Of course, I think, of course it is champagne. I am beginning to realize that Sadie and Miles – and to some extent, Rupert – occupy another level of income entirely from anything I have ever been used to.
‘Come and meet everyone – those two will be chatting for ages.’ Sadie gestures to where Rupert stands with Miles, both of them laughing. She picks her way delicately across the lawn in her heels, and I follow, thankful that I wore wedges.
‘Amanda, this is Emily, Rupert’s…’ there is a pause, ‘girlfriend. Emily, this is Amanda. She’s married to Will, Rupert’s brother.’ Amanda is beautiful, that’s the only word I can think of to describe her. Slanting green eyes, flawless dark skin and hair carefully styled into a huge afro, with a figure to die for.
‘Nice to meet you. Sorry I couldn’t make it when Rupert introduced you to Will.’ Amanda holds one hand out and I shake it limply, taking a sip of champagne to hide my awkwardness. ‘So, you’re the one who’s brought Rupert back out of his shell. We all thought he’d be in mourning forever.’
‘Oh, um… thank you?’ I flounder for a moment, not sure how to respond. I wasn’t expecting anyone to reference what happened to Caro quite so quickly. ‘I’m glad he’s, errr… back out of his shell.’
‘He looks… much better. Although I’ll be honest, when I met you at the house, I wasn’t expecting Rupert to end up bringing you here as his… girlfriend,’ Sadie gives a brisk smile, ‘but then our Rupert has always been full of surprises.’
I blink, taken aback by her comment, and before I can muster up a response she’s talking again.
‘Emily, tell us a bit about yourself. Rupert has barely told us anything, he’s been hiding you away from everyone.’
‘There’s not much to tell really.’ I find my eyes are drawn back to Rupert every other minute, desire tugging at the pit of my stomach every time I see him. He seems to be having a good time, surrounded by Miles and Will and an older gentleman who looks so much like Sadie he can only be her father. ‘I applied for the job Rupert posted, and we just hit it off, I suppose. I feel incredibly lucky to have found him.’
‘Lucky indeed. Although I’m sure Rupert must be feeling the same,’ Amanda says. ‘Have you been married before? Children? Sorry.’ She glances towards Sadie, who raises an eyebrow. ‘Rupert is like a brother to me… I could say I’m just protecting him, but the truth is I am unbelievably nosy. Feel free to tell me to mind my own business.’
Glad that Amanda is trying to engage me in conversation, I smile gratefully at her, as Sadie says nothing, sipping at her wine. ‘Never been married, and definitely no children.’ Before I can ask Amanda to reciprocate, Sadie pipes up.
‘So, Rupert has told you all about Caro, has he? What happened to her?’
‘Sadie!’ Amanda widens her eyes.
‘What?’ Sadie’s voice has a defensive tone to it, and my skin prickles uncomfortably. What can Rupert and Miles possibly be talking about for so long? ‘I just wondered if Rupert had told her everything. It’s only fair that Emily knows the situation.’
‘Yes.’ Giving up hope that Rupert will rescue me anytime soon, I shift on my feet slightly, my wedges feeling like they might start sinking into the damp grass below. I’m half wishing the ground would just swallow me up and get me out of here. ‘He told me she died. We spoke about it when I went for the job interview.’ I want them to know that Rupert hasn’t hidden anything from me.
‘Poor Caro. So beautiful, and so young. I still miss her so much.’ Amanda lets her eyes fill with tears and I stare down into my rapidly emptying glass, not knowing where to look.
‘Amanda, go and splash some water on your face, you don’t want Rupert to know you’ve been upset. Emily, let me get you another drink, and I’ll introduce you to some of the others.’
Sadie leads me towards another group of people, making introductions, names spilling from her lips as I try frantically to remember who is who, and what their relationship is to Rupert, fighting back a wave of anxiety at being thrown in at the deep end. As I half listen to someone – I think it is a friend of Miles’s father – talk about rising share prices for some company or another, I find myself wondering about how Caro felt when she was first introduced into this circle of friends. I doubt that Caro would have felt overwhelmed, the way I do. Feeling eyes on me, I look up to see Rupert watching me, as Miles continues to talk at him. He smiles and drops me a slow wink that shoots a lightning bolt straight to my groin. I look away, a smirk playing on my lips as I try to focus on what the man next to me is saying.
‘Sorry, say that again?’ Sadie still hasn’t returned with my drink and I twirl the empty glass in my hand.
‘I was just saying, it’s nice to see Rupert out again. We haven’t seen much of him, not since the night of his party.’
‘His party?’ I am still distracted, my eyes sliding back to where Rupert stands now with his back to me, his shoulder muscles outlined through his shirt.
‘Yes, the party he and Caro held that night.’
I open my mouth, about to ask what he means about ‘that night’ but before I can say anything, a tipsy Amanda stumbles over her own feet slightly as she approaches us. ‘There you are! Oops… I’ve been looking for you everywhere.’ Her eyes go to my empty glass. ‘Oh, Caro, you’re empty. Let’s go and top you up.’
There is a deathly silence as Sadie, who has finally returned with a fresh champagne bottle, and I realize Amanda’s Freudian slip before she does.
‘I’m just going to pop
