pullover for a black shirt. As I was brushing my hair I caught sight of the blue leather box in which I kept my amber earrings. I had inherited them at the age of sixteen from my great-aunt Marigold, and they had become a talisman, marking my entry into the adult world. I wore them only on special occasions, to bring me luck; as a small, private gesture of celebration, I put them on.
    The door of Deirdre’s flat was ajar, and a barrage of music and conversation greeted me. I would stay for half an hour,
then slip away. As I stepped into the hall, a man came out of the bathroom. He smiled with such easy friendliness that for a moment I was sure that I knew him. “You must be one of Deirdre’s neighbours,” he said.
    â€œYes. How did you guess?”
    â€œBecause you don’t have a coat, and you don’t look cold.”
    â€œI only got back from London late this afternoon, and I wasn’t planning to come. I didn’t even bring anything to drink.”
    â€œThere’s enough booze here to launch the Armada. I’m Stephen.” He held out his hand. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up, almost to the elbow, and I noticed how smooth and well-rounded his forearms were.
    I told him my name and asked where the drinks were. Stephen pointed to the kitchen; it was full well beyond overflowing. “No use trying to get in there,” he said. “What do you want? Wine?” When I nodded, he called out, “Hey, John,” several times, until he had the attention of a large man standing next to the table. “Pour us a couple of