Page 15 of In the Same Boat

‘It might?’ he replies. ‘It will. A room full of single over-fifties, drinks flowing, standards lowering – like any singles night, really.’

‘You haven’t been single for a long time,’ I remind him. ‘Maybe that was the way you did things…’

‘Oh, definitely,’ he says with a smile.

I sit back in my chair as I get more comfortable with the idea. Well, what do I have to lose? I take her to the event, see if she meets anyone, makes any friends, maybe she’ll meet a man… The important thing is that it gets her back out there, it shows her that there’s a life that goes on, and she’s still got so many years ahead of her – I’m sure she doesn’t want to spend them all with me, it’s just that my place has got comfortable for her, it’s easy to hang out with me, to avoid getting back out there. The only problem is, it’s keeping me in too. So I have to do something, and I don’t have any better ideas than this.

‘I’ll have to be strategic about how I pitch it,’ I say.

‘Obviously,’ Tom replies.

‘If I push it too hard…’

‘So don’t push,’ Tom says. ‘Simply suggest. Casually. Like it’s no big deal. Just mother-daughter drinks. Like you’re gal pals.’

I nod slowly. I can do that. To be honest, it will be nice for the two of us to go out together. It beats sitting on the sofa watching repeats of old game shows. I’ve seen some episodes so many times I’m actually starting to learn the answers.

‘Okay,’ I say. ‘I’ll think about it…’

Tom smiles – a real cheeky grin.

‘You’re going to do it,’ he says smugly.

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘You’re already picking out what you’re going to wear,’ he jokes. ‘Maybe even thinking about bagging a fifty-something fella for yourself.’

‘I’m not ready to leave my own age bracket just yet, thanks,’ I reply.

But he’s right, I am going to take his advice. I’m going to invite my mum out, see how it goes.

Whatever happens, at least it gets us both out of the house.

4

SAMMIE

My mum can’t even look at me. Instead, she gazes out of the taxi window.

I was tempted to wait until we got there, to allow her to come to the realisation of where we were on her own: at an over-fifties singles night. But at the end of the day, she’s still my mum, I’m still a little bit scared of her, so I waited until we were well on our way before I said anything.

So I uttered the words, like they were no big deal, and then the car fell silent. She might not be saying much, and her face is expressionless, but I can tell that she’s offended.

‘You said we were going for a drink,’ she says finally.

‘We are going for a drink,’ I reply – probably unhelpfully.

‘With a bunch of randy old men,’ she claps back.

I open my mouth to speak but no words come out.

She turns to look at me. Really look into my eyes. I can see her questioning her parenting decisions, wondering where she went so wrong, to raise a daughter who would trick her into attending a singles night. But then her expression changes. Softens a little.

‘Sammie…’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you upfront,’ I say sincerely. ‘I just… I didn’t think you would come, and I thought it would be a great way for you to meet people your own age, not just men, there will be women too – people you can make friends with.’

‘I don’t like that you tricked me,’ she says. ‘But… do you really think this is a good idea?’