‘I am so sorry.’ Harriet gasped, pulling Tommy off Nancy.
‘It’s fine, honestly. He can’t help it, poor guy.’ She passed Tommy over to Harriet as he began whining and retching for a second time. ‘Here, give mummy a cuddle, little man.’ As she handed him over it was a matter of seconds before Cameron reappeared beside her holding an armful of tissues from behind the bar. She hadn’t even seen him leave.
‘Here, let me help you.’ He started passing her the tissues and then squatted down to wipe the floor.
‘You don’t have to do that!’ Nancy called down to him. ‘I’ll do it.’
‘It’s fine, won’t take me a second.’
Nancy continued to wipe down her top, trying her best not to heave. It became clear that she wasn’t going to be able to save her top so she admitted defeat and took it off. As she did, she saw Harriet’s face whip round to her in shock. ‘It’s OK! I’ve got a top on underneath,’ she laughed.
‘Thank God for that, here I was thinking you were about to give Cameron a little show as a thank you.’
Cameron held his hands up. ‘Hey, I wouldn’t say no.’ Harriet laughed but Cameron reacted to Nancy’s shocked face. ‘I’m joking.’
‘I don’t think he was,’ Harriet piped up.
‘Shut up, the pair of you.’
‘Listen, I’m going to take this guy back to the room, I’ll take the kids with me and you two have a drink. As a kind of thank you and apology.’
‘Hari, you don’t have to apologise, it’s not something you can help – he didn’t do it on purpose.’ Nancy looked at Tommy who was still crying.
‘Well anyway, stay here and have a drink. Cameron, you’re not going anywhere are you? You’ll keep Nancy company?’
‘It’s fine, I’ll come back to the room with you. You don’t want to be sitting up there on your own.’ Nancy began to gather up her bag and phone but Harriet walked over and put her hand on top of Nancy’s.
‘Honestly, it’s fine. I need to get some work done anyway so please, just stay here and relax.’
‘I know what you’re doing!’ hissed Nancy. ‘Stop trying to set me up.’
‘I’m not!’ Harriet hissed back. ‘I’m not asking you to marry the guy but he just cleared up my son’s vomit – at least have a drink with him to say thanks.’
Harriet had a point. ‘OK fine, but you don’t have to take the children, leave them here with me, they can enjoy the disco and I’ll bring them up with me in a bit.’
Harriet nodded. ‘OK, if you’re sure.’
‘Positive.’
‘Daddy! There you are!’ Aiden came running over holding a cup with a bright blue mixture in. ‘Aunty got me this slushy and look.’ He poked his tongue out revealing a bright blue slash of colour.
‘Woah!’ Cameron replied. ‘Can I have a try?’ Aiden passed over the cup and Cameron took a sip and scrunched his face up in reaction. He turned to the girls. ‘This stuff is like pure sugar – far too sweet for me.’
‘Right, I’m off, Cameron thanks again for helping. Enjoy your eve. Nance, I’ll see you in a bit.’ Harriet turned to Isla who was jumping around on the dance floor. ‘Isla, I’m taking Tommy back to the room because he’s feeling poorly. Stay here with Nancy, OK?’
‘I want to come with you!’ Isla wailed and run over to Harriet, grabbing onto her leg.
‘You don’t want to stay here and do some more dancing?’ Isla shook her head and pouted as Tommy began wriggling in Harriet’s arms. ‘OK that’s fine, come with Mummy then.’
Nancy watched Harriet walk off. ‘I feel bad,’ she said to Cameron as they sat back down at the table.
‘Why?’
‘Well, because it’s Harriet’s holiday too and she’s going to be sitting in that room with two grumpy children.’
‘Didn’t she say something about working?’
‘Yes, I suppose. No change there.’ Nancy said it before she remembered who she was with.
‘Works a lot, does she?’
Nancy nodded. ‘Yeah but she has to, she’s incredible. She like a machine, just works works works – even on holiday.’
‘Why isn’t she using this time as a break?’
Nancy sipped at her drink. ‘She’s had a tough few years; she runs her own business so she can’t let things slip.’
‘Is it just her or does she have employees – surely they can hold the reins whilst she’s away?’
‘Well, you would think so, but clearly not. I don’t think she trusts that they’ll do a good enough job. It’s like she feels she has a point to prove to everyone, but I don’t know why she puts up the pretence for me, we’ve known each other for years. But as long as she’s happy, plus, she’s a bit of a perfectionist so I only get my head bitten off if I suggest any different anyway.’
‘I can understand that.’ Nancy glanced at him. ‘I mean, I’m not a perfectionist but I am the same about letting other people do work for me and thinking I can do it better if I do it myself. But sometimes you have to admit that enough is enough and take that break.’
Nancy swivelled on her chair to face Cameron a bit more. ‘OK, so come on then, what is it you do?’
He smiled. ‘What do you think I do?’
‘Oh God, this could go seriously wrong.’ Nancy laughed and then took in his appearance. ‘OK, so you dress fairly casual – but then again, you are on holiday so I guess you wouldn’t be wearing a suit.’
