Page 10

Chapter Nine

Kinsley

It’s cold outside and my teeth rattle, the full moon is bright lighting up the whole staff car park out the back of Twisted Sister. I finished work fifteen minutes ago and I had hoped that Jesse would be waiting for me, but he still hasn’t shown up. It’s been one hell of a week since I’ve seen him. Normally we would see each other almost every day, every second at least, but as much as I hate to admit it, I’ve been avoiding him.

Reaching into my back pocket to pull out my phone, he enters the car park. I’m so desperate to flee the cold that I tug open the door and throw myself into the passenger seat.

“I’m so sorry Kins,” he whispers. “I wanted to be here when you finished but —”

I cut him off, “You asshole, you fell asleep didn’t you?”

A guilty chuckle slips through his lips as I swat his shoulder with the back of my hand. I’m not really mad at him, but I’m going to let him have it anyway.

“Jesse! I’ve been standing out here for nearly twenty minutes. If I had ordered a cab to be waiting, I would already be at your place!”

“C’mon, don’t be like that.” He leans over and ruffles my hair. “I’ll let you play DJ on the way home.”

With those big green puppy dog eyes he passes me his phone and revs the engine, leaving the car park and my shitty mood behind us.

“Lou-loo!” I yell in greeting as Jesse’s golden retriever barrels towards us. Her front paws land on my stomach and I snuggle into her head.

“You’re encouraging her bad habits,” Jesse grumbles.

The drive from the bar to Jesse’s house is about thirty five minutes, he got us here in twenty though, God only knows how he hasn’t lost his driver’s license. When we made the decision to move away from our hometown he didn’t want to move right into the CBD like I did, instead he tiptoed into suburbia.

Neither of us are ‘city kids’ and I can definitely see us moving back out of the chaos eventually, but for now we are both where we need to be. I’ve got the bar and access to more information here than I did at home and Jesse is doing his Grad Year, teaching at a primary school. We are doing normal stuff. Things people in their twenties do, right?

I lead the way through the house, my heels tapping on the wooden floorboards. I’ll definitely have polished floorboards in my home one day, they provide a much warmer feeling than the tiles in my apartment. Jesse slips into the lounge whilst I enter the kitchen in search of some food.

“Movie or footy?” Jesse calls from the couch. I’m not a huge footy fan, but I need to vent so football for background noise will be easier than a movie.

“Footy,” I say. “Whose playing?” He laughs, knowing full well I don’t give a shit about who is playing.

The kitchen leads into an open plan living space, with a lounge area to the left and a U-shape couch surrounding a TV that has been mounted onto the wall. Jesse’s place has a homely feel to it, even though he still hasn’t decorated and there really isn’t much here other than the essentials.

I place the leftover pizza I found down on the coffee table as Lou-loo jumps up and makes herself comfortable at one end of the couch. Jesse sits smack bang in the middle with his arms stretched across the back and I take a seat between him and Lou.

“Something on your mind, Meadow?”

I sigh, sometimes i forget that he can read me so well. “Where do you want me to begin? Your choices are, the phone call or some dating advice?”

“It depends if it’s dating advice for me, or for you?” he says, with a sparkle in his eye.

“Well, that’s the thing,” I cover my face with both my hands. “ Drunk me might have roped us both into double dates.” I peek through my fingers as Jesse bursts into laughter.

I tell him all about Soph, how I met her at Mrs Campbell’s cafe, and then bumped into her at the bar where she was stood up by some guy.

“So, who’s your date going to be then?” he says, as he grabs another slice of pizza. I don’t know why, but I’ve been dreading telling Jesse about how things have kind of stepped up with Tanner. He has always been protective of me when it comes to guys, but the mention of this particular one causes him to react differently. What could be so different this time?

I keep eye contact so I can gauge his reaction. “Tanner,” I say, trying to sound casual.

Jesse just laughs at me and shakes his head. Staring at him, I struggle to understand his reaction. Is that disappointment in his eyes? I’m not sure, but what I do know is this laughter is masking something. I know him as well as he knows me, I can see it; he may try but he can’t hide from me.

Jesse

My heart is racing and blood is rushing in my ears. Tanner? Is she serious right now … She wants to bring her fuck boy on a double date? I laugh because I have no words; I can’t tell her what I really think. I close my eyes as I shake my head, the next thing I know a pillow slams into my face. Ouch!

“What was that for?” I ask, still laughing. She’s kneeling on the couch next to me now, pillow still in her hands ready to strike again.

“You’re laughing at me! Why can’t I date Tanner?”

“C’mon Kins, even you said he’s just —” I mimic her voice now to take the edge off what I’m about to say. “ A little escape from reality. ”

“Well,” she draws out. “Maybe it might be more than that now.”

Shit, I wasn’t expecting that, and by her clipped response I can feel her walls coming back up. Quickly, I sit up and close the gap between us, trying to rectify the situation. Removing the threatening pillow from her hands, I wrap an arm around her and pull her close so she’s leaning into me on the couch.

“If you want to date Tanner,” I take a deep breath, hoping she believes the lie I’m telling us both. “I promise to be on my best behaviour.” She looks up at me through her eyelashes, a huge smile wrapping across her face.

“Really?” She beams, sitting up and wrapping her arms around my neck. “Thanks, Jess. I knew you would have my back.”

I’m not sure if she had been pouring pink gin at work or if it’s her shampoo, but the familiar smell of sweet berries consumes me and my chest begins to tighten, I need to get her off of me before she realises how much of a fraud I am.

“Yeah, yeah,” I say, pulling back and grabbing the six pack I brought down to the couch. “Beer? I think we will need one if you still plan on filling me in on that phone call.”

Kinsley spends the next hour bringing me up to speed on the phone call she received on her birthday, before the voicemail which I played in the car outside the cemetery, and the return phone call she received the next day. I rub the stubble on my chin several times, processing all of the information.

I can’t for the life of me work out who this George Watson guy is though, is he a member of the club Kyle and I looked into all those years ago? Why is he only trying to get her to stop looking into everything now? Kinsley has been working with Stanley for three years, has she uncovered more than she is telling me?

“Here’s the catch,” Kinsley’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. “I spoke with Inspector Stanley and he ran multiple checks, George Watson doesn’t exist.”

“Who would be calling you, and why are they using a fake name?” I’m only thinking out loud now, I don’t expect her to have the answers and even if she does, something tells me she is keeping them to herself. But why?

Kinsley grabs the remote, flicking through until she finds a movie she wants to watch. I chuckle to myself, she’s never been into football. As we settle in to watch the movie, my thoughts drift off until I’m standing in the meadow full of wildflowers. Kyle and I are standing with the horses, while watching Kinsley skip, spin and dance. She looks over our way and my lips twitch up into a smirk. Even all those years ago she had me wrapped around her finger.