The Best British Short Stories 2013 by Nicholas Royle

Author:Nicholas Royle
Language: eng, eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Salt Publishing Limited
Published: 2014-07-29T09:07:57+00:00

Dancing to Nat King Cole

James Wall

Charles and Katherine Simpson are finishing their breakfast when the telephone rings. He starts to rise from the kitchen table but then stops and looks quizzical, as if he’s forgotten something, and returns to his scrambled egg.

Katherine places her hand on his shoulder as she leaves the table. In the hallway, she picks up the phone, black and heavy in her palm. Rebecca wants to know if they’re free for lunch.

‘That’ll be lovely, dear.’ She rearranges her hair in the mirror, sighs, and then peers in closer; her eyes look dark and puffy. ‘No later than 12pm, mind. Your father gets restless and over-tired.’

‘Katherine,’ he calls from the kitchen. She detects a sprinkle of worry in his voice. It’s there more and more nowadays.

‘I’m on the phone,’ she says, holding her hand over the mouthpiece, and then releasing it. ‘I’d better go. See you later.’

‘Katherine!’

She pauses before returning to the kitchen, and then carries on through. He nods to his plate.

‘Very nice that, my love.’

‘Rebecca’s coming for lunch,’ she says.

‘Lovely,’ says Charles. ‘What’s on the goggle-box?’

He calls her to join him as he makes his way to the living room. He’ll sit down in his cream leather chair opposite the TV. She’ll sit on the sofa next to him soon and they’ll hold hands across the arm, as usual.

She slowly chews her rasher of bacon in the quiet before the TV volume in the living room increases and she can hear every word of the news. She closes her eyes and breathes in slowly and deeply, and then reaches for her cup of tea. It’s barely warm but she knows he’ll ask for another in a minute. Her breakfast cup is white with pink blossoms. There was another but he broke it; she can’t remember how. It’ll come to her later.

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