Sophie thought her biggest issue was whether her hastily ordered fancy dress outfit would arrive in time for the party but now she was trying to squeeze herself in to it she realised that wasn’t the case. The black cat costume, which she was going to tell everyone was a black jaguar, was not exactly generous when it came to sizing. She’d gone for the large, which was the biggest they did. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that she might not be able to fit in it with her ever-growing baby bump – but it was. And why on earth were the zips always at the back? It was by far the most inconvenient place to put them.
She struggled a bit more and realised it was tiring her out. That horrid sense of exhaustion was sweeping over her again. Perhaps if she closed her eyes she could have a little nap …
‘I want a Viking party for my birthday, Mum. Mum?’ Arlo was staring at the strange creature on the bed.
‘Okay, sweetie,’ she said, as she considered dislocating her shoulder to get to the zip.
‘Does that mean I can have one?’ He came closer and peered at his struggling mother.
‘Let’s not make a decision right now. We’d need to think about what would happen at a Viking party.’ She had a quick think as she wriggled onto the other side and had a try with her other arm. ‘We could make Viking hats with horns on. Pin the sail on the long boat …’ She caught the look in Arlo’s eye. ‘What did you have in mind?’
Arlo’s face lit up. ‘Setting fire to things. Pillaging. That’s stealing things—’
‘How many times have I said you mustn’t take the go-cart from next door’s garden?’
‘Ahhh, Mum!’
‘Do you think you could help Mummy and do this zip up?’ Sophie spun round and presented Arlo with her back. When nothing happened she glanced over her shoulder at him.
Arlo pouted. ‘I think you’ve grown out of it, Mummy,’ he said, and he ran from the room.
Chapter Seventeen
Anna and Sophie followed an elephant and a rather slap-dash zebra into the building, and saw Hudson greeting people warmly with his usual charming approach. He was dressed as an ‘Englishman on Safari’ and greeted them both enthusiastically.
‘Stunning outfit, darling,’ he said in a faux British accent, and placed a fleeting kiss on Anna’s cheek. Anna was impressed when she stepped into Hudson’s flat. It was a trendy loft-style apartment right on the canal and it had been converted into a magical jungle-inspired world. Swathes of black fabric had been pinned to the ceiling with tiny fairy lights twinkling like a thousand stars. All around were tubs of huge plants with bright green shiny leaves and weeping ferns, which swayed as people passed.
The apartment had a mezzanine level where a rope trapeze and a number of vines hung down from the upper ceiling. Huge fur throws, which Anna very much hoped were fakes, were draped over the sofa and chairs. In two large dome-shaped birdcages two magnificently coloured macaws preened themselves meticulously. She wondered what Maurice would make of them.
A very large, and somewhat frightening, stuffed jaguar was in attack mode about to pounce on the coffee table. A huge vivarium about eight foot long took centre stage and inside lay the biggest snake Anna had ever seen.
‘Sim!’ Hudson called and a slim tanned man appeared at his side. ‘This is Anna and Sophie from work. Anna and Sophie, this is Sim, my …’
‘Lovely to meet you at last. Huds talks about you all the time,’ said Sim, before air-kissing Anna’s ears. Sophie was beaming at the comment. ‘Get these gorgeous creatures some cocktails,’ Sim instructed. Hudson shook his head good-naturedly and disappeared behind a large plant.
‘Wow, this is amazing,’ said Sophie, taking it all in.
Sim was grinning from ear to ear. ‘I know, it’s fabulous isn’t it? It is, isn’t it?’ he gabbled.
‘Sim, it’s incredible and your outfit’s, um … great,’ said Sophie.
‘You like?’ he asked doing the obligatory twirl followed by a well-practised crack of his whip.
Anna wasn’t sure if he was some sort of Doctor Livingstone meets Madam Whiplash character but thought it rude to ask. Instead, she nodded and said, ‘It really captures the party mood.’
‘Thank you. You are the sweetest,’ said Sim, beaming at them. There was a knock on the door. ‘God knows where Huds has disappeared to. Grab yourself a large glass of jungle punch and go mingle,’ said Sim and with another crack of his whip he went to greet some new arrivals.
