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“A law firm, huh.” She knew I had no idea about that job, at least the last time we’d spoken, and she was giving me all the information now. “Following my advice, then. I told you I thought that career would suit, didn’t I?”
Her face went almost pink enough to match her dress. “Well I’m not going to go straight off and become a lawyer, of course. Just a secretary. Maybe I’ll never get to that point. But it’s a way to meet people in that world if I do, and I have an opportunity other candidates don’t: my mother is a lawyer in the firm I’ll be applying to. It’s not like I’m guaranteed to get a job, but it’s going to help.”
“Of course you’re going to get the job,” said Ashleigh. “And you’re going to become a lawyer too, right by my side.”
On Team Aileen, one hundred percent. How long had I even been away from my seat? Ten minutes?
I couldn’t help continuing to keep things light. “Obviously you needed the lingering traces of brilliance that emanate from my jacket to get you through this important conversation.”
> “I was cold,” Aileen returned. “And I thought it might be appropriate to engage in a show of asserting my authority over your real date for the night.”
Ashleigh chuckled. I tried not to squirm because it would just make me look stupid when she obviously wasn’t serious.
Something seemed to have changed with Aileen since we’d talked only a meal ago, and I was hoping it wasn’t her alcohol consumption levels, but the signs were not great.
“Hey, I think there’s a balcony somewhere around here we’re allowed to go out on,” I said. “How about some fresh air?”
She stood right away, like she’d been hoping for or expecting that suggestion. She really had no idea how to keep anything under wraps.
I found I couldn’t keep my curiosity under control any longer either, once the two of us were walking away. “Right, Aileen: how much have you had to drink?”
She grimaced up at me. “Did I look like I’d been drinking before? Or do you think I smuggled a flask in somewhere in this dress, or my purse maybe, and I’ve been taking covert sips to balance out whatever the heck abomination I just ate?”
“You have a point,” I said. “So what’s happened?”
Aileen took my arm, like she was claiming me. It was the kind of possessive movement I did like from a girlfriend. If I could have that and none of the other bullshit…
I was definitely caught up in the air of mystery she was projecting right now. But, of course, instead of dragging it out she told me everything.
Chapter Twenty
I was set in my mind and happy about it, too, until I saw Matt’s face. He was staring over at the table Axel was sharing with my friends and their boyfriends and assorted others, his lip quivering in a different way between every bite.
Now, I didn’t think Matt was in love with Axel. But that moment of confused wondering brought up two thoughts in my head: that Axel must have been a really decent friend once upon a time for Matt to still be somewhat loyal to him even through all the threatening to ruin his life…
The other part was that I really didn’t want Matt to be in love with Axel. I had no idea if Axel would go for that or not, but surely Matt had a stronger claim on him than I did. All that childhood history. And I didn’t want that to be the case.
It wasn’t the most feminist of moments, to discover I wasn’t done with a man out of jealousy over a friend, of all things. But once I was facing the possibility of not really wanting to just walk away from Axel at the end of this night, I was starting to let all sorts of thoughts loose. I wasn’t sure what they all added up to, but that I needed to give him that opportunity he wanted to talk… that was clear.
I explained to him about the thing with Matt first. He started out listening carefully to me, nodding… and then as it sank in, he had to stop and brace himself against the doorway leading to the balcony, until he got his laughter under control.
“I have had people tell me before I’m quite funny,” I informed him.
“I don’t understand how someone can go from talking me flat the way you do, to a theory as inane as my best friend having romantic feelings for me.”
His wording startled me. “Is he still your best friend, then?”
He blinked at me for a few seconds like he hadn’t realised what he’d said. “I haven’t found another since those days. Assuming anyone still cares about that sort of thing, he would be the one.”
“I haven’t had a proper best friend since primary school either,” I told him. “Even those… I’d have them for a few weeks, and then it seemed like they’d move on. Find a new best friend or a group I was only on the edges of. I stayed friendly with a lot of people back then, but I didn’t really fit in anywhere.”
We stepped out onto the balcony together, startling Tyrell and Fiona on the edge of some encounter that probably wouldn’t have been compatible with OH&S requirements concerning balconies. Axel swung a spanking hand in the air behind Tyrell’s arse as he followed Fiona back inside. “I can really see that in you now. You have friends everywhere, but you’re not really a part of most of those groups.”
I felt like correcting him was petty, but I couldn’t help myself. “I used to have friends everywhere. I’m not sure I can go back, after everything that’s happened.”
“I’m sorry,” Axel said. I held my breath, but there was no but.
It made me want to give something in return. “I guess I’m not that trusting, these days.”
