Page 81 of Save You

“Yep,” I reply, not looking at him.I pull out my phone and see that I’ve had a message from Ruby:

JAMES!Alice Campbell invited me to see her in her London office!

I feel Fred’s curious eyes on me, so, much as I’d like to grin from ear to ear, I fight it down.

How did that happen?

“What’s it like?”Fred asks, totally oblivious to my blatant hint that I’m not putting up with his interrogation.

“Thrilling.”I growl my standard answer while waiting for Ruby to reply.“A real honor.”

I hear Cyril snort, despite his efforts to muffle the sound behind his hand.Unlike Fred, who just keeps on asking questions, he knows that what I really mean isWould you kindly shut the fuck up?

“Come on, Beaufort, spill the beans!”

At that moment, my iPhone lights up.Ruby’s sent me a screenshot of Alice’s email, above which she’s commentedEeek!

Dear Ruby,

I was very inspired by our conversation last Saturday at the gala.Any time you happen to be in London, you are very welcome to pop into my office for a chat.

Best wishes,

Alice

My fingers type my reply almost by themselves:

So when shall we go?

Suddenly, Fred nudges my shoulder.I turn to look at him, raising an eyebrow.He clocks that he’s made a mistake and moves back slightly.Then he clears his throat.

“After all, we’re the only people in this room who’ve already achieved anything, got anywhere in life.So we should stick together.”

He laughs like he’s said something hilarious.

Nobody agrees.

“You’re full of bullshit, Frederick,” says Kesh quietly.

Fred gasps with outrage.

“Leave it, Kesh.”Alistair’s voice is flat.He’s always like this when his brother’s around.Cold and distant—the total oppositeof the Alistair we generally hang around with.If he’d known Fred was going to be here this weekend, he’d have invited himself round to someone else’s, instead of having us all here.

“So, what exactly have you achieved?”Kesh insists, his voice so deep and calm that it sends an icy shiver down my spine.“You got into Oxford.Congratulations.And you’re getting married.Congratulations again.That doesn’t make you some big shot, though—you’re still a spineless little weasel.”Kesh takes a slow sip from his highball glass, not taking his dark brown eyes off Fred for a second.

“If you had an ounce of class, you wouldn’t talk like that,” Fred says.He’s trying to sound cutting and to look bored, but I can see one of his eyelids fluttering nervously.

“Don’t talk to me about class.Unlike you, I know better than to treat my family like shit.The fact that you don’t stick up for your brother tells me everything I need to know about you, you absolute—”

“For God’s sake, Keshav, shut up!”Alistair jumps up, his fists clenched and his face flushed bright red.

“Fine friends you have, Alistair.Mum and Dad have every right to be proud of you,” says Fred, pulling his phone from his pocket.He gets up.“Sorry, I have to take this.My fiancée.”

We hear him answer the call, addressing his girlfriend by a soppy nickname, then he flounces out of the sitting room, leaving us in peace.

“What the fuck, bro?”Alistair snarls, having not moved a muscle.

“He was being a dick,” Kesh retorts.