Everything to Nothing (31 page)

Sally started
to laugh too, and as she did this it sent Ethel off into fresh
bouts of laughter. She sat down on a chair, but still kept hold of
Sally’s hand. She wiped her eyes with her other hand, wiping away
the tears of mirth. ‘Your face, oh deary me. I damn well nearly wet
myself!’

‘Grrraaan!
Please!’

After a few
more moments Ethel managed to get control of herself. ‘Oh deary me.
Deary me. His face!’ She looked up at Sally. ‘Sorry darling, just
my little joke.’

‘That’s quite
alright. It was very funny!’

‘In all
seriousness though, he may be a sinner…’

‘Gran!’

‘But he’s a
lovely young man, looks after his gran he does.’

‘I’m pleased to
hear it Ethel. He seems to be a lovely man to me too.’

‘Can we go now?
Where’s my shoe?’

‘I’m not quite
ready David. Ethel, I’m sure he was a lovely baby?’

‘Jeez Sally!
Don’t add fuel to the fire! Let’s go!’

‘Funny and
beautiful! I’m sure we’ll meet again; I have a good feeling about
you. Your shoe is in the dog’s basket.’

‘In the dog’s
basket?! Gran!’ David stormed out of the room and walked into the
kitchen to retrieve his shoe.

‘I’m sorry
Sally, but I couldn’t help winding him up. He’s been so nervous and
edgy all day,’ Ethel laughed loudly again, ‘I just couldn’t
resist!’

‘Well, I think
you’ve done a grand job Ethel. I look forward to meeting you
again.’

‘I’m sure you
will.’

David stormed
back in. ‘Can we go now?’

‘Yes, I’m ready
now. Very nice to meet you. It’s okay, don’t stand up. See you
again soon.’

Ethel now
released her hand and said, ‘Definitely. I’ll look forward to it.
And you,’ she pointed a crooked finger at David, ‘remember how
you’ve been brought up, no sex before marriage!’

‘Gran! I don’t
believe you!’ David’s patience had clearly snapped and he strode
firmly across the room and pulled Sally towards the door. ‘Thanks
gran, bye gran!’

‘Have a good
night!’

As David
hustled Sally out of the house all he could hear come from the
living room were his gran’s wild cackles. Sally was desperately
trying to keep her face straight.

‘Jesus Christ!
She was on form tonight!’

‘Now, now
David, don’t blaspheme you little sinner!’

David looked at
her horrified and then Sally could no longer contain her mirth and
burst out laughing. He looked at her even more horrified and then
started to laugh himself. By the time they reached the car they
were both suffering big bouts of hysteria and they were still both
laughing and talking about his gran’s antics as they arrived at the
restaurant.

At first David
thought that Sally was making a mistake. He knew the restaurant
only by reputation and would never contemplate coming here. ‘Erm,
Sally, you know this place don’t you? It’s pretty top notch you
know, expensive.’

‘Yeah, I know
it. It’s okay. My treat remember?’

‘But…’

‘No buts. It’s
fine. I’ve worked some overtime and I can afford to treat us both
as a one off. Forget about the cost and enjoy yourself.’

She stopped the
car in front of the restaurant and a parking valet came and opened
Sally’s door. She got out of the car and then the man ran round and
opened David’s door. David exited the car looking slightly
bewildered and was even more bewildered when the valet got into the
driver’s seat and drove the car away. ‘He’s just stolen your
car.’

Sally laughed.
‘It’s okay. He’ll park it for me.’

Linking his arm
they both walked towards the entrance. The maître d' had his head
down reading the guest list and glanced up quickly as Sally and
David approached his position. Then he looked again, and showed a
face of surprise and then he placed a huge smile on his face. ‘Miss
Gallagher! What an honoured surprise! I didn’t see your name on the
guest list for this evening.’ David looked even more bewildered and
was bordering upon being embarrassed that they had just walked into
this most exclusive restaurant without having booked a table. He
was on the brink of dragging Sally back out of the establishment
until the maître d' said, ‘But I’m sure we can fit you in.’

He then clapped
his hands and a waiter seemed to magically appear by his side. He
muttered into the waiter’s ear and although David could not be
sure, he was semi-certain that he heard the maître d' say, ‘Clear
table one, now!’

