eyes went straight to the mother lode!
Sunshine, swallowing a laugh, kicked Iain under the table. Bolt-ons, she mouthed at him.
So? He mouthed back, and the laugh erupted after all.
Natalie, venom in her grey eyes, looked sharply, suspiciously, over at Sunshine and Iain.
Oh. That was just nasty. Imagine if Natalie ever got wind of what she’d done with Leo last night! Crime scene for sure—blood spatter, flayed flesh, ooze, and poison, and possibly a meat cleaver in there as well!
Then Sunshine noticed the tattooed butterflies flitting down Natalie’s arms, and laughed again before she could stop herself.
Oops. Extra venom. And not much of a sense of humour, obviously.
Sunshine shifted her attention back to Iain and made a valiant effort to ignore Natalie—but it was impossible not to hear the overly loud one-way conversation from Natalie to Rob-the-model. All about Leo!
Blah-blah...so boring that Leo never, ever cooked for people outside his restaurants. Ha! Prosciutto fettuccine, anyone? Blah-blah...swank parties with Leo. Blah-blah...celebrities she and Leo had met. Blah-blah...she and Leo, part of the scene. And who said ‘the scene’ with a straight face? Blah-blah, blah-blah!
Natalie was pushing food around her plate as she talked; Rob was at least eating, but he was also smirking. Smirking—was that the most infuriating facial expression in the world?
The two of them would intermittently disappear to the bathroom, then come back talking too fast and too loud. When they disappeared for the fourth time Iain mimed coke-sniffing and Sunshine grimaced.
Natalie and Rob returned to the table and within moments were back on topic: Leo. And then, clear as a bell, ‘I’ll take Leo back when I’m ready—because, no matter what, he’s good in bed.’
Tittering laugh from Rob.
People at about six different tables were staring at Natalie, entranced.
Sunshine felt her blood pressure shoot up. If she wasn’t a pacifist she would want to slap Natalie for doing this to Leo—and in his own restaurant, dammit! Sunshine’s heart was racing, her brain fizzing. She felt light-headed. She was going to have to do something to stop this.
‘Really, really good,’ Natalie continued, taking in her audience, ‘which is kind of psycho, because he can’t even touch you unless he’s fu—’
Sunshine let out a loud, long peal of exaggerated laughter, drawing all eyes. She felt like a prize idiot, and Iain was obviously uncomfortable, but it was the only option she could immediately think of to shut Natalie up.
Sunshine was racking her brain for a way to proceed when Rob solved the dilemma by jumping to his feet and clutching at his neck.
Natalie stared ineffectually at her choking date.
Someone called out for a doctor.
The manager was racing to the kitchen.
Two diffident waiters approached the table, probably hoping someone would get there before them.
The diners—apparently not a doctor amongst them—seemed frozen. No movement. Just watching.
Sunshine got to her feet with a sinking heart. On the bright side, this dramatic development had shut Natalie up. On the not so bright side, Sunshine suspected she was about to star in the next scene. She hovered for a few seconds. Please someone else help...please. But—nope! Sunshine sighed. So be it.
Focusing her mind, Sunshine strode to the table. ‘Out of the way,’ she said, pushing past a still gaping Natalie.
Sunshine thumped Rob on the back. Nothing. Again. Once more.
Nope. Whatever was lodged in his throat wasn’t going to be beaten out of him. Rob wasn’t coughing, wasn’t making a sound; he was just turning blue. His eyes stared, entreating. His hands tugged at his shirt collar.
Okay, here goes. Quickly, calmly, Sunshine moved behind him, wrapped her arms around him and placed a fist between his ribcage and where she guessed his navel was. Then she covered the fist with her other hand and gave one sharp tug upwards and inwards.
A piece of meat came flying out of Rob’s mouth and he staggered, grabbing at his chair, dragging in breaths.
The restaurant broke into spontaneous applause and Sunshine felt her face heat.
Thank God the waiters were now taking control.
She started to return to her table and saw Leo standing just outside the kitchen. He was staring at her as though he’d just witnessed the Second Coming.
Sunshine couldn’t remember ever being so embarrassed.
She was almost relieved when Natalie’s squeal snagged his attention.
His eyes widened, then narrowed as they returned to Sunshine. Not happy!
Sunshine would have laughed if she hadn’t felt so shaken. What on earth did he believe had just happened? That she and Natalie had been having a friendly chat while Rob stood there choking? Maybe that Sunshine was persuading Natalie, mid-Heimlich manoeuvre, to sing at the wedding reception against Leo’s express wishes?
At this point Sunshine would prefer to hire herself to warble a few off-key songs!
She was almost glad when Natalie, squealing again, rushed towards Leo and threw herself into his arms. Leo, looking frazzled, backed into the kitchen, pulling Natalie with him.
Frazzle away, you idiot, Sunshine said in her head, and quickly returned to Iain.
‘You’re amazing,’ he said, standing to pull out her chair.
‘Anyone could have done it,’ she said dismissively. ‘I’m just glad I didn’t break any of his ribs—that’s the main danger. And I don’t want to sit, Iain. I want to go home. I have another high drama to get through tonight: a video call with Jon.’
‘Why high drama?’
Sunshine sighed. ‘You’re not the only one worried about the zombies.’
* * *
‘Jon, you’re wrong.’
Those were the first words Sunshine had managed to edge into the conversation since her initial ‘Hello’ three minutes earlier.
Not that ‘conversation’ described the incendiary soliloquy Jon had been delivering, which covered her unsatisfactory outlook on life, her ill-preparedness to deal with a man of Leo’s darkness, a disjointed reminder to ensure she was taking precautions—which caused her a momentary pang of guilt about the unprecedented lack of a condom last night, although she was on the pill and that had to count for something—and the general benefits of not actively courting disaster.
‘No, Sunshine, I’m not wrong,’ Jon said, and seemed ready to relaunch.
Sunshine headed him off by jamming
