“But isn’t working for a charity a bit like that? I mean, isn’t she already working for a good cause.”
Glenda looked at him as if he’d just vomited.
“Not really,” she explained quietly, as if so embarrassed by what he had just said she didn’t want anyone at the neighboring tables to hear her set him right. “Charity is inherently reactionary, isn’t it? It puts the onus on individuals rather than the collective. It relies on certain individuals having large amounts of disposable income. I think Laura would rather pursue political solutions to the world’s problems rather than charitable ones.”
“Oh right,” Bastian replied.
“Are you happy with Rebecca?”
“What?” Bastian began to wonder if Glenda was drunk.
“I was just wondering why you contacted me? I thought maybe you wanted a way of getting back in touch with Laura.”
“No,” he said quickly. “Not at all. I’m really happy with Rebecca. It’s not perfect but what relationship is? We understand each other, Rebecca and I. We have a lot in common.”
“You come from the same background,” said Glenda.
“Do we? She’s from Berkshire.”
“No, but, I mean, the same sort of level. Social and economic.”
“Oh, right.” He felt his face redden again.
“I always thought you were a lot more interesting than the rest of them, though. I mean, I was still quite surprised when you and Laura had your thing but, like, not as surprised as I would have been if it had been Milo Chelmsford or Alexander Garnick. Are you still in touch with that lot?”
“Sort of. Yeah, a bit. We go for drinks now and then. Why?”
“No reason.” She prodded at her pizza crusts with a serrated knife. “Do you remember that party for Milo’s twenty-first birthday?”
“Yeah, I do. Why? I didn’t know you were there?”
“I was on the catering team.”
“Right,” said Bastian. He didn’t know what else to say.
She smiled weakly, almost sarcastically, without exposing any teeth. Bastian couldn’t quite make out her motives and found her company a little unsettling. She was very direct but managed to deliver her cutting remarks with enough good humor that it was difficult to tell whether or not she was serious. Bastian topped up both their wine glasses and then their water glasses, then returned to his pizza. After a few more glasses of wine they found some topics of conversation that didn’t put Bastian on edge, and they started to have quite a good time.
They had got on better than Bastian was expecting, and ended up seeing each other again, and then quite regularly. He never lies to Rebecca about this, as such. He tells her he has been having a quick drink with “work people” which is tangentially true, but he never elaborates. There is nothing really wrong with going for a drink with Glenda, but for some reason he isn’t sure Rebecca will see it that way. Rebecca has quite a jealous nature and he tells himself that he doesn’t want to cause her any unnecessary anxiety. If he was being more honest with himself, he might have realized that he simply didn’t want to cause himself any unnecessary difficulties. Life with Rebecca was easy and for the most part satisfactory. He thinks about Laura, yes, but he manages to convince himself that this is no different from just thinking about hot women in general, which is obviously something that is natural and normal but not something to be discussed with Rebecca. He is sure Rebecca thinks about hot men too. In fact, he hopes that she does.
Bastian finishes his coffee and gets out of bed. He takes the empty cup through to the kitchen and places it on the top shelf of the dishwasher. Then he showers, dresses, and heads to work.
He meets his dad at the office.
“I’ve ordered a car,” Tobias tells him, when he arrives.
“It’s a fifteen-minute walk, if that. Can we go on foot?”
Tobias agrees, and Bastian watches as he takes out his phone and presses an uncertain thumb on the car-service app Bastian recently downloaded for him. He taps the screen a few times, trying to cancel the vehicle he’s booked, and when the app doesn’t respond, he taps at it more forcefully.
“Damn thing,” he says.
Bastian takes the phone and does it for him, then hands back the device. He checks his own phone to make doubly sure of the best route, and notes that it’s an estimated twenty-four-minute walk, though he won’t tell his dad it’s further than he said. Tobias Elton eats too much red meat and drinks too much red wine, and he never does any exercise. Bastian worries about his health.
They set out, Bastian walking more slowly than he usually would.
“Have you given any more thought to the GDL?” Tobias asks. Bastian had been thinking vaguely about studying the law.
“A bit,” Bastian replies. “I definitely don’t want to start this coming round, but maybe the year after.”
The two men revert to silence for a bit, then Tobias says, “You know, you don’t have to do it at all. There are other roles you can take in the business, and I really don’t mind if you just use this job as a stepping stone. You can gain experience in a few different areas then move on somewhere else.”
“Yeah,” says Bastian. “I don’t know. I quite enjoy the strategy stuff. I like thinking about where and what to develop. I do like the legal bits as well, though, but it’s all quite detailed and repetitive.”
“Were you thinking of something more creative? Your mum’s the person to speak to about that.”
“Maybe. She did invite me to stay with them in New York, to see if I wanted to do something out there, but I don’t want to live with her and Jerome.”
“No,” agrees Tobias. “I can understand why you wouldn’t want that. And you’re settled in Rebecca’s flat.”
Bastian doesn’t reply to that.
Tobias continues. “I am still planning on setting
