Three’s a Crowd Read Free Page B

troubled look before scuttling away. They probably didn’t have a sommelier here, she probably didn’t know what a sommelier was. It was an acceptable restaurant, the food was tolerable, the service adequate, but as usual around here you were mostly paying for the view and the location. It wouldn’t have been Catherine’s choice, which was no matter tonight, tonight was for Annie. Catherine had accepted over the years that in a group of friends you had to
compromise
, which basically meant she had to lower her standards whenever they went out. It would be nice if that was acknowledged occasionally. They worked around Annie and Lexie – mid-price, sometimes a pleasant surprise, but mostly mediocre. Every so often Rachel complained about not being able to afford a night out at all, so Catherine invariably just covered her, because if they had to stoop to Rachel’s budget they’d be eating at one of those roadside kebab stands.
    She took out her phone and speed-dialled home, and was eventually answered with a garbled greeting.
    â€˜Alice, don’t speak with your mouth full.’
    â€˜Then how am I supposed to answer the phone?’ she said, still munching.
    â€˜Swallow before you pick up.’
    â€˜What if my mouth’s too full and I’d choke if I tried to swallow before the phone rang out?’
    â€˜Then you’d have clearly bitten off more than you could chew,’ Catherine returned evenly. ‘Honestly, Alice, why does everything have to turn into a debate? Try to avoid speaking with your mouth full. It’s impolite. Are you having dinner?’
    â€˜Nuh, Martin’s not home yet.’
    Catherine pressed her lips together. He promised he’d be home no later than seven. At times she honestly believed there was no one else in the world who cared about being on time. The waitress placed the wine list and a glass on the table in front of her, and Catherine nodded in acknowledgement before picking it up and taking a generous sip.
    â€˜Has he called?’ she asked Alice.
    â€˜Uhuh. He was just leaving work.’
    â€˜Then do your homework, no MSN or MySpace or Facebook or YouTube. And no more eating, Martin will cook dinner when he gets home.’
    â€˜I don’t want whatever Martin’s cooking,’ she whined.
    â€˜How do you know?’
    â€˜Because it’ll be totally crap.’
    â€˜Don’t say “crap”, Alice.’
    â€˜Okay, it’ll be totally disgusting. And besides, it won’t be ready till, like, nine o’clock or something, and I’m hungry now.’
    â€˜Then eat a healthy snack to take the edge off your hunger. A carrot, for example.’
    â€˜I’m gunna make some instant noodles.’
    â€˜
Going to
make noodles, Alice,’ Catherine corrected her. ‘But I wish you wouldn’t. They are simply the worst thing, they have no nutritional value and far too much fat and salt. This is the time you have to start watching your weight –’
    â€˜Mu-umm,’ Alice groaned.
    Catherine could never be accused of being insensitive, she knew not to send her daughter negative messages. ‘I’m just saying, if you don’t keep an eye on it now, it will be harder to get rid of later on.’
    â€˜Can I go now?’ Alice said flatly.
    Catherine sighed. ‘Yes. I’m not sure what time I’ll be home, so I’ll say goodnight.’
    â€˜Night.’ Alice hung up, and with still no sign of the others, Catherine scrolled through the messages on her BlackBerry as she sipped her wine. She didn’t understand why Alice was so persistently obstinate. Catherine knew adolescence was a notoriously difficult time for mother-daughter relationships. She had certainly struggled to relate to her own mother at the same age;but her mother had aspired to nothing greater than her role of housewife, and her most pressing commitments any given week were to get to the