‘Must be good to have Brad home,’ I said to her.
‘It is, although you know as well as I do that it won’t be for long,’ she said. I didn’t need to ask her what she thought about this – her opinion was clearly written on her face. She was staring at me as if his working habits were somehow my fault.
‘He’s in a rush to get back?’ I surmised, but I wasn’t surprised. That was the curse of the war correspondent – we were never really anywhere – when we were at home, our eyes were on the world stage, looking for the next adrenaline rush. And when we were in the field, we were constantly thinking of home and how amazingly blessed our peaceful real lives were. After enough years, ‘field’ and ‘home’ both felt a little wrong, because nothing really felt like home anymore.
‘Aren’t you in a rush to get back?’ Her eyes accused me. ‘He told me you two will probably be focusing on Syria for at least the next year.’
‘Yeah, I’d say so.’
Penny sighed and reached for her wine. She brought it to her lips for a sip, then tipped it back and downed half the glass in one smooth motion.
‘You’re smart, you know,’ she turned her gaze on me again.
‘I am?’
‘To stay single. It’s just too hard otherwise.’
She’d said that to me many times before. Ordinarily I took it as a compliment – that night, it was an uncomfortable reminder of the realities of the life I’d chosen. I shrugged again and scanned the room.
‘Where is Brad?’
‘Somewhere here. Look – over there with Kisani.’
Kisani Hughes was our editor at News Monthly, and she was standing in a group of other senior staff. Brad was at her side, staring at the floor, clearly bored out of his mind. As if he felt our eyes on him, he suddenly turned and started walking towards us.
Penny sighed and tapped her wedding ring against the stem of her wine glass.
‘He just needs to stick around here long enough for Imogen’s birthday in a few weeks. Do you reckon you can help make that a reality, Leo?’
‘I have a few things here I need to take care of before I can even think about getting back on a plane.’
‘Good.’
‘Christ!’ Brad sat down heavily beside Penny and rubbed his eyes. ‘Why is it that when people get promoted to a job with a title that contains the word “executive” they are instantly bat-shit boring?’
‘It’s the way of the world,’ I said smoothly.
‘Hey, Leo,’ I heard Molly say quietly, and she took the seat beside me – the seat marked with Kisani’s place-card.
‘Hi,’ I said softly, but I quickly scanned the shocked expressions of my companions.
‘Just thought I’d pop by and say hello.’
‘Molly, this is Brad and Penny Norse,’ I said, leaning back in my chair and motioning towards Penny at my left. Molly leant across me to shake her hand, and then Brad’s.
‘Lovely to meet you both,’ she said. ‘I’ve heard a lot about you.’
‘You’ve – what? You have?’ Penny said blankly.
‘Molly and I know each other from way back,’ I said smoothly. ‘I mentioned some of our exploits in the field, Brad.’
‘Exploits?’ he repeated, and shot me an incredulous, questioning look that I avoided with some determination.
‘Are you having a nice night?’ Molly asked me quietly.
‘Fine so far,’ I told her. ‘Are you?’
‘I was seated between my parents tonight, I had to swap the place-cards. It’s as if I couldn’t be trusted to be here without strict supervision, even by the organisers,’ she laughed. ‘In any case, I’ll be on my best behaviour.’
She looked up towards her own table and I saw her smile disappear in an instant. I followed the path of her gaze and realised Laith Torrington was staring at her, the skin on his face beetroot red. Danielle was pulling on his arm, as if trying to get his attention.
‘I’d better go,’ Molly muttered, and I saw that she too was flushed. She shot me a look of frustrated impatience as she rose. It took quite a bit of energy to stay in my chair, and even more to stop myself from catching her arm and suggesting she stay right by my side, where I could protect her from the disgusted look in her father’s eyes.
‘Talk to you later,’ I said softly. We all watched her walk away, and then Brad and Penny spoke at exactly the same time.
‘What the hell…’
‘You didn’t tell me that you knew…’
‘Guys,’ I cut them both off with a determined smile. ‘I’m sure I would have mentioned at some point that I went to uni with Declan Torrington.’
‘You did,’ Brad said. ‘You forgot to mention that you wanted to bone his sister, though.’
‘Leo,’ Penny said, wide-eyed, ‘surely you noticed that she was all but drooling over you?’