Kismet by Luke Tredget

Author:Luke Tredget [Luke Tredget ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780571334896
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2018-08-21T16:00:00+00:00

Just after 5.30 p.m. a group of nine gather in the lobby, then head out to the street; the sky is still light but the narrow lanes are deep in shade. Paula strings them along Poland Street, talking as much as the others combined, and regularly swiping a hand at the person she is joshing at that particular moment. It is already heaving at the John Snow, with dense gangs of drinkers spilling off the pavement into the cobbled street, and inside they have to squash themselves into the corner of the bar where all the dirty glasses are stacked. Anna is pressed up against the side of a fruit machine between Paula and Mike, who buys her a pint of lager which feels giant, undrinkable, and which she holds with two hands. He asks what she’s doing for her birthday, and she tells him about the dinner party. Then he asks about Pete, and what he does, and Anna finds herself giving the standard response to this question: that Pete is training to be a teacher, though he used to work for this high-flying global firm and is an engineer ‘by trade’.

‘Why aren’t I invited to the party?’ says Paula, poking Anna in the ribs.

‘I thought you’d have more exciting things to do on Friday night,’ says Anna, trying to assimilate into the cheeky persona she assumes in front of Paula. ‘Hooking up with old flames. Making new ones.’

‘As if! London is so boring; everyone is hooked up already.’

‘Being in a couple isn’t boring,’ says Mike, and Paula replies that, while she’d like to defer to Mike’s extensive knowledge of being boring, the truth is that being attached is boring, because nothing else changes.

‘People go out, have a few drinks, go home with their partner. Nothing changes. Boring.’

Anna is conscious of not saying much and asks, just to add something, if she thinks other cities have more single people – immediately she regrets that there is nothing spirited or witty about the question. Being squashed between two senior managers is making her feel self-conscious, even more so than usual. Paula makes a speech about how Kismet isn’t so big in Hong Kong or Bangkok, how you can go out and still meet someone in an old-fashioned, analogue way.

‘Paula is just bitter,’ says Mike, touching Anna’s forearm, ‘because she hasn’t found the right girl yet.’

‘That’s not true. I find the right girl almost every week.’ Anna laughs and Mike rolls his eyes.

‘But you haven’t settled down.’

‘I settle down every night! Then I get up again in the morning. Also, I’ll settle for that.’ She points across the busy pub to a table where four men in suits are pulling on their coats.

‘We won’t all fit,’ says Mike.

‘Don’t be such an accountant. We’ll get cosy. If there’s room in the heart, there’s room for the bum.’

The whole group follows Paula to the table, Mike complaining that he isn’t an accountant. And indeed they do all fit, nine around a table for

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