True North

Chapter five

"Millinery!" Mrs Waters said. "That must be fascinating! Do you have any photos? I'm looking for a new hat for a wedding in a few weeks."

"I don't do mainstream hats," she sneered. "Mine are art."

Dave jumped in. "They sure are! She's got this one that's shaped like an ashtray, and there's a giant cigarette pointing out the top."

"Well... that sounds lovely." Mrs Waters tried to hide her bemused smile behind her hand.

"Lovely isn't the word. What I do, can't be described." Mandy pushed half a piece of broccoli around her plate, then drained her wine glass in two swallows.

So far, I hadn't said a word, which didn't bode well for my lunch date the following week. Trying to think of something, I said to Mandy, "Is the food okay? I can make you a sandwich, if you'd like." I'd roasted a whole turkey, and North had fried a vegetarian paella, but she hadn't eaten a bite of either.

"Yeah, I don't really eat food like this," she said, leaning heavily on the last word.

My hackles rose. "Like what, exactly?"

"Like fatty and gross. I take care of my health." She filled her wine glass for at least the third time in the few minutes we'd been sitting there and drew deeply from it.

"That's right," Dave jumped in. "Mandy has a really strict health regime. She eats vegan, gluten-free and organic."

"You forgot macro-biotic and I don't do white carbs," she said. "If I can't have that stuff, I keep a bunch of those meal replacement bars with me."

"I'm so proud of her. It's really tough eating so clean, but Mandy is dedicated."

"The wine isn't organic," I said. I thought she should know, considering she was close to polishing off an entire bottle single-handedly.

"Alcohol doesn't count." She raised her glass to herself. "My body is my best asset. I was going to become a personal trainer for a while there, but I couldn't stand the thought of all the fat people at the gym. Gross." She said it loudly, making it obvious she wanted the entire room to hear.

The mother from the other side of the table looked up from conversation with North. In her forties, she was what could have been described as plump, but her face was lovely and from the little I'd seen, she held a sweet demeanour. She blushed as she put down her fork.

Something riled in me; anger at seeing just another bully throw their weight around. Rather than make a scene, I decided to keep my mouth shut. I could always practice chit-chat another night.

Mandy continued. "I can't believe people who don't spend time caring for their appearance. I'm busy, I have kids, I'm sick, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, do you like looking disgusting? Don't you want to be hot?" She eyed North. "Like you, with the beard. You look pretty good. Do you work out?"

North deliberately buttered a potato and smothered it in gravy. "Yup. But I'm also a completely single man with an empty life." He smiled kindly at the mother. "If I were lucky enough to have a family, I'd rather spend time with them than at the gym."

As usual, he'd made someone feel better. The mother returned his smile.

"Whatever." Mandy huffed a little, then said, "Hey, do I know you from somewhere? I feel like I've met you or seen you or something."

"I dunno. Maybe," said North, cryptically honest with a grin and a shrug. He turned to the other couple, blocking out the awful Mandy with the wall of his back.

The meal went on. I tried to zone Mandy's horrid voice out, concentrating on the sepia pictures of the early settlers on Mrs Waters' walls.

I obviously helped myself to seconds of the frittata. "North, this is great, by the way."