Page 41 of The Missus

Alanna looked over at the door of the bar to see her date. ‘Kelly? Are you fuckingkiddingme?’

Kelly looked forlorn. ‘This is what I get for trying to get out there again.’

‘You didn’t look like you in the picture.’

‘Neither did you.’

‘But it wasactuallyme. I’m pretty certain you used a fake picture.’

Kelly tutted, unbothered by the accusation. ‘Filters, other people’s pics, what’s the difference? Everyone lies.’ She frowned. ‘Wait a second. Are you cheating on Keira!?’

‘Err…’ Alanna wasn’t sure how to handle that question. ‘Umm…’

‘You are!’ she cried, horribly excited. ‘Or maybe you split up because she…’

‘What?’

An unsettling smile slid onto Kelly’s face. ‘Because she realised she loves me after all and that I’ll listen to her and she can cry with me about being dumped off as a kid and all that stuff,’ Kelly answered triumphantly.

Alanna’s eyes nearly fell out of her head. ‘Beingwhat?’

Kelly tutted. ‘You don’t even know that about her? That she went into care because she was abandoned? Wow. She must have felt our connection if she told me that and not you.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you Turkish?’

‘Am ITurkish?!’ Alanna repeated, baffled.

‘Maybe Iranian? Was it an immigration agreement, you and Keira?’ Kelly clarified. ‘You can tell me.’

Kelly was closer to the truth than she knew, but Alanna wasn’t going down that road with her. ‘Kelly, I don’t need to tell you anything because in the minute I’ve stood with you, you’ve told yourself a lot of made-up stories. Is that something you do a lot?’ she asked.

Kelly narrowed her eyes at Alanna. ‘Are you a psychiatrist?’

Alanna was rumbled. ‘Counsellor.’

‘What’s the difference?’

‘A doctorate,’ Alanna said plainly.

‘But you do the head thing, yeah? I know your type.’

Alanna thought Kelly might well know her type, but clearly, not well enough. ‘OK, well, I think we can call this date a write-off—’

Kelly started laughing.

‘What’s so amusing?’

‘That’s your job and you don’t even know your girlfriend?’

Alanna sighed. ‘Yeah, I guess we’ve got some stuff to work out. I better head home and get right on that.’ She walked away from Kelly’s horrid laugh. Despite what she’d said to Keira about feeling sorry for Kelly, Alanna hated the woman at that moment.

Or maybe it wasn’t hate. Maybe it was simple jealousy. As pathetic a creature as Kelly was, she knew something Alanna didn’t—Keira’s history. Alanna knew there was no reason Keira had to tell her about her traumatic childhood, but she wished she had. She wished they had that trust. Alanna wanted to know her. All of it. Everything that made her who she was and how she was. Because even if it wasn’t perfect, it was good.

Great, even.

This wasn’t about hormones. She didn’t just want to have sex with Keira. Feelings were happening.

Wow. That fucking sucked.

Eighteen