CHAPTER27
‘We could have showered together, you know! Saved a bit of time.’
Becky finished tying up her hair as she waited for Christine to finish which wouldn’t be long as, unlike Becky, Christine didn’t take forever and try to become one with the shower.
‘I’m done anyway,’ Christine replied. ‘Can you hand me that towel?’ Becky obliged. ‘It’s all yours,’ Christine added, covering herself before carefully stepping out. ‘I’ll just do my teeth before we have dinner.’
Becky took off her robe and stepped into the still running shower. It stung her shoulders initially, first sign of sunburn.Must remember to cream up tomorrow, she thought. The sound of Christine’s toothbrush began whirring.
‘How was your run with Tara?’ Becky yelled over the noise. She watched the water run over her feet, removing the remnants of the beach she’d brought home between her toes. Although barefoot in the sand was her happy place, she hoped it wouldn’t clog Erin’s drain.
‘We didn’t run together,’ she heard Christine say from the other side of the curtain.
‘No? Why not?’
‘I wasn’t really in the mood to chat and Tara can be rather boorish, don’t you agree?’
Becky didn’t often get angry, but this absolutely rattled her cage. Jaw clenched, Becky turned and let the water run over her face. She was tired of biting her tongue, tired of clearly being the only one trying to work on this relationship. This new version of herself wasn’t a patch on the old version because the old Becky would never have allowed anyone to disparage her friends.
Moments later, she turned off the shower and stepped out.
‘It’s always about you, isn’t it?’
Christine stopped mid-floss. ‘Excuse me?’
Becky grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her. ‘It would have taken just a little effort… in fact, a tiny, minuscule amount of effort for you to get to know my friend a bit better but no. You didn’t feel like talking.’
‘Well, no. That’s right. I didn’t.’
‘Do you even hear yourself?’ Becky asked. ‘Everyone here has welcomed you with open arms, but you have done absolutely feck all in return. What you have done is judge and sneer and generally make this weekend quite unpleasant.’
Christine bobbed her head. ‘You’re obviously angry that I haven’t ingratiated myself into the group as you perhaps hoped I would.’
‘I’m angry that you haven’t even tried!’ Becky exclaimed. ‘And Lord knows, I try for you. All those evenings with your friends, all those boring bloody dinners—’
‘The ones you said you enjoyed?’
‘Of course I said that, because, unlike you, my main ethos in life isn’t “fuck everyone else and their feelings”.’
‘Your take on this is quite interesting,’ Christine replied. ‘You’re chastising me for being truthful while at the same time martyring yourself for lying.’
Becky sighed. ‘It always amazes me how you do that.’
‘Do what?’
‘Hear everything someone says without really listening.’
‘Food’s here!’
Tara’s voice yanked Becky’s rage down a notch or two.
‘I’m telling you right now that if you don’t show my friends, not even me but my friends, some consideration, we are finished. Now go downstairs and enjoy your fucking oysters. I’ll be there when I’m ready.’
As Becky left the bathroom, she realised that was the first time Christine hadn’t had the perfect rebuttal. In fact, she’d said nothing at all.
