The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

52

June 2017

Scarlett strides into the bar, trying and failing to look natural and nonchalant. She stares hard at Tallulah, and Zach glances at her, then does a double take before looking at Tallulah, and she sees something fall into place.

He turns to her and says, ‘What’s going on?’

‘What?’

‘You and that girl?’

‘I don’t know,’ she says. ‘Nothing.

Scarlett is heading towards them. She pulls across a chair from another table, sits down, sticks a chip into a dish of mayonnaise and eats it. ‘Hi, Lula,’ she says. ‘How are you?’

Tallulah nods and says, ‘I’m fine. I’m sorry I didn’t say hello earlier. You were with all your friends and I didn’t want to interrupt.’

‘Oh, it’s fine,’ Scarlett replies breezily, picking up another chip and sticking it back in the mayonnaise. ‘I understand. Anyway …’ She waves her hand across the display of seafood and the champagne bucket. ‘Special occasion?’

‘No,’ says Tallulah, ‘not really. We just haven’t been out for a while.’

‘Ah, that’s nice.’ She picks up a third chip and puts it to her nose. ‘Is this one truffled?’ she asks. Zach nods stiffly and Scarlett says, ‘Nice,’ before eating it. ‘I didn’t quite catch your name?’ she says to Zach.

‘It’s Zach.’ His face is brittle with rage.

Scarlett is acting cool, but Tallulah can see the manic energy pumping through her.

‘You know Tallulah from college?’ Zach says.

‘That is correct. Lovely, lovely Tallulah.’

‘She never talks about you.’

‘How rude!’ Scarlett mocks affront and grabs another truffle chip.

‘She’s got a photo of you on her phone, though.’

‘Uh-oh,’ says Scarlett, widening her eyes. ‘Stalker alert.’

‘It’s just that selfie, from the Christmas party. That’s all.’

‘What selfie?’

‘You don’t remember taking it?’ asks Zach.

‘I can’t say that I do, but then I was off my face at the time. Anyway,’ she says, ‘I don’t want to disturb you two while you’re having such a gorgeous romantic evening. Lovely to see you, Lula. Lovely to meet you, Zach.’

‘No,’ says Tallulah. ‘Stay.’

‘Oh.’ She beams at Tallulah. ‘OK then.’

Zach looks as though he is about to say something, but then Mimi walks in, scanning the pub for Scarlett. ‘Oh,’ she says. ‘There you are. We were wondering where you’d got to.’

‘Sorry,’ says Scarlett, ‘I got side-tracked into eating all of Tallulah and her boyfriend’s delicious chips. Why don’t you join us?’

Within a few more minutes, Scarlett’s whole crew is squashed around the table and all the chips are gone and all the prawns are gone and someone has gone to the bar and come back with a round of tequila shots, and Jayden and Liam have cornered Zach into an intense conversation about football, and Tallulah is talking to Scarlett and Ruby and Mimi about weird teachers at college. A waiter appears and reaches through them to collect the empty plates and bowls and asks them if they want anything else to eat and someone orders a sticky toffee pudding and someone else orders more chips and Tallulah has no idea who is paying for what or what exactly is happening, but it feels strangely like something, somewhere is on fire and it’s already too late to put it out.

More tequila shots arrive as well as the extra chips and the sticky toffee pudding which is served with six spoons and Jayden gets a message on his phone and says, ‘He’s outside. I’ll be right back,’ and everyone seems to know what he’s talking about and a couple of people pass him ten-pound notes from their wallets and a moment later he returns and passes pills to his friends under the table.

Tallulah watches Zach’s reaction and is amazed to see him take a pill from Jayden and swallow it down with warm champagne. Zach has never taken drugs before, as far as she’s aware, apart from smoking a little weed with his older sister in the back garden when she still lived at home. She gazes at him, trying to catch his eye, but he studiously ignores her, and Tallulah realises that rather than trying to fight this situation that she and Scarlett have deliberately engineered, he is on some kind of mission. A mission to unnerve her, to undermine her, to catch her out, somehow. He hates these kids, she knows he hates them, yet he’s sucking up to them and laughing at their jokes and taking their drugs.

She feels something touch her hand under the table and looks up to find Scarlett looking at her. ‘I broke one in half for you,’ she says. ‘Want to share?’

Tallulah shakes her head.

‘A quarter?’

Tallulah blinks and says, ‘Maybe later.’

Scarlett passes her the tiny chunk and she clasps it inside her fist.

The night has transmogrified into something alien and electric. She is being played from both sides, by Zach and by Scarlett. Meanwhile, the muscles of her heart ache for Noah, lying now, she assumes, at nearly 10 p.m., sleeping in his cot, his hands furled into fists, his hair damp from the heat of his bedtime bath and warm milk and the hot summer night air through the open window.

Once again she feels Scarlett’s hand under the table, cupping her bare leg, a finger sliding up towards the hem of her cut-off shorts, and she gasps and jumps very slightly.

She gets to her feet. ‘You know,’ she says, ‘it’s getting late. I should probably get back.’ She doesn’t want this to happen any more. She’s changed her mind. She wants to go home with Zach, tiptoe upstairs and stand with him staring at their baby together, talking in almost silent whispers about how beautiful he is and how lucky they are to have him. They can split up another day. Not today. Not now.

‘No,’ says Scarlett, pulling her down by her arm. She fixes her with a terrifying stare and says, ‘Stay, please stay. Just have one more drink. OK?’

Tallulah sighs and someone brings her another tequila which she duly downs. She’s about to try to leave again when someone else arrives at their table. It’s a slightly older woman whom she vaguely recognises from around the village and upon her arrival Scarlett screeches ‘Lexie!’ She hugs the woman to her and says to Tallulah, ‘Lexie is Kerryanne’s daughter. You know, the matron at the Maypole. Not only has Lexie got the best mum in the world, she also has the best job in the world. Tell Tallulah what you do, Lex.’

Lexie rolls her eyes good-naturedly and says, ‘I’m a travel blogger.’

‘Yeah,’ says Scarlett, ‘but not some fake-arse travel blogger who tries to blag freebies at hotels. Like a proper blogger. With thousands of followers on Instagram and a stupidly jet-set lifestyle. Where did you just get back from?’

‘Peru.’

‘Peru. Fuck’s sake. That is so cool it’s ridiculous.’

Stuck now in a conversation with Scarlett and Lexie, Tallulah gives in and has another shot of tequila when it’s offered to her and uses it to swallow down the chunk of pill she still held in her hand. The bell is rung at the bar for last orders and Scarlett gets to her feet. ‘Anyone for a pool party?’ she says loudly.

Tallulah looks at Zach and Zach looks at Tallulah, a look filled with bad intentions. He says, ‘Count me in.’ His pupils are dilated and he’s smiling. ‘Come on, Tallulah,’ he says to her across the table, ‘we’re going to a pool party.’