‘Rachel, are you listening?’
With a start I drew my attention away from the scene outside and realised that Jimmy had been speaking.
‘Sorry, I was miles away… what were you saying?’
His eyes flickered for a second towards Matt, who was chatting to Cathy at that moment on his other side. Jimmy didn’t look comfortable having to repeat whatever it was I had just missed.
‘I was asking if you weren’t too busy tomorrow afternoon, if you’d be able to come round to my house?’
The oddly hesitant request wasn’t like him at all and I found myself momentarily confused, both by his tone and the formality of the invitation. Jimmy and I usually just pitched up at each other’s front doors without asking; no invites necessary.
‘Sure, I can do that. I was intending to come round to see your mum and dad again before I left, anyway.’
‘Actually, they won’t be home tomorrow.’ Again, that oddly uncertain tone. ‘No one will, just me. I… er… I just wanted to have a quiet word with you. Is that OK?’
Was it the red glow from the sun, or was he actually blushing?
He seemed anxious to elicit my response before Matt turned back, so I quickly reassured him. ‘Yes, that’s fine. I’ll see you around two o’clock?’
He nodded then and sighed, as though some dreaded task had been accomplished, which only served to heighten my curiosity further. I guessed I would have to wait until the next day to find out what was on his mind.
The waiters had just arrived with the laden plates and begun to set them in front of us. Straightening up in his seat, Matt removed his right arm from where it had been resting around my waist, pausing to plant a firm kiss unexpectedly on my lips before pulling back.
‘Pleeeease… people are trying to eat round here!’ groaned Sarah, pretending repulsion.
I grinned back at Matt and held my face very still while he tucked a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. It was just a chance inconsequential action, but later I would wonder what might have happened to us all if he hadn’t been leaning so closely towards me and seen the car.
‘What the hell…!’ he cried.
I spun around to follow his gaze, mouth dropping in amazement as I saw a small red car, with all four wheels off the tarmac, catapult into view over the crest of the hill. Moments later a second car appeared, driving almost as fast and only slightly less recklessly; its flashing blue lights and discordant siren shattering the peace of the summer evening. In horror I saw a small van emerge from a side street and have to stand on its brakes to avoid losing the best part of its bonnet as the red car hurtled past with inches to spare. The car collided with grazing impact against the side of several parked vehicles, enshrouding the pursuing police car in a cloud of red hot sparks.
It was the shrieking scream of rubber from the van’s brakes which alerted the attention of the rest of the group but Matt was way ahead of us all in assessing the oncoming danger. The red car was still comparatively high up on the hill, but at the speed it was travelling, that distance was being swallowed up with each passing second. When the police car began to narrow the gap between the vehicles, the red car veered crazily across the road, its driver clearly struggling to keep it from ploughing into the line of parked cars. Matt shot to his feet.
‘He’s lost it! He’s out of control. That car’s going to crash! Get away from the window! NOW!’
For the first time we all seemed to notice the vulnerability of our position, seated beside the large window at the front of the restaurant. Separated from the road by only the narrowest of low pavements and sited on the corner of a very tight bend at the foot of the hill, the inevitability of the danger suddenly seemed glaringly obvious.
I felt Matt’s tight grip on my shoulder as he got to his feet, screaming out his warning. The panic became infectious as people around us also began to shout. I noticed distractedly the waiter dropped two of our plates of food on the floor before retreating hastily away from our table.
Well, that’s made a horrible mess, I found myself thinking stupidly.
It wasn’t as though I couldn’t see what was happening; or that I hadn’t fully understood my boyfriend’s cry of warning. It was just that everything had suddenly and strangely slipped into slow-motion. There seemed to be no immediate rush; there was plenty of time to get away from the table. No need to have dropped two perfectly good dinners in the process.
Around me was a blur of movement. I saw Jimmy and Sarah get out of their seats and was aware of them running over to where Phil was standing, screaming out for the rest of us to move. Matt’s hand remained embedded in the hollow of my shoulder as I felt him half drag me from my chair. With his other hand I saw him begin to propel Cathy, who was standing beside him, away from the table.