The maître d'
smiled at them both and tapped his pen until the waiter quickly
returned and whispered something into his ear. ‘Miss Gallagher,
your table is ready. Please, follow me.’

They followed
him through the restaurant and numerous heads turned to see them.
As David passed a table he overheard someone arguing with a waiter.
‘How dare you ask us to move in the middle of our meal! I booked
this table months ago! It’s our anniversary! I’ve never been so
insulted and I’ll make sure that we never come to this
restaurant…’

David quickly
moved away from this table and felt rather sorry for the waiter who
was being berated. The maître d' took them right to the front of
the restaurant, to the table in the middle of the restaurant right
in front of the stage, a table that was swiftly being redressed.
With a flourish the maître d' pulled out a chair and motioned for
Sally to be seated. With an equal flourish he pulled out David’s
chair. David quickly sat down, embarrassed that the other couple
had been moved to make way for them.

‘Ma’am, to
drink?’

‘A glass of
white wine please Samuel.’

‘White wine
Miss Gallagher? Could I tempt you with a bottle of champagne, on
the house of course?’

‘Thank you
Samuel. That would be fine.’

The maître d'
signalled to one of the waiters who quickly scuttled off to get the
champagne. ‘I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Lucy, one of my
top waitresses, but I insist that if anything is not to your
satisfaction then please let me know and I will correct it to the
best of my ability.’

‘Thank you for
your kind attention Samuel.’

‘A pleasure
ma’am.’ Samuel gave a small bow and then quickly walked back to his
position at the entrance.

David still
looked bewildered. ‘Jeez Sally. That poor couple who were at this
table. And a free bottle of champagne? How on earth did you pull
this off?’

Sally was
itching to tell him that her father owned the restaurant, but she
resisted. ‘My dad used to work here as a manager. They still treat
me well, but that maître d' especially likes me.’

‘You can
tell!’

‘Yeah, I
suppose you can.’

As Sally
contemplated her date across the table, she was thinking that
bringing David to this restaurant was perhaps not the best idea,
not the best place to bring him if she wanted to be discreet about
her wealth. Never mind. They were here now and she had to try and
relax him.

The champagne
quickly arrived and David noticed that it was a Bollinger, and even
he knew that this was an expensive drink. The sommelier showed
Sally the bottle and she nodded so he expertly popped the cork and
poured a sample into her glass. She tried the sample and nodded
again, so he filled up her and then David’s glass.

‘Cheers!’ Sally
offered her glass across the table and David clinked his against
it.

‘Bloody hell
Sally, I feel a little out of my depth, Bollinger champagne!’

‘Enjoy, and
relax. Imagine we’re in McDonalds or somewhere. No difference you
see? This restaurant is just like a McDonalds, it’s just somewhere
to eat.’

‘Okay, but
excuse me if I don’t agree with you!’

Sally laughed
and passed him one of the menus. David quickly noticed that the
cheapest starter was twenty pounds, and the most expensive main
meal was one pound under a three figure cost. He equally quickly
decided that he was glad that Sally was paying.

‘What do you
fancy? I’m going for all three courses, starting with prawn
cocktail and then the lobster. Have you ever tried lobster?’

David quickly
noted that she had picked the meal that was one pound under one
hundred pounds. ‘Erm, no, I fancied a steak. Bloody hell Sally,
these prices! A steak is fifty pounds, and a fillet steak is
sixty!’

‘Oh, the steaks
are worth it, very good.’

‘Does it come
with diamonds?!’

Sally laughed
and shook her head. ‘No, it doesn’t. Pick whatever you want, it
doesn’t matter tonight. It is our first date and after the weekend
we had I think we deserve to splash-out a little.’

‘Yeah, I
suppose we do. In that case I’ll have the garlic mushrooms followed
with a sirloin steak.’

‘That’s
fine.’

The waiter
appeared at Sally’s side and she gave the order and then proceeded
to try and relax her date. He responded well to her questions and
she was surprised with his intelligence and views on the world. She
gently savoured her glass of champagne as they talked, but she
noticed that David was quaffing his quickly, which she did not mind
as it would probably relax him.

