Page 24 of The Missus

‘No? OK. I guess she’ll have to stay then,’ Keira said, taking the bag from Alanna. ‘I’ll stick this in the bedroom, shall I?’

Alanna’s eyebrows shot up. ‘What?’

‘I think we could make it work,’ Keira told her. ‘We just need a bit more time.’

Benjamin snorted. ‘Oh, please. The two of you are never going to make it. Cheaters never prosper.’

Mrs Lennox’s attention zeroed in on Benjamin. ‘What do you mean, exactly?’

‘These two, she basically stole… I mean, Alanna’s a lesbian now. Aren’t you?’ Benjamin said haughtily.

‘Could youpleaselook up the word bisexual? I’mbeggingyou,’ Alanna snapped at him.

‘Not this nonsense again,’ Mrs Lennox sighed. ‘I thought you’d grown out of it.’

Keira shouldn’t have done what she did next. She wasn’t sure why she did it at all. She grabbed a surprised Alanna by the waist and pulled her close. ‘I know you wanted to take it slow, but I need you to stay. I already can’t live without you and it’s only been a few days.’

Alanna was goggle-eyed. ‘Huh?!’

‘It’s meant tobe,’ Keira said, not winking as that would be a bit obvious, but doing a slight eyebrow raise that she hoped would have a similar effect.

Alanna glanced at her mother’s shocked face, Benjamin’s angry mug, and back to Keira. ‘Oh. Yeah. I… Right. OK, I’ll stay,’ she stuttered, at sixes and sevens.

‘Cool,’ Keira smiled. She turned to Mrs Lennox. ‘Lovely to meet you, Mrs Lennox. Catch you on the flippy flop.’ She waved at her in a way that told her she’d been dismissed.

Mrs Lennox’s jaw perceptibly tightened. She looked at her daughter. ‘I thought you were coming with me, and now you’re staying? Howdareyou waste my time like this?’

‘I’m pretty sure you retracted the offer, Mum,’ Alanna said, looking cheered. Keira was glad to see it.

Mrs Lennox opened her mouth and all that came out was a series of splutters. Eventually, she looked Keira up and down. ‘This won’t last.’ She walked out. Benjamin was left behind.

‘What the hell areyoustill doing here?’ Alanna asked him.

Benjamin opened his mouth as though an answer might occur to him, and when it didn’t, he closed it again and left.

As the door closed, Keira let go of Alanna’s waist. They turned to look at each other.

‘What the fuck just happened?’ Alanna asked her.

‘I think that was… tenancy renegotiation,’ Keira said. ‘Three months, and if it’s not working out, you find somewhere else.’

‘You want to keep this up?’ Alanna asked in amazement.

‘Yeah.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t think we gave the system a proper chance. And also, I don’t like your mum,’ Keira said plainly.

Alanna snorted. ‘You hate my mother enough to let me mess up your life?’

‘I was ambivalent about you leaving, and now I’m not. And now it’s kind of a mutually beneficial situation. Pretending to be a couple for meandto stick it to those two.’

Alanna smiled. ‘Well, if that’s the case, I’m paying rent,’ she said firmly.

‘Wait—’

‘I can’t live off you,’ Alanna insisted. ‘It’s weird.’