Quite a few people were there already, and they were standing in their twos and threes still at the very early drinking stage and not quite ready to start talking to strangers. A few people had made an effort, Anna spotted a couple of Carmen Mirandas, three Tarzans in recycled tiger fur throws, lots of beachwear and T-shirts with bright green bug-eyed frogs on them.
‘Come on, let’s mingle,’ said Sophie and she started to talk to a random stranger. After a few minutes Anna tuned out. There was a limit to the amount of enthusiasm she could fake about air travel to a member of cabin crew. Flying was Anna’s idea of hell but he didn’t need to know that. Sophie on the other hand was enthralled. Anna looked about and spotted Hudson sitting alone on a beanbag. He was absent-mindedly stirring his swizzle stick round and round his empty glass. She picked up a bottle of Bud and made her way through the jungle.
‘Hi,’ said Anna, handing him the bottle. ‘Has your man gone and left you?’
‘Yeah, something like that. You look fantastic.’
Anna was very pleased with her outfit given she had left it until the last minute. Whilst she was a little short to pull off the Amazonian heroine Wonder Woman it was a fun outfit and she’d quite liked the film when Roberta had insisted on all the woman in the office going to see it.
‘Thanks,’ Anna replied as she plonked herself down on the beanbag next to him and instantly regretted it as the stuffing shifted and she found herself squashed up against him with her legs splayed in the air. She hastily hoiked her top back into place and wriggled until she was no longer tipping, and was a respectable distance away.
‘Why are you skulking over here and not chatting to people?’ Anna gestured to a group of four guys all in camouflage hot pants.
‘I don’t know most of them. They’re mainly Sim’s friends …’
‘But why so glum?’ she asked, not satisfied with his lame explanation of such downtrodden body language from the man who was always reeking confidence in the office.
‘I’ve been running around all day collecting this lot,’ he said, gesturing at the party props. ‘Sim goes into Vicious Dictator mode when he’s stressed so I’m beat. You won’t believe how many times I’ve had to move the goddamn trapeze; we’ll have to get a plasterer in afterwards to fix up the ceiling because it had to be bolted into the beam each time.’
They both looked up. ‘It’s worth it though. It’s amazing.’
‘What can I say? He’s a slave to his party people.’ He fiddled with his beer bottle and Anna wished she could find a soft drink. This was a very different Hudson. He seemed vulnerable, unlike the invincible presence she encountered daily at work.
A hoot from the doorway made Anna turn around. ‘Look Karl is here!’
They both watched as Karl dressed in a cardboard cut-out of the cover of Fifty Shades of Grey made an entrance and Sophie whooped liked she’d downed half the punch bowl.
‘Why’s he dressed like a book?’ asked Anna.
‘I’m surprised he hasn’t boasted to you already about his ingenious outfit. He’s Amazon …’
‘Dot com,’ said Anna, as the penny dropped. ‘Right, I get it,’ she said, rolling her eyes.
‘There was always going to be one,’ said Hudson.
‘And it was always going to be Karl.’
‘I should make some more punch,’ said Hudson with a lacklustre smile, and he disappeared to the kitchen. Even her fake boyfriend didn’t want to spend time with her. He was different around her tonight. She hadn’t thought before but obviously he would have to drop the fake relation
ship façade in front of Sim. It made her question the relationship she thought they were building. Perhaps it was all a charade.
Anna sidled up to Sophie who was guffawing loudly next to a gorilla and a Māori – were people really this geographically uneducated? she thought. When there was a pause in the guffawing Anna leaned in. ‘Please can we go now?’
‘No way! We’ve only been here a few minutes and it’s a good party, even if I can’t have the proper cocktails.’ Sophie waved a cocktail glass complete with umbrella and cherry.
‘Umbrellas in cocktails?’ Anna pulled a face.
‘It’s ironic,’ said Sophie, sucking hard on the straw and stepping away from the Māori and the gorilla. ‘Those two are dealers.’
‘Drugs?’ said Anna, in a hushed but frantic voice.
‘No, you numpty. Foreign currency. They used to work with Hudson in London. I’m gathering background information on him.’
‘Being bloody nosy more like.’