‘Correct.’
‘Do you wear a suit for work?’
‘No.’
‘Hmm, do you wear a uniform?’ Images of sexy firemen, police officers and army cadets sprung into her mind and she sipped again at her drink to hide the smile spreading across her face.
‘Yes I do have a sort of uniform – you can wipe that smirk from your face too. I know what you’re thinking.’ A cheeky side smile spread over his lips.
Nancy held up her hands. ‘What! I didn’t say anything.’
‘You didn’t have to, that glass can’t hide the dirty smile that crept across your face as you pictured me in uniform.’ Nancy giggled. ‘It’s not the kind of uniform you would initially think of though,’ he said and stood up. ‘I’ll leave you with that nugget of information and get us some more drinks. Will Jack want a drink?’
Nancy glanced over to the stage steps where Jack was sitting with his iPad and noticed that Aiden was talking to him again. She clammed up, feeling anxious that Jack would ignore him as before. ‘He’s OK; he has a drink still on here.’
Cameron walked off and Nancy continued to watch her son, fixated on the screen, headphones on. Here was the perfect opportunity to make a friend and he just sat staring at his iPad. Nancy felt a mix of frustration and sadness. She didn’t understand why it was so hard for him. She was watching Aiden climbing up onto the steps and then to the stage and then jumping off onto the dance floor, giggling and doing it again. He was so happy. After a moment, Jack lifted his gaze and watched Aiden. He didn’t try to talk, or interact in any way, but he watched him. He looked interested and that alone was enough to relax Nancy a bit.
Nancy was in her own little world when Cameron came back to the table holding a jug and two glasses. ‘Don’t ask me what it is, I asked for something fruity and this is what they gave me.’
Nancy eyed the blue mixture suspiciously. ‘Looks a lot like the blue slushy Aiden had.’
Cameron’s face changed. ‘You’re right…’ He took a sip and started laughing.
‘What?’ Nancy found herself smiling.
‘I think the barman has had me on – I think it is slushy!’
They both burst out laughing. ‘Haha, well you did ask for something fruity.’
Cameron put his glass down and walked off again as Nancy poured herself a small glass full and tried it. She recoiled as the sugary liquid hit the back of her throat and practically spat it out into glass.
A few moments later, Cameron returned with an orange-coloured juice inside another jug and a fresh two glasses. ‘Let’s try this again, shall we?’ he said as he sat down. Nancy watched him pour the orange liquid between two glasses.
‘Apparently they have a running joke behind the bar to see who will notice that they’ve been given slushy instead of a cocktail and because I wasn’t looking when he made it, I fell for it.’
‘You wally! I bet you watched this one though? So what went into this then? ‘
‘Are you testing me?’
‘Well, I need to know that I am drinking a legitimate drink and not orange juice with popping candy in.’
Cameron nodded. ‘Fair play. OK, so this is called a Sloe Screw.’
Nancy was drinking at the time and spat out the contents of her drink back into the glass as she laughed.
‘Nice! That’s attractive.’ Cameron laughed as he passed her a tissue.
‘I’m so sorry!’ She tried to hide her face in embarrassment.
‘Nice to see what maturity level I am dealing with tonight.’ He winked at her.
Nancy laughed and shook her head. ‘Honestly, I am a very mature adult and was simply coughing because it went down the wrong way.’
‘Yeah yeah, likely story. So anyway, shall I continue or shall we talk about bums, bogies and boobies for a bit?’
Nancy play slapped him on the arm and he smiled cheekily at her. ‘Enough! I’m fine, continue.’
‘So, Sloe Screw…’ He paused dramatically, waiting for her to snigger but she put on a strong face and poked her tongue out. ‘This cocktail consists of sloe gin – hence the name – vodka and orange juice.’
‘I love sloe gin – we used to go sloe berry picking when I was a kid and Mum would make sloe gin every Christmas.’
‘Which you enjoyed … as a kid?’
‘No! I would just pick the berries with mum, she drank the gin!’ She smiled, she loved how easy and playful this conversation was. Everything in her life recently had been so serious it felt refreshing to relax and be silly for once. She sipped at the drink and felt the warm memories of Christmas wash over her. ‘Although as I got older, I did indulge in trying the gin too.’
‘There it is! The truth shall out.’ He clinked her glass.
She smiled. ‘This drink makes me feel festive, I feel like I want to sing carols round the Christmas tree and eat roasted chestnuts.’
‘Your Christmases sound like they’re straight out of an old black and white movie!’
‘Ha, I loved Christmas time – when I was younger it was so traditional with a real tree, carols, no TV, just playing games and spending time with the family.’ She smiled as she reminisced.
‘My Christmases were more like Home Alone.’
Nancy looked at him confused. ‘You spent your Christmases trying to stop burglars from entering your house?’
‘Hah! Not quite, I mean my family would go away every year so we never spent Christmas at home.’
‘And … they forgot you one year?’
