Page 12 of Merry & Bright

I can’t believe I used to defend you.

For some reason, the worst part was knowing that perhaps Rob hadn’t completely hated me till today.

The silence between us stretched uncomfortably but I didn’t know how to break it.

In the end, it was Rob who did, sighing heavily, then saying in a flat tone, “I should go. I need to get back to take Tim to his party.”

Reluctantly, I returned my gaze to him. He was watching me with the weirdest look on his face. Like maybe he felt as shitty about all this as I did. He certainly didn’t look as though he’d enjoyed saying his piece.

“Okay,” I mumbled. “Well, I hope you have a good Christmas with your family.”

“Thanks,” he said, his dark gaze oddly bleak. “Same to you.” And with that, he turned on his heel and trudged away, shoulders hunched against the cold.

Chapter Five

Skinflint.

Quin Flint, Skinflint.

Haven’t you noticed that no one comes to ask you for anything if they can possibly help it?

The words circled in my head as I walked home, my hands thrust deep in my pockets against the cold.

...it’s as though you think we’re asking for money out of your own pocket or something...

Was I really that unpopular with my colleagues?

I told myself I didn’t care. So what if I’d offended them by asking a few reasonable questions about their expenses claims. Did they expect me to approve anything they put in front of me? Grant any leave request? Would I really be doing my job properly if I didn’t scrutinise these things? But even as I tried to justify my actions to myself, I recognised, with a sick feeling, that Rob’s words were true. I had recognised the truth of them as surely as though he’d held a mirror up to me and I’d seen my own face.

Lost in my own thoughts, I jumped when I suddenly heard a new voice calling my name.

“Quin! Quin, wait up!”

A new voice, but an oh-so-familiar one.

I stopped and turned, and sure enough, there was Ben, my ex, jogging towards me. He was dressed in the casual clothes he favoured—jeans, a hoodie, a denim jacket. An orange beanie hid his blond hair. Another guy was walking behind him, bringing up the rear more slowly. He was tall, leanly muscled and Asian—all details which confirmed I was about to meet the famous Leon, Ben’s new boyfriend, whose too-perfect-to-be-true credentials Freddy had already filled me in on in sickening detail. Leon was handsome, attentive to Ben and had an incredibly well-paid engineering job in the oil and gas industry. Oh, and just like Ben, he loved to travel. I was very ready to hate him.