‘Yes, that too.’ She encouraged Anna up the stairs into the kitchen area. ‘How amazing is this flat?’
Anna gave a cursory look around. It was classic loft living; on trend and immaculate. ‘Yeah, it seems nice.’
Sophie baulked. ‘Nice? Have you any idea how much a place like this costs? This kitchen is top of the range and gadget loaded, and the loo is lush too.’
Anna shook her head. ‘You’ve checked out the loo already?’
‘Err, pregnant lady,’ said Sophie, pointing dramatically to her bump. ‘I’ve been twice.’ She grinned and had another straw full of her virgin cocktail. ‘Getting in and out of this outfit is a nightmare.’
‘Are you cured of the crush yet?’ said Anna, checking her watch. Had they really only been there twenty minutes? It felt like at least an hour.
‘Nowhere near,’ said Sophie, stifling a yawn and she headed after Sim. Anna followed reluctantly. She knew she was being churlish; she could probably enjoy herself if she made the effort to talk to a few individuals.
Anna felt like a spare part as Sim and Sophie discussed the miracle of her pregnancy.
‘I’d love to be a daddy,’ said Sim. ‘I love children. They see the world in such a pure way and squeeze every last drop of fun out of life.’
‘You are so right,’ said Sophie, ignoring Anna’s twitching. Sophie leaned in closer to Sim. ‘Would you like to touch the bump?’
‘May I?’ Sim looked thrilled to be asked. It seemed Sophie had another gay crush.
‘Does Hudson want to be a father too?’ asked Anna.
‘He does eventually but he’s focused on carving out this big career for himself first. He’s got this thing about being more successful than his father.’ Anna was interested but Sim had turned back to Sophie. ‘Do you know what sex the baby is?’
‘No, we’ve already got one of each so we don’t mind.’
‘Ooh, any names?’ asked Sim and Anna decided it was a good cue to have another search for a soft drink because once you got Sophie on names, you were there for the long haul. Sophie had obsessed over the names of the first two for the full nine months each time, having decided she wanted something different from the norm but not too different that the child would be picked on. Anna wasn’t entirely sure Sophie had been successful in her choices; Petal and Arlo were a bit too out there for her but they were lovely kids and she was very fond of them.
Anna went to fill her glass at the virgin punch bowl and Hudson appeared. ‘Let me help you,’ he said, expertly ladling the liquid into her glass. ‘Are you okay? I know you don’t know many people here. Would you like me to introduce you to some?’
It was thoughtful, but she was capable of talking to strangers without his help. She just didn’t like parties and she knew it showed. ‘No, thanks, I’m coping fine. I’ve already had an interesting chat with a monkey and a flamingo,’ she said with a brief grimace. She wasn’t sure what effect she’d been going for but grimace was definitely the result. ‘Nice flat.’
‘Flat?’ He was almost laughing.
‘What would you call it?’
‘Condo or apartment.’
‘Nice condo.’ It was hard to say without sounding absurd.
‘Thanks. It’s only rented but I’ve let out my place in London to balance it out. Have you seen the view?’ He gestured to the large window and started to walk towards it – Anna felt she had to follow.
‘It’s stunning,’ said Anna. It was still Birmingham but with the canal below and the Birmingham skyline lit up you couldn’t fail to be a little bit impressed with it. ‘Or bostin’ as we locals say.’
‘It’s like a whole new language here. It’s different to London. Karl asked me for a kipper tie last week. It took me most of the day to realise he wasn’t joking and he meant a cup of tea.’ Hudson’s accent went all Prince Charles at the end of the sentence and she laughed.
‘He’s doing it to wind you up. He’s a coffee drinker.’
‘I’m surprised by how much I like Birmingham. I guess it gets under your skin …’
‘… and in your respiratory system,’ said Anna. She was fond of Birmingham but people who weren’t born there always had a more romantic view of the city. ‘It’s not New York, though. That’s top of my wish list, somewhere I’ve always wanted to go. It looks so alive. Do you miss New York?’
‘Yeah, I do. I didn’t think I would but I don’t visit as much since …’
Anna gestured for him to continue. Hudson took a deep breath. ‘Since my father moved back there.’
