A Voice in the Distance Read Online Free

kitchen table when I arrive back at
the flat. Jennah is at the counter, making coffee. Harry
is my closest and oldest friend. We shared a flat together
during our first three years at the Royal College of
Music. We are opposites in every way. He is a beanpole
with black corkscrew curls and a permanent look of
amusement on his face. Despite being a talented cellist,
he has his feet firmly on the ground and is essentially
conformist. He is a good guy though. I see less of him
now that Jennah and I are living together – the
dynamics of the group have changed since we used to
hang around as a threesome – and of course there is his
relationship with Kate.
    'Hey, it's the birthday boy!' He gets up and slaps an
arm round my shoulders.
    'Not till Tuesday actually. How's it going?'
    'Crap,' Harry says bluntly. 'I've got an essay for
tomorrow.'
    I laugh. Harry is renowned for making heavy weather
of essays.
    'Coffee, Flynn?' Jennah asks me.
    'It's all right, I'll make it.'
    Jennah takes a cup off the rack. 'It's already made.'
    I sit down at the kitchen table opposite Harry. 'Did
you have fun last night?' I ask him.
    'It was a good night,' Harry replied. 'And I can't
believe you two have got this place looking spotless so
soon after. Talk about nesting instincts . . .'
    I flick a grape across at Harry's head. 'Shut it!'
    'And where the hell did you disappear to, anyway?'
Harry wants to know. 'Ellen ended up blowing out the
candles herself.'
    Jennah's gaze meets mine and I try not to smile.
    Harry notices. His eyes widen with a look of amused
horror. 'Don't tell me you were . . . Oh no, you
weren't—'
    'It's not what you're thinking!' Jennah squawks, turning
pink. 'My God, you men only have one thing on the
brain! We went for a walk in the park!'
    'Well, we didn't exactly do very much walking,' I
interject, determined to wind her up.
    Harry begins to laugh.
    Jennah gasps in outrage. 'We sat and watched the
swans on the lake, thank you very much, Harry!'
    Harry is still laughing. 'Now could that possibly be a
euphemism for—'
    Jennah yelps and whacks Harry on the back of the
head. Harry cries out in mock outrage. 'Aargh! Is this
how she treats you, Flynn? Whacking you if you don't
make the bed in the morning, whacking you if you
don't put the loo seat down—!'
    Jennah pretends to throttle him. I laugh.
    We spend the rest of the evening together. Jennah is
meant to be helping Harry with his essay but not a lot of
work gets done. She uncorks a bottle of wine and we
end up playing a rather drunken game of What's That
Tune? Harry provokes no end of hilarity when it
transpires he can't sing when pissed.
    'Listen! Listen!' Harry is shouting, bouncing up and
down on the sofa in annoyance. He tries the song again,
a lengthy string of na-na-na-nas , accompanied by some
rhythm-less drumming on the coffee table.
    'Theme tune from Lord of the Rings !' I shout. 'No, Star Wars, Star Wars !'
    'Stop doing action films!' Jennah wails. 'That's not
fair, I told you—'
    ' Listen! ' Harry yells, drowning out our protests.
' Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na! ' He karate-chops the
coffee table for emphasis.
    'Oh my God, it isn't even a tune!' Jennah yells. 'I
know, it's rap! It's a rapper! Eminem!'
    'Are you tone deaf or what?' Harry yells at her. 'Of
course it's got a tune! It's in F minor, you idiot! Na-nana- na-na . . .'
    'Couldn't you at least choose a different syllable?' I beg.
    'I'll give you a clue,' Harry offers generously.
'Something to do with strawberries and cream.'
    'I know! I know!' Jennah dives off the end of the
couch, sprawling at Harry's feet. 'The Wimbledon
tune!'
    'Ta-da!' Harry declares, holding out his arms.
    'No way!' I roar. ' Na-na-na-na is the Wimbledon
tune?'
    'It's not the kind of thing you can really sing.' Harry
is defensive.
    'The Wimbledon tune sounds nothing like that!' I
yell, jumping to my feet. 'That's crap! The Wimbledon
tune is completely different! It goes like . . .' I hesitate,
trying to think.
    Harry explodes with a