Page 45 of A Clean Sweep

T abitha had never been to Bar Belle. Come to think of it, there were lots of places locally she'd never been to.

She and her friends tended to stick to familiar, established places.

Where they'd been served under age, the staff pouring them a shandy in the knowledge they weren't going to get blind drunk and create a scene.

She hadn't been ID'd in years but her mum had been some ten years ago in a bar in Miami.

Much to her delight and her dad's disgruntlement.

'I'm forty-two Tabitha, and they asked for proof of age!

' She'd been totally chuffed, her enthusiasm somewhat dampened by Jim's comment that her oversized sunglasses concealed a multitude of sins.

The teenage Tabitha had hated him at that precise moment.

For deliberately crushing her mum's evident joy.

And for what reason? Jealousy, perhaps. Her dad had faded over the years, age taking its toll in many ways until he collapsed and died.

Emily, on the other hand, seemed to grow into herself.

She was ten years older now but looked incredible.

Slim, trim and effortlessly stylish, she knocked spots off women twenty years younger.

Which was presumably what had drawn Joe to her.

Maybe he'd tired of vacuous twenty-somethings with all the conversational skills of an amoeba.

Maybe he'd had enough of fake breasts, fake tans and obsessions with boybands and reality TV shows.

God knows, Tabitha couldn't be bothered with any of that stuff.

She was no intellectual but she knew she wanted more than that.

As she was a little early, she fired off a text to Derwyn and Fiona. On a hot date! At least, I hope it's hot! When you guys free to meet up? xx

She'd updated them on the Tom front, messages fired back expressing sadness with a hint of "saw that coming!

" Both replied within seconds, demanding a summit meeting the following night.

She'd just replied in the affirmative when a denim-clad groin reached her eye line.

Lordy! Raising her eyes from her phone, she took in all of Adam in his absolute glory.

Fitted white shirt showing just enough chest hair to induce instantaneous meltdown.

Dark jeans clinging in all the right places.

Face cleanly shaven, skin gleaming and eyes twinkling with merriment, mischief or mayhem.

Enough with the letter M, thought Tabitha.

'Hi. Mind if I join you? You look thirsty and I could absolutely annihilate a pint right now.' Those eyes were now positively dancing with devilish delight. Two could play at that game, thought Tabitha.

'You may indeed, but only if you bring me a white wine spritzer and a shot of Sambuca.

Flaming, of course.' Crikey, where had that come from?

The only time she'd witnessed a flaming Sambuca was when Aunt Celeste had ordered one and poured half of it down her sleeve.

She'd been rushed into the restaurant kitchen, arm ablaze, emerging minutes later with an icepack and steely determination to finish her veal saltimbocca.

Adam returned with the drinks, Tabitha grabbing the Sambuca and raising it in the air. 'What shall we drink to? World peace? An end to global warming? No more crap about Kardashians or other nonentities on the tabloid pages?'

He raised his pint and clinked her glass. 'Let's drink to new adventures. You and me, Tabitha. Let's start at the very beginning…'

A very good place to start, thought Tabitha, stifling a giggle. She was back in Julie Andrews territory, except this time she wasn't the only one in on the joke. Adam was already on his feet and singing slightly off-key about "Doe - a deer, a female deer."

'You're far too young to know The Sound of Music . Unless…'

'It's true. My mum force-fed me some of the old classics. I know all the words to The Wizard of Oz , Mary Poppins , The Sound of Music and The Lion King . Which is much more recent, admittedly, but I was hooked the first time I heard it. "Hakuna matata…"

Tabitha joined in with enthusiasm. 'It means "no worries", for the rest of your days.

Wouldn't that be nice? Improbable, but nice.

' She looked directly at Adam. He looked back at her.

Gave her a smile that would have melted ice caps.

And proceeded to burst into a rendition of "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" complete with Munchkin-like voices.

People were staring from all directions.

Tabitha decided she didn't give a monkey's.

Even a flying monkey's. She got to her feet too and joined in.

"We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz.