He shook his head, ‘No.’
‘So … you went to New York one year?’
‘No, never New York.’
Nancy creased her face. ‘So, I’m struggling to work out why your Christmas was like Home Alone…?’
He laughed. ‘You have a point there. I just meant that we went away for Christmas, and Home Alone is my favourite holiday film.’ Nancy raised her eyebrow. ‘Ok, bad analogy. Let’s move on.’
‘I think it’s wise.’ She glanced over to Jack who was in the same spot. Aiden had abandoned the idea of trying to talk to him and was now cutting some shapes on the dancefloor with a woman. Jack was still watching him though. This was surely a good thing.
‘He gets his moves from me,’ Cameron said, following Nancy’s gaze.
She turned her head and smiled. ‘Maybe you should show me?’
‘Oh, no, no, no … those moves are saved for special occasions – and by that, I mean, when everyone is drunk so they can’t see that I have two left feet.’
They sat in silence for a moment as they watched Aiden on the dancefloor. The woman he was with looked up and waved. Nancy turned her head to Cameron who lifted a hand in response. ‘That’s my sister. My niece and nephew are behind her – the girl with the bright pink dress and the boy holding onto her dress making her have a strop.’
Nancy laughed. ‘How old are they?’
‘Eight and six.’
‘Do you just have the one sister?’
‘Yeah, just me and Becca. The guy on the table by the door, with the purple shirt on – that’s her husband. We always holiday together – I think they take pity on me and invite me.’
Nancy turned back to Cameron, wanting to ask more about his situation but not feeling confident enough. She thought about asking about Aiden’s mum but the words just didn’t come out. Instead, she said, ‘Do you go away together every year?’
Cameron nodded. ‘Yeah, it’s nice. Me and Becca get on really well actually, we’re close in age and it means the cousins all get to spend their holidays together. Aiden has it tough sometimes so it is nice for him to have this time with everyone. I work long hours back home and he gets pushed from pillar to post – I know you mums say you get mum guilt, well I get massive dad guilt.’ She watched his face change. She could see the sadness behind those beautiful eyes and it made her feel a little sad too.
‘I’m sure he’s absolutely fine, kids are more resilient than we think.’ She wanted to hug him, it would be what she would do if he was a fellow mother and she was having this conversation. But she couldn’t just lunge across the table and wrap her arms around him – no matter how much her body ached to do just that.
‘Yeah, I know. It’s just tough, isn’t it? Being a single parent. Not having that other person to take the strain when times get hard.’ Nancy felt herself falling for him with every true word that came out of his mouth. He totally got how she was feeling – it was like he saw how much she was struggling and here he was, saying he struggled too. ‘It makes me just want to give up work and stay with him all the time, poor little guy hasn’t had it easy and I just want to give him the best possible life I can.’ He was gazing at Aiden as he spoke and Nancy could see the love pouring out from his heart.
‘Has he been poorly?’
Cameron turned suddenly to her, confusion on his face. ‘Sorry?’
‘You said he hasn’t had it easy – I just wondered if he had been poorly or something?’ she could almost see Cameron’s face start to close down.
‘Oh, sorry. I’m rambling. I must’ve had more to drink than I thought.’ He laughed but it seemed a little nervous and forced. ‘He’s fine. Just having a moment of feeling guilty for working so much – but I guess everyone does, hey.’
‘I suppose.’ She didn’t believe him, there was more to this story and she was left wondering why he had shut it down so quickly. He had just started to open up, she had felt the vulnerability in his voice as he spoke about Aiden and how tough it had been, and then he’d just changed. It made her want to get to know him even more. She decided not to push him as he was looking a little on edge so she tried to lighten the mood again. ‘So, I was guessing your job! You say you have a sort of uniform but not what I would expect…’She trailed off as she scanned her brain for an answer.
‘Do you want another clue?’ He smiled, clearly glad of the diversion away from the topic of Aiden’s past and Nancy nodded. ‘My job involves babies.’
Nancy creased her face in confusion. ‘Babies?’ She wasn’t expecting that.
He nodded.
‘Are you a midwife?’ She pulled a face. ‘Mid-husband … what would you call a male midwife?’
‘Ah, I know this answer – the word midwife actually means with woman, so the person can be male or female because both work with the woman during pregnancy and labour. So it would still be midwife.’ He raised his eyebrows, proud of his concise argument.
‘Wow, that’s really interesting – so you’re a midwife? I got it on the first go?’
He laughed and shook his head. ‘No, I’m not a midwife.’
‘Newborn photographer?’
Another shake.
‘Children’s entertainer?’
‘Do I look like a clown?’
‘Well, you did say you couldn’t dance so you might look like a clown on the dance floor.’
He nodded and pushed out his bottom lip. ‘That could well be true … but no, I’m not a clown.’
‘OK, I give up.’
He smiled. ‘Do you want another clue?’
‘No! Just tell me, the anticipation is killing me.’
He stood, lifted the jug and poured more drinks. ‘I am a neonatal surgeon.’