Page 52 of His Secret Obsession

We sit at a table by the window, with a nice view of the river that cracks through town, and everyone is discussing Jemima’s career choices. Nate’s announced that he’s betting a hundred dollars Jemima will quit secondary teaching a year into her job because “high school kids are little shits.” Dad’s bet fifty dollars Jemima will last five years, and Mum’s admonishing the pair of them, saying they shouldn’t be making such wagers on Jemima’s job. I’m laughing along when I get a text message. It’s from the group chat I have with Lucas, Hugo and Gilly named “the boyz.” Gilly named the group, and I haven’t been able to decide whether the name is ironic or ironically unironic.

Gilly: Bruh, why’s ur girlfriend here.

I frown.

Charlie: What?

Gilly: Cleo’s here.

Charlie: What do you mean? Where?

Gilly: We’re at ur place, playing video games w Lucas and all of a sudden ur girlfriend’s here lol.

Gilly: She just showed up randomly. We told her ur out but she’s still here lol.

“You shouldn’t be on your phone at Mum’s birthday,” Nate says to me. I look up to see him looking smugly at me and respond by sticking out my tongue because I may be nineteen, but that doesn’t mean I’m mature.

“I’m going to head to the bathroom,” I announce, getting up from my chair, crossing the restaurant floor and leaving through the front glass doors. The night air prickles my cheek.

I call Cleo. It rings once, then twice, then three times before going to voicemail. I hang up and try again. No answer.

I call Gilly. No answer.

“Why isn’t anyone answering?” I say aloud. My body is surging with adrenaline. I try again, but Gilly doesn’t pick up, so then I call Hugo.

Thankfully, he answers.

“Yeah, yeah…okay, listen, I’ve got a call. Just let me…” he says to the voices on the other end of the line. “Hey Charlie.”

“Hi,” I say. Suddenly, I’m not sure what to say. “Um. What are you doing?”

“We’re at your place right now. Lucas invited us over for a boys’ night in. How’s South Aus?”

“Yeah, it’s good,” I reply quickly. “Is Cleo there?”

“Yeah, funnily enough.” He laughs before quickly turning it into a cough. “Actually, it was really random. She showed up like five minutes ago, talking about some skincare stuff she left here. Next thing we know, she’s taken the controller from me and is absolutely destroying Lucas. Did you know she was so good at FPSs?”

“Um. No.”

“Apparently, she played them all throughout high school. Lucas looks pretty pissed, though. He keeps asking her when she’s going to leave, but I think he’s just butthurt she keeps beating him.”

“Listen, can you ask her why she isn’t picking up my calls?”

“Probably because she’s in the middle of a round.”

“It’s important,” I say, then stop pacing. Is it? What am I going to say to her when she answers? How dare you hang out with my friends without me? No, that’s stupid. Stupid and possessive and jealous.

But I can’t help how I feel. My stomach is tying itself into knots, like I’m watching a horror film and I know the jump scare’s coming, so I’m trying to prepare myself in advance.

“Can you ask her to call me back when she’s done?”

“Sure.” The voices in the background raise, and I hear Hugo call back to Gilly, something about running to the bottle shop because they’ve run out of beer. After half a minute, Hugo's voice returns, clear in the phone. “Is everything okay, Charlie? You sound a little worried.”

“Yeah, no, I’m fine. Um…I’ll let you go.”

“Alright. Have a good time with your family.”

“Thanks,” I say.

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