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easier when Dave invited her out to
lunch with him and Noah – she’d been worried she’d have to invite herself.
Obviously, she’d have preferred him to leave before anyone started thinking
about food, but she couldn’t have everything.
    “I vote pub lunch,” Dave said as they walked out to his car.
    “Actually, there’s a lovely restaurant in town.” Noah caught her eye
and gave her a reassuring look.
    “As long as it’s licensed. I’m parched.”
    “You can always pop out for some beers if it isn’t. I don’t drink
any more, remember?”
    “Yeah, right. Neither do I, mate.”
    Dave’s attitude wasn’t doing wonders for her peace of mind. She
looked at Noah. He gave her a worried smile.
    In contrast with his hard-living appearance and demeanour, Dave
actually drove like a sixty year-old widow. She’d never seen such a wild man
turn as meek as when he got behind the wheel. Even she would have driven
through some of those amber lights.
    Noah gave him directions to a good car park and they trooped out in
search of somewhere to eat. Dave wanted to stop at every pub they passed and
the damn fool looked thoroughly confused when Noah said they should press on to
a restaurant.
    Eventually, they stumbled across a tapas place that looked
reasonable. She signalled to Noah with her eyes, then stayed quiet to let him
make the suggestion.
    “What about here?”
    “Do they sell beer?”
    “I don’t know. We can ask.”
    He heaved a sigh. “Alright. I’m too hungry to keep looking.”
    They went inside and a waitress showed them to a table. The
restaurant didn’t serve alcohol, so Dave got straight up again and went to find
a corner shop.
    “I’m not surprised the band broke up,” Angelique said when Dave had
left.
    “I don’t remember him being this full on. Maybe I was that bad back
then.”
    She couldn’t imagine it, but she had to admit drink changed people.
“It wasn’t just alcohol, was it? What else did you take?”
    “Acid, mushrooms, weed, coke. Never did heroin.”
    That was something at least. “What was the hardest to give up?”
    “Besides the drink?”
    She nodded.
    “Coke. No comparison. I don’t know if it’s physically addictive, but
it makes you feel like you’re invincible.”
    “I can see why that would be hard to turn down.” Their eyes met for
a moment and she could tell he was thinking about her past. Had she been right
to tell him?
    Dave came plodding back up the restaurant with a bright blue carrier
bag. “Right. I got us some cans.” He yanked one out of the plastic that held
them together and set it down in front of Noah. “And one for you.” He put a
lager next to Angelique’s lemonade before opening one for himself.
    He took a long swig and finally sat down beside Noah. “Come on, get
them open.”
    “I’m not drinking, man.”
    Dave reached over and cracked Noah’s drink open. “One won’t kill
you. Come on.”
    Noah looked at Angelique. A whole world of unhappiness was laid bare
in his eyes.
    Dave followed his gaze. “I thought you said there wasn’t anything
going on between you two.”
    “There isn’t,” she piped up.
    “So why’s he looking at you? What’s it got to do with you whether he
has a drink or not?”
    This wasn’t going to end  well. “Nothing.” The yeasty scent of the
beer was strong in her nose. It was exactly what she didn’t need.
    “Look, it’s not a big deal.” Noah picked up the can and took a swig.
“There. I’m still here. The world didn’t end.”
    “You’re making a mistake.” She reached over and put her hand on the
beer. “You need to stop.”
    Noah pulled the can away from her. “I’m fine. I’ll just have this
and then I’ll stop for the night.”
    If only it was that easy. When you had a problem with alcohol, there
was no such thing as ‘just one drink’. It wouldn’t take much to knock the beer
out of his hand. She’d failed him. He was drinking and she hadn’t stopped him.
She got up and