" Linking arms with Adam she realised that the whole bar was singing along.

Not quite in tune but with energy and enthusiasm.

It was a strangely uplifting and life-affirming moment.

'If we left now do you think they'd be upset?

' whispered Adam in her ear. They'd come to the end of the yellow brick road and the crowd were baying for more.

Tabitha knew all the words to "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" but was damned if she was going to engage the audience in another singalong.

'Who cares? Let's get out of here.' She grabbed his hand and hauled him towards the exit, aware of booing and cries of "don't go!" behind them.

Out on the street Tabitha was aware of two things.

One – she was absolutely starving and two – she really, really liked Adam.

He made her laugh. He definitely had a good head of hair and his teeth were worthy of a dentistry ad.

She didn't know if he could cook or if he was a genius in bed but she was prepared to wait and see.

And she was going to wait. Much as she'd like to lure him back to her place and put him through his paces she knew she'd regret it in the morning.

'Fancy a quick pizza or something?' They'd stopped outside an Italian restaurant which had a decent reputation.

Adam folded his arms and gave her a stern look.

'It goes without saying what I fancy, but you have the look of a famished lioness who's just watched several wildebeest disappear over the horizon.

So, let's go and get some serious slices of pepperoni or whatever your heart desires. '

As they were guided to a table in the dimly lit interior, Tabitha did a double-take. It couldn't be, could it? She peered into the darkened corner, then attempted to retreat, nearly tripping over Adam who was right behind her.

'Are you OK? You look like you've seen a—'

Tabitha didn't hear the rest of his sentence. She was now staring at Tom, seated at a cosy table for two with a disgustingly dark-haired harlot beside him. OK, maybe she was a perfectly nice girl but she was still the one who got to go to Hong Kong . Bitch.

'Hi Tom. Nice to see you (Lie). Looking good (Truth, damn it). So, this must be? (Wait for name of shameless tart).'

Tom looked appalled, the woman next to him cooler than an iced cucumber. She ran her fingers along his thigh, Tabitha wanting to shout: 'Get your hands off! He's mine!' But he wasn't, not any more. She felt Adam's hands on her shoulders, gentle but supportive.

'Tabitha, this is Kate. Kate, Tabitha.' If he was expecting a sisterly embrace or a high five, he was destined to be disappointed. The two women gave each other cursory glances, Tabitha desperate to sit down and eat something, Kate clearly feeling she had the upper hand.

'Sweetheart, it's been a long day so let's go and have some dinner.

Tom, Kate. Nice to meet you. Enjoy your meal.

' With those well-chosen words, Adam steered Tabitha to their table, placed an order with the waiter and sat back.

Tabitha tore off a piece of bread, dunked it in some olive oil, and gave him her most glacial of stares.

'Why did you do that? Call me sweetheart when you've known me for five minutes? I get that you figured out he's my ex but why did you do that?' Tabitha felt like she was unravelling like a ball of string, being attacked by a band of manic kitties.

Adam said nothing. Nodded politely when the food arrived, carved up the pizza and slid a couple of slices in Tabitha's direction. They ate in silence for several minutes, both acutely aware of Tom and Kate's presence just yards away.

‘Yes, Tabitha. This is not quite the date I imagined.

' Adam peeled off a slice of pepperoni and pushed the doughy part to the side of his plate.

'I never imagined bumping into your ex, but I don't think you expected that either.

I called you sweetheart because I wanted to you to feel confident.

I wanted you to show him that you'd moved on.

I hope you have. And I'm here if you want me to be. '

Tabitha was speechless. Was this man for real?

Should she have him stuffed and mounted as rare exhibit at the British Museum?

Roll up, roll up. Genuinely nice guy. Thoughtful, caring and exceptionally easy on the eye.

Yes, they do exist in this selfish, greedy and narcissistic century.

On second thoughts, Tabitha had no desire to share him with anyone.

If he really was as lovely as he seemed the rest of womankind could form an orderly queue.

She had a priority pass and fully intended to use it.