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“I confronted her about it a few times, but she always denies it. She’s so far inside the closet, Lana, she might as well be halfway to Narnia. My sister has some serious issues with coming out.”
“But why? Nobody would even care. Everyone loves her no matter what.”
“Not everyone,” says Robert. “Our dad wouldn’t accept it.”
“Well, maybe he wouldn’t be over the moon, but I don’t think he’d disown her or anything.”
Robert shakes his head. “You don’t get it. I think my father’s a great man in many ways, but he’s old-fashioned. He has no problem with gays, so long as his daughter isn’t one of them.
“Poor Sasha,” I whisper, and a moment of quiet ensues. “So she’s out right now with…with a girl or something?”
“More than likely.”
“Does she – does she have a girlfriend?”
“Not that I know of. Just one-off flings, I imagine.”
A tear leaks out of my eye involuntarily. It’s like the person I thought I knew most in the world is suddenly a stranger. Robert sees the tear and wipes it away.
“You’re upset because she kept it from you,” he says, guessing my thoughts. I nod.
“Don’t be. She’s never told anyone. I only know because I saw her with that girl and put two and two together.”
“I just…I feel like saying so many things to her, but I don’t want to make her uncomfortable.”
Robert’s eyes widen. “You can’t tell her I told you.”
“I’m not going to,” I reassure him. “I just wish there was some way for me to make it so that she’d tell me herself.”
“Maybe she will, but these things take time.”
“Yeah,” I whisper, letting my head rest on his shoulder.
I close my eyes, and I can’t stop the memories from running through my head. Now I’m going through all my experiences with Sasha, trying to figure out if there were signs that I just didn’t pick up on. Robert runs his fingers back and forth over my spine, and before I know it, I’ve fallen asleep. I don’t wake up until the next morning, and that’s only because he moves me to get out of the bed.
I open my eyes blearily to the early morning light. His gaze is trained on me as he pulls off the T-shirt he slept in.
“Hey,” he whispers.
“Hey, were you, uh, here the whole night?” I ask, embarrassed.
“Yeah, I drifted off not long after you. Sorry I woke you, but I have to get ready for work.”
“That’s okay,” I reply, already snuggling back into the duvet to return to sleep.
He leans forward and kisses the corner of my mouth. I jump a little.
“I’ll see you later,” he says with a smile, and leaves the room.
A minute later I can hear the shower in the main bathroom running, and after another minute I’ve forgotten my embarrassment about sharing a bed with Robert for a full night and have fallen back asleep.
Ten
“Hey, Sash,” I say as I peek my head into her room.
As it happens, she did end up staying out last night, where exactly and with whom I don’t know. She only got back from work twenty minutes ago, but already she’s taken a shower and crawled into bed.
“Hey, kid, come in and close the door. Oh, God, I’ve got the mother and father of a hangover,” she says, rubbing her forehead. “Work was a nightmare.”
“Poor you,” I say, sympathising. “Was it a fun night, then?”
She grins as she turns to face me. “The best. Very much worth my current decrepit state.”
“Well, that’s good at least.” I smile back.
My heart is beating fast, and anxiety is pitter-pattering through my chest. I feel like I’m looking at her all anew. Stepping back to take in the landscape, as Robert put it.
She switches on the flat-screen TV mounted to the wall, flicking through the stations.
“So, your dad’s birthday party is tomorrow night,” I say.
“Yeah, he mentioned he invited you,” she replies, glancing at me sideways. “You gonna come?”
“Of course! You know I’m no fan of your dad, but it sounds like it’s going to be very swanky. Plus, I want to see if there’s any famous people there.”
She laughs, still flicking back and forth between channels. “There’ll probably be a few. It’s not as exciting as you think, though. Celebrities are all just normal, boring people when it comes down to it. It’s the cameras and attention that make them seem so fascinating and unreachable.”
“Well, I suppose you are the expert on that,” I agree.
“Yep. Alistair and I are planning an after party at his place. That’s where all the fun will be happening.”
“Cool.”
Her phone buzzes, and she picks up it before reading her message. Her face instantly hardens as she bites out, “Bloody arsehole.”
“What’s up?” I ask, concerned.
She flings the phone onto her nightstand. “Ugh, there’s this senior editor at work who’s got it in for me. Total ball-buster. Every couple of articles I write, he’ll send one back to be completely rewritten, making up flaws that aren’t even there. I can’t stand him. It’s all basically because he asked me out a few months ago and I said no. His ego can’t take the bruising, so this is his form of revenge.”
“That’s awful. Is there anyone you can report him to?”
“There wouldn’t be a point. They’re all sexist pricks in there. One day soon I’m going to find a new job, and I can’t wait to hand in my resignation just to stick it to this arsehole.”
I shake my head, just thinking about the guy. “I don’t get how people can be so sensitive like that. I mean, saying no to a date is hardly the insult of the century. It happens all the time.”
She glances at me with a smile. “Yeah, well, that’s what people are like. You might be the only person I know who doesn’t play games and who isn’t driven by their own ego.”
I grin. “Yeah, I’m simple, but in a good way.”
Sasha chuckles. “A very good way.”
“Those kinds of games go on everywhere, though,” I tell her, considering. “I remember in my old waitressing job there was this girl who was obsessed with having the most tips at the end of the day. She’d always make me count my money out next to her so she could make a big deal about winning. Then she’d flounce off, delighted with herself.”
