“Is it true that you were crying?â€
Laura’s child-like Finnish/English softened a direct question. So she knew. She must have heard the other half of the story already. He figured his best strategy was a dignified martyrdom.
“Well yeah�†He glanced up from his unagi and placed his chopsticks carefully across the rim of bowl. “I mean, I’d only met her the day before, and here she was just going at me with all this stuff about how I was really uptight and that I should relax a bit, you know, get with some European girls, have a bit of fun for a change, that sort of thing. I couldn’t believe it; I’d only just met her.â€
He didn’t really like sounding indignant and he knew he’d have to give a balanced presentation if Laura was going to help him feel better about himself.
“I mean she’s great for Craig and they’re so well suited, but I thought she really overstepped the line. She was digging into stuff that I really care about, you know? I mean: stuff that really matters. If anyone went at me with stuff like that I’d probably end up crying.â€
Here in the basement Wagamama, Leicester Square, he hoped Laura wasn’t going to test this out.
