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The sounds were getting louder again from Archie’s office, more vitriolic. “… the last time you ever get to humiliate me… I’m going tobleed you dry…”
Lauren’s face contorted, her body bending towards the sound. They had to get out now or she’d likely pitch into the fray once more.
“Let’s go to the Shamrock,” he said. It would be reasonably quiet tonight; Paddy would understand and just hand over their drinks without need for an explanation. Gently, Aaron guided her by the elbow and felt her body slumping into him. He snatched his hand away. Life was complicated enough without this, thank you.
He breathed again when, finally, Lauren was seated on the stool next to him at the bar, texting frantically; sending some desperate excuse to her boyfriend, probably. He ordered her a Cloudy Bay semillon sauvignon blanc as she requested—obviously Lauren could still be picky about her wine even when deeply traumatised.
He ordered himself a small lager and they sat in awkward silence. By her fourth mouthful of wine, Lauren’s tongue had loosened.
“He’s going to leave her, you know. He’s deeply, deeply unhappy.”
Aaron stroked his stubble and wondered how to respond.
“He’s only there for the kids. We’ve got a long-term plan.”
He stared at her, unable to come up with any words that wouldn’t invite a whole heap more information he had no wish to hear. No right to hear.
She gave him a wall-eyed look. “You’re judging me, aren’t you?”
“No.” He hadn’t got that far. Who was he to judge anyway? He’d had a brief fling with a woman who had a partner a while back. She’d told him they had an “open relationship” until her boyfriend turned up at his apartment looking anything but open to the fact his girlfriend was in bed with Aaron. Somehow they’d worked it out non-violently. And Aaron had never ever done that again. Strictly no third parties, amicable or otherwise.
Maybe he could have given Archie some tips.
Finally he managed, “What about your boyfriend?”
“We’ve been off and on since school. It’s habit, really.”
“For him as well?”
“God no, he adores me.” She looked at him pleadingly. “You know how it is, Aaron. It’s awful to be on your own.”
He didn’t.Hadn’t, that was. Until a couple of weeks ago, when waking up to find a warm soft body curled into him had suddenly felt like the best thing in the world. Ever since, his bed had been somehow too big, too empty, without Alice there.
He slammed down his lager.
“You are definitely angry at me,” she said.
“No, what you do is none of my business.”
“Youare, I can tell.” Her lip wobbled dangerously. Her eyes filled up, spilling mascara tracks down her cheeks. “W-what am I g-g-oing to do? I’ll lose my job… I can’t l-lose Archie…”
Suddenly her body pitched forward, her head landing with athunkon his chest. Aaron looked at Lauren’s mussed-up silver-blonde hair and wondered how her head could weigh so much.
His hands wavered around the back of her neck. He did not want to put his arms round her. For all sorts of reasons. After a moment’s deliberation, he gripped her shoulders and prised her gently off him. He looked into her panda eyes and gave her his best reassuring smile. “It’ll work out—”
“YOU ARE—” A vice-like grip on his bicep. Fingers digging in until pain registered. “A PRIZE SHIT!” The voice was familiar, even if the blatant fury in it was not.
Aaron looked up. And up. And there was Carts. Like the wild man of Borneo. And behind him—Christ!—Dan. And for a second, his eyes held two big brown ones full of pain and accusation. Horror swept through him. Then a curtain of chestnut hair shone in the pub lights as Alice spun on her heels and ran out the door.
Aaron’s awful evening had just turned into a nightmare.
* * *
Smack, smack, smack,the hard pavement sent shock waves through the soles of Alice’s boots. She couldn’t breathe, it was like someone had smashed her lungs with a rock. She had to run faster… faster… Because then maybe she could outrun the image of Lauren Donovan’s head snuggled into Aaron’s chest. But Alice’s body had never been made for running. Her limbs weren’t built that way. School sport had been a nightmare of taped knees and hobbling to the sidelines. Letting the team down.
She could cope with letting people down. It was so much easier than the other way around.
At the corner of the street she halted, gasping, bent double, her hands clutching her knees. Aaron and Lauren Donovan. She’d known, hadn’t she? From that moment at Aaron’s work when she’d seen the look Lauren gave him; of course, deep down she’d known it was only a matter of time…
