Joanna Kavenna - Inglorious

They stayed silent.

She knew what Will was talking about. She remembered it clearly; her memories were cut glass, quite polished. In a flat on Elgin Crescent — one of those generic places of stripped pine floorboards and big mirrors, the proprietor a proper denizen, more so than most — Rosa had seen Grace moving slowly, wearing black. She hadn’t wanted to go to the party, this congregation of the righteous in a crowded room, but Jess had insisted and Rosa had followed orders. The flat was packed with the young and wealthy, picking at vol-au-vents and sipping wine, leaning their satin-clad limbs against fine antique furniture, and the place was too small for Rosa to hide. By the time she sighted Grace, there were only a few metres between them. Grace nodded, and came towards her, seeming to falter though that had to be an act — or who knows, perhaps she was nervous as anything, it was hard to tell and Rosa had long stopped thinking she had any grasp on the thoughts of others. Rosa gritted her teeth, waiting, drinking wine in gulps to steel herself.

Grace arrived, holding a glass of sherry, her beauty as striking as ever, her voice soft and her eyes cold. She was wearing a tense black dress, and it worked well on her hips. She had a slung motion to her walk, as if she was carrying something on her head. She delivered her opening line in a low tone, as if they were plotting someone’s downfall. She was saying connive with me and for a moment Rosa bent towards her. ‘Rosa,’ she said, a hand on her arm. ‘Rosa, I’m so glad to see you. I left you messages. I thought you were wasting your energy in rage and it pained me to think that.’

And Rosa said, ‘Grace, there’s no point us discussing anything.’ She was aiming for lofty indifference, a look of distaste, but she was slightly drunk and couldn’t control her mouth. Grace, pushing back her hair, said, ‘I want you to know that I struggled with my feelings,’ as if she had been swept towards Liam by forces beyond her control, and perhaps it was so, perhaps she had been overwhelmed, thought Rosa. ‘I struggled not because I thought my feelings were wrong but because I was concerned you weren’t yet ready, you couldn’t move on. I knew it was right, but I was aware you would find it difficult to understand. But months went by, and you were so angry, and finally I felt sorry for Liam.’ Grace’s mouth — small, rather too small somehow, thought Rosa, though she’d never really noticed it — was pursed in contrition. ‘But you must understand that for much of our friendship I just thought of Liam as your partner. I never thought of him in that way, the other way, I mean.’

‘As “not-my-partner”, you mean,’ said Rosa.

‘Exactly,’ said Grace. ‘I don’t want you to think I was biding my time, waiting for a chance.’ She struck this resoundingly, quite certain of herself.

Rosa smiled in embarrassment and took a slug of wine. She wasn’t sure why she had ever liked Grace. After a gap of a few months, Grace sounded like a zealot. Why the hell did I like Grace? she wondered. Why did I even invite her round for all those dinners? It turns out she’s contrived. Was she always so contrived? Grace was performing one of her old gestures, which Rosa had previously thought was quite charming, her head cocked to one side, a hand on her hip. Rosa couldn’t help it. She thought Grace looked funny. She began to laugh.

Grace pushed back her hair again, and licked her lips. She smiled a little. ‘Rosa, there’s no need for that. It’s very simple, wonderfully simple if you’ll just accept it. Our arms are open to you. We both love you, of course, as much as ever. If you could return to us, then you would find we could celebrate the friendship and closeness — all the elements you needed from Liam and myself — without the drag of a failing relationship. I know it sounds unpalatable to you, but if you think you could try that would make me very happy. Liam too, I’m sure. We miss you.’

Rosa found it hysterically funny. She was laughing, sipping wine. Then she started hiccoughing. Grace stood and stared, in apparent confusion.

‘Rosa, what’s wrong? We love you, and there’s nothing funny about that,’ said Grace.

There was Grace, dashing towards the winning tape, and Rosa, Rosa had trapped her spikes in the sand and fallen off the track. Rosa had thoroughly flunked the race. She had the element of surprise on her side, though. She had the inappropriateness of her response. She couldn’t quite control herself. Grace wasn’t sure whether this was the moment to walk away, shaking her head at the wreck that was now Rosa, or to stay and stare in bemusement. She stayed and stared. Hoping to drag out the scene, thought Rosa. Grace never backed off. She was usually victorious. It was Rosa who was dredging around for something to say, trying to wipe her mouth with her frock.

‘Rosa, come on, calm down,’ said Grace.

‘You’re like a large coiled snake,’ said Rosa. ‘And Liam is your rat. I mean, he is your nourishment, your perfect complement. You look better than ever, on your diet of perfect fodder.’ She watched Grace winding along with another phrase, a few more maxims for free living, deconstructions of stifling mores and the rest. Grace, sighing, suggested that Rosa sit down and have a glass of water. Then she supplied a staccato performance of sympathy and something else, something more mysterious and uncertain, a trace of condescension, that was what it felt like, as if Grace was approaching Rosa from a long way above her, drifting cloudlike over her mortal mess. Rosa didn’t sit and when water was found she refused to drink it. Grace was still there with her open gaze and her hands cupped around her glass.

‘Rosa, I’m sorry you’ve taken it all like this,’ she said. ‘I understand, things have been terrible for you. But you must see that I care, I care passionately about our friendship. I’m so sorry about the way it happened. But you spent months telling me you felt restless and bored. And I went to see him to say how sorry I was, and things just happened.’

‘You went to see him?’ said Rosa, very calmly now, regaining gravitas, apart from her occasional hiccoughs.

‘Yes, yes, of course, as a friend.’ Grace’s eyes had narrowed again. She took an elegant sip of sherry.

‘But you never told me,’ said Rosa. ‘When was that?’

‘I’m not going to get into this,’ said Grace, holding up a hand. ‘It won’t help us at all. You should understand that.’ She smiled again. Her hair was lustrous with health, and her skin shone. That despite her fags and booze, thought Rosa. She was plain lucky, and her face would be beautiful for years yet. Decades, perhaps. Her cheekbones were fine. Lovely shoulders she had, and the dress set them off well. All that made Rosa nod at the inevitable. Of course, some slide — slide into a slump, slump down and drop and the rest — and some ascend. Of course, she was thinking, nodding and smirking.

‘Roughly,’ said Rosa. ‘A week before he ended it all? Months before?’

‘Come on, Rosa,’ said Grace. ‘I understand that you feel betrayed but this is ultimately an erroneous feeling, a mistake in emphasis. It’s very straightforward. Your behaviour is textbook. You’re looking for people to blame for the mess you’re in. Liam and I seem to be likely culprits. But you know yourself the truth is more complex.’

‘Well thanks for letting me know,’ said Rosa. ‘Thanks so much for assuring me of the complexity of truth.’ Briefly she despised the pair of them. She definitely despised the party. This glass of cheap wine she was holding in her hand, she wanted to throw it to the floor and stamp on it. Childish, she thought. Truly childish.

‘Rosa,’ said Grace, trying to put her hand on Rosa’s arm, but Rosa flicked her away. ‘What can I say? How can I make things better?’