The Central Line by Saskia Sarginson

Author:Saskia Sarginson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2022-01-20T00:00:00+00:00

Summer

St Paul’s

Fran is bored and lonely. Luke’s not exactly great company. When she asked him if he thought he’d done well in his exams, he just said, ‘Maybe.’ And when she asked if he liked Jacob and wasn’t it weird him being with Mum, he said, ‘Jacob’s cool.’ Then he shrugged. ‘It’s good to see Mum happy.’ Fran screwed up her face. ‘I think it’s disgusting – he’s much younger than her.’ But Luke wouldn’t be drawn. He rolled his eyes and mumbled something about needing to oil his chain.

She misses Alesha. She’s been seeing her less, keeping their conversations brief, because she can’t face telling her the truth about Jacob and Cora. But she’s been lying to Lesh for ages, even before Jacob. She’s not sure how to stop, because every lie has webbed her into continuing the deceit. Then she reminds herself that it’s not just her fault; Alesha’s not always available, busy with her boyfriend and her job.

Zac is the only other person besides Lesh who wants to see her. His friend request has languished on her Facebook page for weeks, along with all his other message requests.

She looks at his latest, and her finger hovers.

She presses the accept button, hoping that he’ll want to do other things besides going on marches and standing around with a placard shouting at people shopping.

A message pops up from him: Hey – are you ignoring me?

She types: I was.

His response comes back instantly: Past tense. Good.

She can’t help smiling. But asking to be my FB friend? Definitely lame.

Him: Hangs head in shame.

Her: So now you’ve got my attention. What do you want?

Him: Ouch. Straight to the point. Do I have to want something?

Her: Duh!

Him: Okay. How about meeting for a coffee sometime?

Her: I’m in need of fun! How about you invite me to a party? Introduce me to fascinating people?

She waits. Maybe she’s gone too far, being so transparent, so bossy. Maybe he took offence over her last remark – but who’s that touchy? It was a joke. She stares at her phone. Their flirty banter made her laugh, took her mind off Jacob.

She’s just about to give up on him when her mobile pings.

No parties, but how about a walk by the river?

She shakes her head. His idea of a good time is so not hers. But she can’t stay cooped up in the house any longer.

Fine, she types. Where and when?

This afternoon? Somerset House?

She wasn’t expecting him to be quite so desperate.

There’s a smell of bleach coming from the bathroom. Cora’s bending over the sink, yellow Marigolds on, her denim shorts rolled up to show tanned legs. She’s humming as she spritzes limescale remover onto the taps. She’s always humming nowadays. Her skin glows. She has the look of someone getting a lot of good sex. It makes Fran queasy to think of it. Mostly Cora goes to Jacob’s; sometimes she stays the night at his place. It seems silly for a grown man to live on a boat, as if he’s playing at life.

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