looking like a dag with my hair in a ponytail to teach Katerina a lesson. Although I wish someone would remind me just what lesson I was supposed to be teaching her.
âWhat do you mean? What has Katerina told you about me?â I have to know, but I donât know if he is going to be straight with me. I shudder to imagine what bull she has spun about me.
I canât believe that Chris is laughing. He finds this whole thing amusing. It makes me feel so uncomfortable that I keep looking at the floor and heâs laughing his head off. That does it.
âWhat the fuck is so funny, arsehole?â I explode, and heâs practically rolling around on the ground in hysterics âat my expense. I am definitely not impressed. I just wishhe didnât look so damn sexy when he laughed because it is really hard to stay angry with a sexy man.
âYou and Katerina corner me here tonight and you think itâs hysterical. Thatâs it, Iâve had enough.â Iâm standing, Iâm out of here. I can walk out of here with my dignity.
âDesi, wait, donât go.â
Why should I stay? Why should I listen to anything that this prick has to say? Why am I not moving?
âLook, Desi, I asked Katerina about you because after Stellaâs christening I couldnât get you out of my head.â
Iâm looking at him. He looks sincere, and he looks honest. Why am I suddenly overcome by an uncontrollable fear? I donât even know what I am afraid of.
âI didnât do anything spectacular at the christening.â
I was so hungover that night I could barely function. I had finally broken up with Denny the night before and consoled myself with my friends and vodka till seven in the morning. So what on earth was it that had left such a lasting impression on him?
I ask him just that. I can play with this now. I think my brain has returned to my body. I think I can be my usual smartarse self if I need to be. Weâre both sitting on the concrete again.
âHow miserable you looked that night.â What? What sort of an answer is that? Not my eyes, not my body, not my beauty. My misery? Hello, is this guy normal? Iâm confused.
âHuh?
âWell, you were trying to get into the party mood but your eyes gave away the fact that you were so miserable. And the fact that you kept staring at the empty chair beside you.â
This guyâs got a good memory. The chair was empty because I had RSVPâd for two people. Denny was supposed to come with me.
âIâd had a rough time the night before.â
And thatâs all that Chris is going to know about that. No way am I going to explain that mess to a total stranger.
âWell, whoever he was, he wasnât worth it.â
Oh my God. Heâs smooth; he knows exactly what to say. It wasnât hard to guess that a guy had been the cause of my misery that night.
âBelieve me, I got over my misery very quickly.â Iâm chuckling with him. Iâm laughing. Iâm enjoying talking to Chris. I donât understand this. Katerina is sure to come looking for me soon and how pleased would she be to find us like this.
âGood to hear.â
Silence has now descended upon us. I have no idea what to say, and by the looks of things, he doesnât either.
This is so weird. I hardly know this guy, yet here I am sitting alone with him, in a darkened backyard, and I donât want to go inside. What is happening to me?
âHey Chris?â
âYeah?â
âSorry if Iâve been a rude bitch tonight.â Here I go apologising again. I must be losing my edge. Iâll have to sharpen my claws on Effie at lunch tomorrow. Canât let myself go soft.
âI just thought it was all part of your charm.â
So the guy can be sarcastic, too.
âAlthough I was wondering what Iâd done to piss you off.â
Now how can I explain this without putting my foot in
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