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What should I do? There were still some lights on in the house but I saw no sign of Alfie. His car was still outside. Should I wait by it? The idea of waiting by his car like a lost dog was too pathetic so I put my shoulders back and decided I was walking out of here.
Tears threatened and I shuddered with the effort of keeping them at bay. I wasn’t going to cry over this. I was going to get a taxi home and I would talk to Alfie later. For all I knew he’d be working all night and wouldn’t even notice I was gone.
As I left the house behind, I realised how dark it had gotten. The lights of the house faded and I was left wandering down the mile long road leading out of the estate, feeling very much alone.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out.Alfie.I froze, and my thumb hovered over the answer button, then drifted over to the reject button. It rang off before I could decide so I texted him.
I’m getting a taxi home. Everything’s fine, I’m just tired. Talk tomorrow. X
The naive part of me believed he would reply saying; ‘sure babe, get home safe.’ The realist in me gave him five minutes before he caught up to me.
It only took him three.
I was almost to the gate when headlights blared behind me. I stepped out of the way and the car screeched to a halt next to me and an enraged Alfie got out.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
“Home. Please don’t make a fight out of it.” I turned but Alfie grabbed my arm. His eyes blazed, both ice and fire. It stilled me for a moment, almost bringing me to heel.
“Why?”
“Ask Angie.” I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice.
“Angie? What has she got to do with anything?”
I didn’t want to talk about this, I was too close to letting humiliated tears fall down my face, but I knew Alfie by now. He wouldn’t let it go until I’d told him.
“She just cornered me in the garden and told me all about you and she being an item and that I wasn’t good enough for you.”
“Lola, come on.” Alfie tilted his head slightly and gave me a look that I’d seen Natalie give Ryan whenever he was faking being ill to get a day off school.
“Do you think I’m making thisup?”
“No, but she already told me what happened. Just now, she said she went down to the garden to apologise for misleading you about London and you got defensive. She’s worried that you feel threatened by her, which I understand, but you can’t take your insecurities out on her. She’s just doing her job.”
That bitch was way more manipulative than I had given her credit for. Another reason why she was better suited to Alfie than me.
“Do you really think that’s what happened?” I asked, barely able to get the words out.I will not cry over this.
“I think you let your temper get the better of you. It’s not exactly the first time, is it?”
Fuck you, Alfie Tell.I clenched my fists.
“I didn’t lose my temper, Alfie, though I am about to. She said her piece and then she left. I could have thrown a brick through her car window but I didn’t. I could have come and found you in the house and caused a scene in the middle of your meeting but I didn’t do that either. I held it in and I left.”
“Lola, I’m not going to fight with you over this. I’ve known Angie for a long time. Perhaps she was just trying to be nice and?—”
“Oh she was nice, paid me a bunch of compliments. My favourite one was where she told me how I was just your type.”
“My type?”
“Yes. Poor and pretty. I tick the hell out of both of those boxes, don’t I?” My words were painfully bitter, embarrassingly vulnerable.
“Stop.”
“Youstop. Apparently, poor, pretty girls are your favourite kind of plaything because we’re so easy to manipulate, and she’s not wrong there, is she? I mean, you’ve been manipulating me since day one.” I turned away. I was so close to crying I felt like I was going to explode. How could he believe that simpering witch over me?
“Lola, enough.” He took my chin and forced me to look at him. He studied me, those laser eyes reading me. “Is this your fear talking? Today has been too perfect so now you’re trying to sabotage us? I don’t understand why you would ruin it with this?”