Page 49 of Choose Us

“Banana muffins,” Beth said, chewing on the inside of her cheek. She’d done that since I’d known her, but usually it meant she was harbouring a secret.

“Why?” I rubbedat my eyes.

“Because I’ve been craving caramelised banana all night, and I could barely sleep.” She poured some more sugarin the pan.

“Caramelised banana muffins? They sound amazing.”

“Yes, with Nutella.”She winked.

“Wow.”

“I know. I’m not just saying this because I make them, but they’reto die for.”

“I bet.”

Beth added the caramelised banana to the batter before adding an excessive amountof Nutella.

“You like banana muffins, right?”

“That’s like asking a child if they like McDonald’s.” I walked around the kitchen counter and stuck my finger inthe mixture.

“Hey.” She tapped me with the batter covered spoon causing it to splatter all up my arm. “More for me.” I stuck mytongue out.

“I don’t know where those fingers of yours have been... Scratch that. I do know, and I don’t want them in my muffins.” The whole sentence was a sexual inuendo waiting to happen; I couldn’t resist.

“I know, believe me, I’ve tried,” I joked.

“You’re disgusting.” She proceeded to separate the mixture into the muffin tins with precise measurements.

She was stalling.

I could sense something was off.

“What time did you say Brooke was working yesterday?” She was terrible at being discreet, always had been. It was a random question.

“Erm, her shift was 11-8,I believe.”

“Huh.” Beth placed the muffinsin the oven.

“What?”

“Well...” She hesitated. I hated it when she started any sentencewith, well—

“Ren went to Chaos Kitchen for some food yesterday evening. He does that when he’s working in the city. I told him to look out for Brooke. He can be nosey like a woman sometimes. I think that’s why I love him. He’s been dying to see who the mysterious Brooke is.” She flicked the towel over her shoulder and proceeded to wipe the kitchen sides down with a cloth. She wouldn’t look mein the eye.

“Jesus Christ. Please tell me he didn’t do anything embarrassing.”

“No... This is the thing; she wasn’t there.” Beth turned and raisedher eyebrow.

“Oh, maybe she was on her break?” That was a logical explanation, right?

“That’s what I thought, but after he’d finished eating, he went to grab a drink from Sake Bar. He overhead one of the waiters talking to a customer and apologising for the delay. He said they were short staffed. There was only him and some other guy behind the bar working that evening.” Beth looked like she wanted to disappear into the leftover mixture.

“Oh.” I focused on the worktop where the splatters of batter left a trailto the sink.

“Yeah, I didn’t know whether to say anything. I just thought you should know.”

“Is that why you’re up so early?” I asked.