Starstruck by Miller Beth

Author:Miller, Beth
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788423762
Publisher: Duckworth Books
Published: 2021-08-12T00:00:00+00:00

13

Younger Than the Octogenarian Epiphanies

Sally

‘Oh,’ I say.

Why on earth did I think I’d be able to fool Dinty? My glass feels very heavy, and I put it down.

‘Christ, I can’t believe she went ahead with it,’ he says, but though his words seem cross, his voice isn’t. Not at all. He takes a swig of his drink. ‘This is really nice, try it.’

It’s like alcoholic cream, but even its superior bubbles can’t stop me feeling utterly flat.

‘When did you realise?’ I say, in my normal voice.

‘Love your accent. English, right? Heck, I knew something was off straight away. You hug differently.’

He goes on, ‘But even if I hadn’t guessed, I’d have known for definite when you ordered fries.’

I sigh. ‘I always knew carbs would be my undoing. I wish I was disciplined like Epiphanie.’

‘Oh, I don’t mean you having fries,’ he says. ‘She does eat junk food occasionally. No, it was when you said “please” to the waiter. And then you were really nice to him when he said he didn’t have what you wanted.’

How is it that I keep forgetting her lack of social politeness, when it’s clearly such a fundamental aspect of her personality? I guess because it’s causing me to question my twelve-year devotion to her. Stan would not be impressed by what he’d call her ‘hauteur’. I wondered if Paul was trying to get Epiphanie to be Sally-polite back home, and how that was going.

‘You’re the girl we saw in Manchester,’ he says.

‘Yes, that’s me.’ I lower my voice, in case creepy chest-staring waiter is eavesdropping outside the door. ‘Sally Marshall.’

‘Great to meet you, Sally,’ he whispers, and smiles. He has a lovely smile.

The waiter oozes in with our food. The kale fries are surprisingly nice. Dinty is bothered by the lack of protein in my meal and cuts off a generous half of his steak and gives it to me. It is delicious.

‘You know,’ I say, ‘I don’t think being Epiphanie is very good for me.’

‘No?’

‘We’re just so different. Having to be like her is affecting me in strange ways.’

‘All famous people are odd, in my experience,’ he says. ‘She is more famous than most, but she’s not as odd as she could be.’

‘I think it’s probably a good thing that there’s only a week left. I miss my old life.’

‘Are you married?’

‘Yes, to Paul. Ten years.’

‘Kids?’

‘No.’ I never say more than ‘no’ to that question, and there’s something about the way I say it that stops people asking any more, which is my aim. Dinty, however, is an unusual person.

‘I’m sorry you haven’t, because I think you want them,’ he says, so kindly I could cry.

‘How can you know that?’

‘Your face when you said “no”.’

‘You’re an observant fellow, aren’t you, Mr Flores?’

‘I try to keep my eyes open. An eye for detail is a good thing.’

‘That’s funny, that’s what Cheetah said.’

‘Cheetah?’ Dinty looks rattled for the first time this evening. ‘That asshole.’

I hastily change the subject. ‘So, my husband Paul is looking after Epiphanie at our home.

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