‘I’d love to, but I feel a bit crock,’ she replied, taking a sip of wine and wishing it were water.
‘Ro
b?’ asked Stella.
Emma stole a look at him, willing him to turn them down. It wasn’t as if she was interested in Rob, but she had come to know him and he was a more complex man than he pretended. She wished he could be something other than a womanizing Peter Pan when he was around her.
‘I can’t,’ he shrugged. ‘I have an early start tomorrow. I’m having to go visit a recording studio in Devon.’
‘What? To see a band?’ asked Petra, balancing her chin on her hand prettily.
‘Yeah, actually. Kowalski.’
‘Wow,’ Petra’s enormous aquamarine eyes lit up. ‘That’s impressive. Stel said you were a big cheese in the music biz. Can I come too?’
Emma glanced up to see Rob looking at her, giving her a complicit smile.
‘Rob. You coming?’ shouted a voice over the music.
They all looked up to see Ruan standing by the snug door. He was tapping his watch and motioning towards the exit.
‘They want me to go to this pub music quiz somewhere,’ said Rob, glancing longingly at Petra. ‘Apparently I’m their secret weapon. Sorry, ladies.’
‘Make him stay!’ whimpered Petra as he left the pub. ‘In fact, make that other good-looking one stay too,’ she added, turning to look at Ruan through the window. Emma was feeling worse by the minute. A group of rugby players had moved into the snug and were cheering and singing songs. One of them stumbled over a stool and fell against Emma.
‘Sorry, love,’ he laughed, spilling beer over her jeans.
Emma’s heart was racing now and she could feel her forehead bead with sweat. The pub walls seemed to be closing in on her and the jukebox music and songs echoed around her head.
‘I just have to step outside,’ she mumbled to the others, but they were gossiping and laughing and hadn’t seemed to notice Emma’s distress. She pushed her way through the crowd until a blast of cold outside air hit her. She staggered into the car park and sank down onto a freezing cold stone step, put her head between her knees and forced herself to take deep breaths. She felt a little better with cold fresh air in her lungs.
‘Em. Are you OK?’
She looked up to see Rob leaning down to take her arm. He led her over to a bench opposite the pub.
‘Sorry, I don’t know what that was,’ she said slowly, still trembling. ‘It felt like a panic attack.’
Rob sat down on the bench besides her keeping his arm wrapped around her. Two men were climbing into a taxi and Rob waved them on, indicating for them to leave without him.
‘A panic attack?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Emma, squeezing her eyes shut. ‘Maybe it wasn’t. I feel like shit, though.’
‘I think you’re working too hard,’ said Rob, shaking his head.
‘Your body is crying out for you to stop.’ The tone of his voice was stern but concerned.
‘I’m fine, honestly, I’m fine,’ insisted Emma. ‘I shouldn’t have gone to the pub, that’s all. It was too noisy and busy and I just felt I was being crushed. You go to the pub quiz. I think I’ll call a taxi home.’
‘I’m worried about you.’
‘Don’t be, really. It’s passed, whatever it was.’
‘Seriously, Em,’ he said, real concern in his voice. ‘You need a break. Have you had a holiday this year? Stella said you never went on that Costa Rica trip.’
‘I’ve been too busy.’
‘And it’s killing you.’