AllFreeNovel
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‘She’s changing. She’s alive and actually happy. She’s taking risks, making the effort to come out, and is open to doing stuff that she may not be completely comfortable with – something that you’ve clearly taken advantage of.’ Lara accuses. ‘If she goes back to Jasper, all of that goes away. I like the new Ariella. It feels like the real Ariella; and, if that means I have to deal with you to keep her, then so be it.’
Lara is basically heavily hinting that we need to team up to kill Ariella and Jasper’s relationship.
‘Am I here to help you make this Jasper break-up permanent?’
‘Bingo.’
I know for sure that, if I agree to this, we’ll succeed.
‘No. I’m not going to manipulate her into picking me. It has to be her choice.’
‘Is it her choice that she tingles every time you touch her? To be fair, it seems Ariella has the terrible habit of falling in love with her kidnappers, so it’s not all on you.’ Shit. Lara sussed it.
‘I may be flirting, but I’m not going to outright interfere with her relationship with Jasper. She needs to decide if she wants to be with him, by herself. I need her to choose me, freely. You’re a feminist, Lara. Surely you know how consent works. Besides, any plan you’ve already cooked up can’t be good.’
‘You can drop the bullshit morality, Caleb. You have no idea what you’re up against. Here.’
Lara grabs her phone and texts me the website of a restaurant walking distance away.
‘They’re having dinner there right now. You should go and see for yourself. Maybe you’ll change your mind.’
That’s why she picked this place. Bloody Lara.
‘I’m not going to spy on her.’
‘Suit yourself, but you’re going to have to hop it. I have a date.’
I am filled with self-loathing as I order a drink in the restaurant’s busy bar twenty minutes later, with a clear line of sight to Ariella and Jasper. Their eyes are trained on each other like there is no one else in the room, but there is a good, healthy distance between them in the corner booth they occupy. I should finish my drink and go home, but I don’t. I find myself ordering another and then another. By the time their dinner is over, they are sitting so close together she is practically on his lap, with their arms closely intertwined.
I watch him hold her close as they make their way outside and get into a taxi together, no doubt going back to his. I double down on the drinks until I am eventually cut off by the barman, and stumble home, thinking the torment is over.
When I walk in on Ariella making them dessert and him looking like he owns my place, with slow music playing throughout the flat, I lose it. I only manage to regain control when I see how frightened I’m making her.
I don’t want to see Ariella the next morning for all sorts of reasons, so I jump out of bed early, go for a run and end up at Tim’s.
‘You’re round here a lot these days,’ Em says, not looking pleased, when she opens the door.
‘Good morning to you too, Em. Is Tim in?’
‘We both know he’s not the one you’ve come to see. You look a mess. Everyone’s still asleep, so be quiet.’
I feel a mess.
‘Any chance of a coffee?’
‘Make your own bloody coffee. You’re lucky I let you in after you all but shaved Alfie’s beautiful hair and turned him into you.’
‘He wouldn’t stop asking at the barbers’. It’s just hair. It’ll grow back.’
‘And that’s the problem with you.’
‘What?’
‘It’s notjusthair. You do whatever you like and expect everyone else to just deal with it. Does it occur to you that, maybe, they have enough on their plate and don’t want to have to deal with your shit too? Or that maybe, instead of making life harder, they might appreciate it if you made it easier?’
‘Shit, Em. I didn’t think it’d be a big deal. I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t apologise, just stop being a dick.’
