Page 53 of The Missus

‘I’m talking about the fact we had an agreement that if it went south again…’

Keira frowned. ‘We’re not talking about that again. You move out if it’s what you want to do. But let’s be clear. As far as I’m concerned, you live there too, alright? End of it. I don’t want any more drama about that.’ She looked down. ‘It works for me,’ she said quietly, eyes on her plate.

‘I don’t want to go. I’m happy there,’ Alanna told her. ‘It’s home.’

‘Good. Great. Can we shut up about that now, then?’

‘You’re not angry at me?’

Keira’s shoulders slumped. ‘No, not anymore. I was… I overreacted. Alright? It wasn’t your fault. It’s stupid Kelly’s. I don’t know what I was thinking telling her in the first fucking place.’

‘It did kind of surprise me that you told her anything. Considering your feelings about her,’ Alanna said carefully. This had been bothering her, and she needed to know. Why Kelly?

‘I was… annoyed. I wanted her to understand why she shouldn’t bother trying to get me to love her.’

That was a weight off. It wasn’t that she’d chosen Kelly as a confidant, the woman had simply pissed her off. ‘Because you don’t do that. Love.’

‘Exactly.’ Keira added firmly. ‘It’s my choice, and I don’t want to defend it.’

‘You don’t have to,’ Alanna told her calmly.

Keira looked at her like she was waiting for more. But Alanna was letting it go there. Keira had stated her position, and that was the end of it. The plan remained. Alanna was going to very quietly get over Keira without ever letting on that she wanted to be anything more than what they had. And one day, it would happen. They’d just be friends. That would be good. Great even.

‘So, you ready to drive me home?’ Keira grinned.

Alanna groaned at the thought. ‘Maybe you could just finish the journey. Less stressful.’

‘Alright. But you need to learn to drive.’

‘Icandrive. I might just need a… small refresher.’

‘Right, well, maybe I could help you out with that sometime?’

‘Seriously?’

‘Why not?’ Keira shrugged.

‘That’s… I’d love that,’ Alanna smiled.

‘Great.’

OK, this was good. Keira was being normal with her. Everything was going to be OK. Alanna just needed time.

Twenty-Two

‘Jesus Christ, you just backed into a Porsche!’ Keira yelled, glancing over her shoulder. They were in a relatively quiet car park on an industrial estate in Keira’s Kia. Only a few other cars were dotted throughout. But as Alanna tried to practise her reverse park, she’d found one of them with the bumper.

‘Oh no, oh no, oh no,’ Alanna cried, looking back.

‘Wait, no, hang on. It’s just a Fiat Spider. It kinda looked like a Porsche from this angle. But now I can see it’s a cheaper car,’ Keira assured her.

‘How much cheaper?!’

‘Well, a brand-new Spider is about twenty grand as opposed to the seventy grand a Porsche cost.’

‘I don’t have twenty grand, Keira!’ Alanna cried.

‘Yeah, but youreallydon’t have seventy,’ Keira noted.