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ARIELLA
‘How long are you going to be annoyed at me for?’ Caleb asks as I take a break from packing for Zambia to grab some water.
He is standing in the kitchen with a bottle of beer in front of him. Home has left me feeling energised and ready to face the world. I want to hold on to that feeling.
‘I’m not.’
‘Yes, you are. You didn’t say hi earlier, we hardly talked last week and you still won’t look me in the eye. What’s going on?’
I make a point of looking him in the eye.
‘Forcing yourself to do it doesn’t count,’ he says with a laugh as he fetches a bottle of red. He pours a glass, slides it over to me across the counter and makes happy slurping noises with his mouth while nodding at it. I fight the urge to laugh.
Thankfully, he is cut off by my ringing phone. I pick up immediately.
‘Hi, Lara. What’s up?’
Caleb rolls his eyes and walks away.
‘Great, I caught you. I should’ve done this ages ago, but could you look over the risk assessments for my Shoreditch Carwash gig?’
‘Already done. They’re on the server and good to go.’
‘Thanks, Aari. I swear I’d have been fired by now if it wasn’t for you. Ready for Zambia? Sorry I called so late!’
‘It’s fine. You saved me from a lecture from Caleb.’
‘Lecture? Caleb? That’s an oxymoron with an emphasis on the moron, isn’t it? What was he moaning about?’
‘He accused me of freezing him out.’
‘Doofus. He called it quickly for someone with semen swimming between his ears. He should be used to it by now.’
‘Used to what?’
‘Your ice-queen thing. Why’s he complaining about it now?’
‘What ice-queen thing?’
‘You don’t realise you freeze people out? It’s your thing. Comes with the territory.’
‘I’ve never frozen you out.’
‘Of course you have, loads of times. I just don’t care because I love you.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Yup. When people get close enough to upset you, you stop engaging with them and there’s no way back. I simply ignore you and your crap. How did you think you alienated the whole department? I used to think it was just your thing…and in that first month, I may have been trying to sleep with you because I thought it was kind of sexy. I thankfully realised you’re just really sensitive and it’s how you cope. I concluded that you’re probably one of those needy types that wants to cuddle after sex. I went off you quickly after that.’
‘I can’t believe I’ve been doing that to people.’
‘Yes. It’s bloody harsh, but entertaining to watch. The best ones are when people don’t know what they’ve done and realise there is no more getting through to you.’
‘I’m sorry if I ever did that to you, Lara.’
‘No apologies. I most probably deserved it. Go to sleep. I’ll call you before you fly.’ She laughs down the phone.
‘Goodnight, Lara.’
