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“Well, no, you shouldn’t have, but that doesn’t mean I wanted you to get hurt.”

Alice hiccupped a sob.

Markus thrust a box of tissues towards them between the front seats.

“Don’t get snot on my interior,” he mumbled.

Maggie gave Alice an incredulous look, and they both burst into laughter.

“What?” Markus said, his forehead creased in confusion.

“You really are a prick, you know that?” Maggie continued to chuckle as she brushed back Alice’s curls and planted a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

Rain patteredon the windscreen as Markus parked up alongside Alice’s Fiesta, his shiny new vehicle somehow making her shitty little car look even more pathetic. Since when had she cared? A car was a car, and she barely needed to use it, but over the last twenty-four hours it had somehow come to represent a metaphor for her self; a bit knackered and rather broken.

As she stood despairing, the reassuring weight of Maggie’s arm wrapped around her shoulder.

“C’mon, let’s go get a cuppa before we sort that out.”

“I know a place,” said Alice.

She led them to the quirky muffin café and once inside, she glanced around, a tiny bit hopeful to see Ash, but also not, given the snot-bubbling state of her... again.

There was no Ash, but the spot they’d shared yesterday by the window was free. Markus bought the drinks and delivered them to the table. Maggie offered no protest when he suggested taking his latte back to the car to listen to the rugby so they could have their ‘sisterly chat’ without him intruding. Alice studied her sister’s face, watching her as she watched her lumbering hulk of a husband retreat.

Maggie’s asymmetrical bob framed her angular features in contrast to the softer lines of Alice’s. When she and Markus had been going through their rough patch, Maggie had taken her frustrations out on her own body, hitting the gym hard and slashing her calorie intake to achieve a concerning deficit. Her ‘revenge body’, she’d called it.Skeletalis the term Alice would’ve gone for. And Mags did it all to get back at him, to show him that he’d dined out on dog meat (twice!), when there was prime rib at home.What an unbelievable arsehole he’d been.

Yet, it was Maggie who believed she’d ‘married up.’ She’d had the honour of becoming a Carter-Mills and just in time for their mum to witness before she passed away. Maggie proved to everyone that she’d made it. Despite her humble beginnings, she’d bagged a privately educated career man. Still, Alice couldn’t help thinking her sister had fallen short — in the lottery of life, Markus hadn’t exactly lucked out on looks, and his personality did little to compensate.

With a far-off look, Maggie chewed her thumbnail, which steeped Alice in guilt. She’d been so wrapped up in Fran recently, she’d neglected everything else, even her sister.

“How are things with you two?” Alice asked softly, pulling Maggie’s focus back to her.

“Oh, we’re fine. He’s just… Markus.”

Alice narrowed her eyes.

“Counselling dredges up a lot of stuff. It’s hard.” Maggie sipped her green tea. “Anyway, we’re not here to talk about me, Al.”

“I haven’t been a very good sister lately. I’m sorry… I’m going to get better at… well, at everything now. It’s spring.” Alice nodded her head and blew on the steaming mug cupped between her hands.

Maggie’s eyebrows pinched together.

“Spring, you know… the season of new beginnings.”

“Right. Okay. Well, one step at a time. Are you going to search for a new job?”

“Do you think I need to?”

Maggie glared at her with wide eyes. “Aren’t you in a bit of a compromised position?”

Alice tilted her head and Maggie leaned in, lowering her voice to a faint whisper.

“You know, the fact that you’ve just ended a relationship with the wife of your employer. Wouldn’t it be better to leave on your own terms? Avoid the risk of it all coming out and destroying your reputation?”

“I suppose, but I don’t have anything else lined up. I enjoy the work and I like Jeremy. Truscote’s okay too, as long as she keeps her nose out of my business.”