After opening the window I noticed Darren standing beside the stereo equipment looking intently through the dancers to the back of the room. Following his gaze I saw Cheung and the Geordie who was thinking of moving down to London wrapped around each other. Darren saw me looking and hurried from the room. I followed him into the hall, down the basement stairs and out into the garden. The air was cool and fresh after the pungent smells of the house. Breathing deeply I walked down the path looking for him. The flower borders and the grass of the lawn were easily visible in the lights of the side street, but I could not see him anywhere. A sweet smell of oranges was coming from the white flowers of one of the shrubs he had planted. An area at the side of the garage lay in deep shade; was he hiding from me there in the gloom, wanting to be left alone?
The tinkle of breaking glass made me look back towards the house. Someone leant out of the kitchen window to look at the broken fragments of a wine glass on the concrete below, then turned back inside. I made my way over to pick up the shards. As I was about to go in to get a dustpan and brush I heard Darren's voice coming from above me on the metal fire escape. 'I'm up here.' He hurried down the steps. 'Well, you saw.'
Not sure how to respond, I said: 'I wanted a breath of air. The room was so stuffy.'
'We both saw who Cheung was having sex with.'
'They weren't "having sex".'
'I don't care. He can have all six of them, if that's what he wants.'
'Things aren't as bad as that. Maybe it's my fault. I thought the Geordies would help to liven up the party, I shouldn't have let them book...'
'What are you talking about? You accepting a booking from the Geordies is not the problem. If you're serious about someone, you don't abandon them when you're out together because you see someone else you fancy, do you? He's not serious about me. He's never introduced me to his parents, not even as a friend. We see each other here or at the club, never on his home territory.'
'He helped us with all the decorations for the party. He got his cousin to make up your face. You need to make allowances, you have to give it a chance to come good.'
'"Give it a chance to come good", you're starting to talk like Tom. It's up to Cheung, isn't it? You saw in the lounge how much he thinks of me.'