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I liked Dash and her new rainbow-coloured hair, and since I’d missed the last few quizzes I hadn’t seen her around for a while. She was always fun to have a post-quiz chat with, so I bought her a drink. After a couple of hours drinking, we were starving, so I invited her over to raid the fridge. We were kissing by the time we got out of the lift and we were in our underwear before I found the strength to stop myself.
‘You’re gorgeous, Dash, but I’m sorry, I can’t.’
‘Is it me?’
‘Definitely not. It’s me…There’s someone.’
She immediately understood.
‘Wanna still grab a bite? The chip shop closes soon but we can make it if we hurry. Then I want to know more about this “someone”.’
We were almost dressed when I heard Ariella call my name.
‘Sixty seconds,’ I instructed, leaving Dash in my bedroom.
If I felt bad before, I felt even worse as she stood there apologising. She looked tearful and exhausted. The day had been tough for her too, and it made me want to crawl into bed and hold her until she fell asleep.
Dash was going to have to go for chips on her own, but first I had to get her out of the flat without Ariella knowing. I’d never been so grateful for her compulsive showering. I could sneak Dash out then. Unfortunately, Dash didn’t receive any of the telepathic messages I’d been sending her to stay put. Ariella’s wall went up in an instant. She shut down and put me on the outside again. When it comes to Ariella, it’s the worst place to be. I spent the night asking her to let me in, until I fell asleep on the floor outside her bedroom door to nothing but silence.
I wake up at a few minutes to six the next morning, shower quickly and get dressed for work. At 7a.m. I’m sitting at the bar, waiting for Ariella to emerge for breakfast, but she’s late. After knocking for ten minutes, I open her door, and she’s gone. Her wardrobe is ajar and I spot her clothes in there. At least she hasn’t moved out.
Ariella eventually walks into work at nine thirty, with shopping bags. I go to her desk immediately.
‘Hi—’
I stop in my tracks. She’s wearing make-up. She looks beautiful, but nothing like Ariella. Her eyes are defined, her lips are a deep chocolate and she has a slight golden shimmer to her cheeks. Her hair is pulled up into a much neater bun than normal. She is wearing a black turtleneck instead of her usual open-collared Oxford shirt.
‘Hi.’ She gives me a closed-lipped smile. ‘What’s up?’
That smile doesn’t touch her eyes. Great. Icy-Ariella has come out to play. She has the same voice and smile, but this isn’t the Ariella I spent the weekend with. That Ariella was warm, vibrant and present. This Ariella is anything but.
‘I was hoping to catch you this morning. Can we pop into my office for a minute?’
‘Sorry. I have to prepare for the tena.m.’
‘Are you coming home straight after work?’
‘I’m going to the office drinks.’
She smiles that dead smile at me again. We both know the office drinks are torture for her. She doesn’t want to come home to me.
‘Ariella Mason! I approve.’
Lara rushes to her desk, shoving me out of the way purposely and then standing in front of me. The smile Lara gets is wildly different from mine.
‘Really? I don’t feel like me.’ She pulls at the turtleneck uncomfortably.
‘Darling, no one ever looks or feels like themselves. Loving the face. Make-up counter get you, did they? Oooh! Did you see Jasper yesterday?’
She casts a quick glance at me and Lara notices.
‘Oi. Move it, creep. Don’t you have someone to sexually harass?’
She jerks her thumb behind her twice as she sits down on Ariella’s desk. I’ll have to wait. I get to my office, only for Nicole to join me as soon as I sit down. Like I don’t have enough problems.
‘What do you want, Nicole?’
‘You’re different. Is it because of her?’
