Page 126 of You, As You Are

“I can definitely sort out a page like that for you,” Maisie said down the phone as she chimed back in to the conversation,jotting down the request on her notepad. “It’ll require an extra tab on the navigation bar but that’s simple to sort out.”

“Thank you. I was also wondering if we could?—”

“Moo Moo! Hello?”

Maisie jumped halfway out of her seat at the cooing voice that burst into her living room – her elegant grandma with her freshly permed hair in a bonnet that dripped with rain. Vera waltzed in unannounced and didn’t seem to notice that there was a phone call happening at all.

Ears burning, Maisie snapped her phone back to say, “I’m sorry, Gavin, I’ll call you right back.” Before she could hear what her client said, she put the phone down and exhaled heavily through her nose, counting to ten before she faced hernain.

“Ah, you’re here! How was your weekend away?” Vera unbuttoned her coat and unwrapped her scarf.

The aggravation Maisie felt coursing through her veins for this unplanned visit –in the middle of her workday –doubled for that loaded question.

“Nain, I don’t appreciate what you all did to us last weekend,” she said sternly.

“Oh, it was just some harmless fun.” Wafting her hand, Vera tittered about over to the sofa and folded her outerwear over the edge. “And you both stayed in the same cabin.” She wiggled her brows. “I called to check.”

Maisie pressed her palms down into her thighs, turning in her office chair. The whole weekend had been a set-up. Never mind the outcome. Forcing her and Iain together wasn’t fair.

“It was embarrassing,Nain. Especially for Iain.”

She’d had this sort of low-level meddling from Vera to contend with for all her life, but those things were more acceptable between family. And Iainwasn’tfamily.Nainhad no right to get to him like that through Maisie and make him a victim of her games.

The cushions made apoofas Vera sat herself down. “You two are dating, what is the issue?”

Clearly, by herla-dee-datone, she didn’t see it – or was ignoring it on purpose. Both were equally as irritating in that moment.

Theissuewas that they weren’t actually dating, were they? Not then at least, when this had all come about, but Maisie wasn’t sure aboutnow; they were friends who had a singular night of amazing benefits, but nothing more since then. Though they were cosy as if they’d known each other for years, and they kissed as if he were fire, and she oil. The plans that she had for herself regarding staying here were murky now that things had changed.

If theyhadactually been dating instead of faking it, then her fuse wouldn’t be so short. She’d probably even thank the pensioners for pulling this off.

Rigidly, Maisie breathed the furious sigh she’d wanted to have unleashed on the phone last Friday. “It just wasn’t fair to be blindsided like that.”

Vera’s long lashes fluttered in the picture of innocence. “You two had fun together, didn’t you?”

This had happened once too many times now.

Ever since she’d gotten here, Vera and her friends had been interfering with their lives. Being told to join the hiking group, Maisie could live with. But being edged out of Vera’s home after only two weeks and then unsolicitedly pushed towards Iain over and over – and similarly him pushed to her – crossed a line that Maisie never knew she’d needed to set.

Well she was done holding her tongue.

She didn’t want to out the Fake Date Plan just yet, but she could stand her ground about Vera’s pushiness in other ways. She’d asked Iain once for help with this and she guessed that he’d wanted to spare her feelings by being gentle about what washappening, but Maisie knew what she had to do now after this interruption. And she didn’t care how firm she was about it.

“Nain, I’ve held off from saying this because I didn’t want to be rude, but could you stop asking things of me at the drop of a hat and turning up unannounced like this?”

Leaning back into the sofa like her voice had blown her over, Vera’s eyes flicked side to side. “You work from home,” she pointed out. “I don’t see what the problem?—”

“I work all day,Nain, and then in the evenings and at the weekends I work on my jewellery shop. I need to know in advance when you want to see me so that I can prepare around it.”

“I thought that you could work whenever you liked?”

Agh,that wasn’t the point.

“I can.” Maisie tried to keep some semblance of calm. “But I still have a schedule that makes sure I get everything done which, by the way, had to be tightened when you made me join your hiking group and your lunches and your shopping trips.” She hated her bitter tone. She hated that this was something that had to be said at all.

Vera tipped up her chin, her eyes narrower than before. “What does Iain think of all this work you do?”

Iainwasn’t the point of this either.

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