This didn’t make a lot of sense to Anna. She figured if her dad had moved there she’d be going more often not less. ‘Things okay between you?’
‘He named me Hudson, what do you think?’
She laughed at his joke, but he was trying to lighten the conversation and he’d got Anna intrigued now although she didn’t want to push him. ‘I think it’s a good name.’
There was an excruciatingly long pause. He knocked back his drink in one go before looking Anna in the eye. ‘He’s recently remarried.’ He scanned the room as if expecting someone to call him over and when they didn’t he pointed at Anna’s glass. ‘You sure you don’t want something alcoholic? If you don’t fancy cocktails there’s wine.’
‘No, I don’t drink.’
‘Oh, okay. Sorry, I didn’t realise. Is there any particular reason?’
Anna would have preferred to avoid this topic of conversation altogether, but tried to keep her cool. She didn’t want to draw attention to something she longed to forget. ‘I guess I’ve seen the damage it can do.’
‘Sure, fair enough,’ said Hudson. When he came back he steered them over to a wooden bench. ‘Shall we take a seat?’ he asked. Anna sat down and immediately had to budge up as Hudson sat down next to her and his hip connected with hers.
The music changed and ‘Dreams’ by The Cranberries started. Both Anna and Hudson looked over their shoulders and Sim was pointing at Hudson and mouthing ‘for you’. Anna had almost forgotten Hudson was gay until that moment.
‘Have you and Sim lived together long?’
Hudson had a think. ‘He moved in just before Christmas. What’s that? About six months.’
‘Not long then?’
‘No, it just feels a lot longer.’ He gave a long-suffering look. ‘He could have stayed in London but he’s had a tough time recently so moving away for a while felt like the right option.’
‘And you thought Birmingham was the answer? Blimey, remind me not to upset you.’
Hudson chuckled and they both sipped their drinks. ‘He makes friends easily and the community here has been really welcoming. Talking of which, Sophie tells me you’ve got yourself a stalker?
‘His name’s Connor.’
‘Have you met him yet or does his restraining order get in the way of that?’ She knew he was teasing but he looked more jovial than concerned.
‘No. It’s just a texting thing. But I am tempted to know more about him.’
‘Just be car
eful.’ He picked at the label on the beer bottle.
‘It’s okay, I’m off men. Apart from fake boyfriends.’ There was a glimmer in his eyes.
They watched as the music changed and Sim began pogoing around with someone dressed as a parrot. A couple in lion onesies came to admire the view.
‘Is it very wrong of me to judge people by their costume?’ said Hudson, his voice hushed. ‘I don’t mean the quality, you understand …’
‘You mean whether it fits with the Amazon theme.’
‘Precisely,’ said Hudson, clinking his bottle unexpectedly against Anna’s glass.
Anna leaned a little closer. ‘I’ve been doing the same.’ He leaned his shoulder against hers and it felt companionable as they sipped drinks and watched the lights flicker over Birmingham.
‘Hudson, I’m sorry I’m late,’ said Roberta, as she barrelled over spoiling the moment completely.
‘Great outfit, Roberta,’ said Hudson, and Anna had to concentrate to avoid doing a Cheshire cat impression.
‘Oh, I’m glad you approve,’ said Roberta, preening herself in her tiger-print shift dress.
‘Let me get you a drink,’ said Hudson, getting up and giving Anna a conspiratorial look as he disappeared.
Chapter Eighteen
Anna yawned and checked her watch. She scanned the room for the umpteenth time. There was no sign of Sophie. She feared she had left the party although she knew she wouldn’t have done without telling her. Being pregnant frequently zapped Sophie’s energy and it often happened without warning. Perhaps she was having a nap somewhere. Sim came over and linked arms with her.
‘We need you,’ he said, raising his eyebrows.
‘Sorry, Sim, I just need to find Sophie then I’m off I’m afraid.’
‘I think she’s locked herself in the loo.’
‘What?’ Anna followed Sim out of the main room to the toilet door where Hudson and Roberta were standing looking anxious. She joined them. ‘What’s happened?’
A Walk in Wildflower Park Page 14
