The Bridal Party by J G Murray

Author:J G Murray
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atlantic Books

Before

He is here, Nada thinks. Why is he here?

She has just stepped out of the school gates, feeling the relief of shedding the responsibility of her work behind. She has torn off her lanyard to tuck into her bag.

And he is there, waiting, flowers in his hand. Staring right at Nada with that intimidating stare.

‘Nada,’ he says. He doesn’t say hello, or ask how she is. He just utters her name; that suffices.

‘Hi, Noah,’ says Nada. ‘Are you waiting for—’

‘Clarisse.’ He holds up the bunch of flowers. It is large, cumbersome, an assortment of colours in a perfectly arranged bouquet. It looks expensive. ‘Who else?’

Nada smiles; she thinks that this counts as a joke. Like all his jokes, though, he says it with a completely blank tone. ‘I’m sorry, Noah. I think Clarisse left a while back.’

‘Oh. My bad luck. I wanted to surprise her, say sorry. We had a bit of an argument last night, you see.’

‘Ah.’ Nada does not know what else to say. As usual, Noah is comfortable sharing far more information than anyone else would.

Don’t you realise, Noah, that I find most conversations awkward enough as it is? she thinks. But she knows the answer: he understands everything. That is why he gazes so intently, why he has that unshakeable focus. So he can comprehend; so he can control.

‘I guess I’ll have to go and surprise her at home, then. You take the same line as her, don’t you?’

Nada pauses for a moment; there is no way out of it. He knows that she often goes home on the same tube as Clarisse.

He smiles. ‘Let’s go together, then.’

Soon they are walking. Nada glances about; lessons ended a while back, but there are generally a few students hanging around outside, especially around the local kebab house and the bus stop. She doesn’t like the idea of them seeing her with a man, especially not one carrying flowers.

But she is lucky. The days are still short, and the sun is setting. Nobody is around.

Noah asks her how her day has been. She is relieved: a safe question. She talks absent-mindedly, killing time. She rambles on about her Year 9 class who are giving her trouble. She goes on and on, not allowing him the opportunity to ask her anything else. He nods politely. After the strangeness of seeing him waiting outside the school gates, this is, by his standards, an ordinary conversation.

By the time she has finished, they are underground, being swallowed into a tunnel. Around them there is an assortment of people reading free newspapers and swiping mindlessly at screens. Everyone has that London look: a studied avoidance of eye contact. It is one of the quirks of living here; everyone has chosen this sprawling, massive city, sharing their lives with millions of others. And yet the default attitude is solitude.

‘What about you?’ Nada finally asks. They are standing; she grabs a pole, while Noah lazily puts one hand on the ceiling, his elbow dangling forward.

‘Oh, you know.

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