Their starters
came and went, as did their main courses, and they both declared
that they were full and did not want a dessert. Sally asked for the
bill and David caught a glance of it and shuddered as he realised
it was three figures with the number two being the first figure.
They had not been there long when they left and the performer was
just starting her first song on the stage as they left the
restaurant.

They waited in
the lobby of the restaurant while the valet got the Mini from the
parking lot. Sally took David’s hand while they waited and pressed
herself against him, taking him by surprise. ‘Did you have a good
time?’

‘It was a
magic, thank you so much Sally. Are you sure you don’t want me to
contribute? I mean, I imagine it was a lot?’

‘No, it’s fine,
remember our agreement, it is my treat, although don’t expect to be
brought to a restaurant like this on every date. You might have to
make do with a McDonalds every now and then!’

‘That will be
fine, and I’ll bear it in my mind for our next date when I’ll be
paying!’

Sally laughed,
and then surprised him some more by giving him a kiss in his lips.
‘I’d invite you back to mine for some coffee, but my dad is there
and I guess you don’t want to meet the folks just yet?’

‘No, that would
be a little bit too soon! I’d invite you to mine but my gran is
there, and well, you’ve seen what she’s like!’

Sally laughed
then led him by the hand out to the Mini which had arrived. ‘She’s
lovely, and you know it.’ The valet had opened Sally’s door and
then he scampered round to open David’s.

‘Yeah, she is
lovely,’ David replied as he settled into the car, ‘but she can be
a pain in the bum as evidenced this evening!’

She drove them
sedately through the country lanes, holding his hand when she was
not changing gears. He noticed that they were not driving back to
his house but appeared to be heading out to the coast, and indeed
after a few more miles they pulled onto the coast road.

‘I love it
along this road at night. It is so peaceful.’ After saying this
Sally then turned off the road and into a car park that was next to
the beach. ‘Let’s go for a walk.’

‘Huh? It’s
freezing Sally!’

‘Nonsense! It’s
a little fresh, that’s all.’ As she opened the car door and swung
her legs out, the cold wind whistled straight up her skirt raising
goose bumps along her legs. ‘Hmmm, maybe it is a little chilly.
Perhaps we can stay in the car?’

‘I think in
this instance it would be a good idea.’

So she closed
her door and turned to face him. ‘You do look very handsome tonight
David, very dashing.’

‘Erm, thanks.
So do you. Not handsome though, very beautiful.’

She smiled at
him and leant across the middle of the car to kiss him which he
responded to. Sally was very pleased to see that he was a good
kisser and was even more pleased that her body responded when his
hands started to wander.

All too often
in the past, when she had been with a boyfriend, her body did not
respond to their touch, she felt nothing. Now, as David caressed
her thigh, she started to feel hot and there was definitely
something happening in between her legs. Before they got carried
away, and not wanting to lose her virginity in a car, she pulled
away from him, smiling at him as she did so.

‘Shall I get my
knight in shining armour home then?’

‘I suppose we
better had. Work in the morning, and I suppose you’ve got
college?’

‘Yep,
unfortunately. Exam time.’

‘Be worth it
when you get good grades.’

‘They’re only
practice exams.’

‘Yeah, but if
you do want to go to Oxford like you mentioned before then you need
to study damn hard.’

‘Unfortunately,
what you say is true, too true, and I’ve been slightly lacking
lately.’

Sally started
the car and made their way back along the coast road towards the
town and David’s house.

‘Hey, I forgot.
You didn’t tell me which college you go to?’

Sally quickly
made a decision about this one and decided to be truthful. ‘The
Mount.’

‘The Mount?
Jeez, your dad must be minted!’

‘Not really,
it’s just that he believes in getting a good education and he works
hard, long hours in order to give me this chance.’ That wasn’t a
lie, Sally thought, he bloody does!

‘That’s like
one of the best schools in this area.’

‘One of the
best in the country David.’

‘Yeah, true,
true. I would have loved to have gone there, to be given a chance
like that. Instead I got lumbered with a good old comprehensive. It
was so frustrating for me. I wanted to learn, but unfortunately I
was strongly in the minority. The rest of my year just fucked
around in class so the poor teachers spent more time controlling
the class than teaching the class. I tried to study outside class,
but with my parents continually arguing from dawn until dusk it was
a little hard.’