‘No,’ Ash says, ‘it’s nothing.’ And CJ can’t wait to hearthis. What’s her next confession going to be? She’s full of them! ‘Urgh, stupid, stupid, stupid. I was just thinking like, you know, when you hated me—’
‘I didn’t hate you!’
Ash rolls her eyes. ‘Babe.’
CJ does not counter this lastbabe.She has been caught out, fair and square.
‘OK, yes, I hated you,’ CJ admits, and Ash squeals.
‘I knew it! Fuck!’
‘I hate everybody!’
‘You don’t hate Miguel and Todd and Jorge.’
‘I hate everybody except Miguel and Todd and Jorge.’
Ash sighs, tries to get the straw of her drink into her mouth but it swirls away from her, making her look silly. She looks up to see if CJ has noticed, and when she realises she has, makes a fish face and takes the piss out of herself.
‘Idiot,’ CJ says, when Ash finally manages to get the thing in her gob.
‘Don’t care,’ bats back Ash, spiritedly. She grins, proud of herself.
CJ grins back. ‘I’ve created a monster,’ she says.
‘Is it safe to approach?’ a voice comes then, and the women look up to see Luis stood holding three drinks, his coffee-coloured eyes heavy with contrition as he stares at Ash.
‘I told you,’ Ash says to him. ‘No hard feelings from me. Approach all you like. I’m your loss.’
‘I agree with you,’ Luis says, indicating the pair shouldmove their feet so he can sit on the edge of the flowerpot. He holds out his wares so Ash can take the drink at the front, and then he hands CJ another beer. ‘Malibu and Coke, yes?’ he checks with Ash, who nods.
‘Appreciated,’ she says.
‘Thank you,’ adds CJ.
There’s a lull, a rearrangement of the air to make room for this third person in CJ and Ash’s back-and-forth.
‘I interrupted,’ says Luis, and Ash says, ‘Yes. You did. But what were we even saying, CJ? Oh. Wait. That you hate everybody and that includes me.’
CJ pulls a face. ‘Crucially, I do not hate younow,’ she says.
‘Ha!’ Ash hoots. ‘Made me bloody work for it, though, didn’t you? Luis.’ She turns to him. ‘How long did it take CJ to thaw out towards you?’
‘Thaw out?’ Luis says, not catching the meaning.
‘How long before I was nice to you,’ CJ clarifies, and Luis nods, biting down on his lower lip, trying not to laugh.
‘A while,’ he says. ‘But, I was her boss, so …’
‘You were her boss?’ says Ash, visibly delighted. ‘I cannot picture that. Do you mean at CoLab?’
Luis nods. ‘Until my grandparents suggested that CJ would make a better general manager, and perhaps I would be better as social manager.’
Ash points at CJ. ‘And then you let yourself like him, once order had been restored to the hierarchy?’
‘Exactly,’ CJ says, giving Luis a wink.
‘And then how long before you started sleeping together?’ Ash asks, like making such a personal enquiry is a normaland natural progression of the conversation. Which, CJ thinks, once you’ve surrendered your fucks probably is, actually, to be fair.
