Page 95 of Between Us

‘Where are you going?’

‘Ah, I was going to message you. Home.’

‘For good?’

‘Yeah. I think now the fête’s sorted and your mum’s setting those new hires on, it’s a good time to go,’ he said. ‘Plus, got to go back to my actual job sometime.’

‘Not because … of me?’

He smiled a sad, apologetic smile. ‘Also because of you, yes.’

Roisin opened her mouth and closed it again. ‘Please,’ she said, ‘don’t go. We’ll go for a walk, talk about this …’

‘There really isn’t anything to talk about, is there,’ he said, politely; a statement, not a question. Roisin couldn’t argue with that, though she was still going to try.

She almost jumped out of her skin to see that while they’d been talking, Joe had been standing right behind them.

‘Morning. Hi, guys. Oh dear. Hope I’m not interrupting, sounds intense,’ he said.

‘What are you doing here?’ Roisin said, in bare horror.

‘Not the warmest of welcomes. Taking my new car out for a spin.’ He nodded back at something small, black and sporty in the otherwise near-empty Mallory car park. ‘Forgot you owned the Fiat, so thought I’d splash out.’

‘I’ll leave you two to it,’ Matt said, adjusting the bag on his shoulder.

‘Oh no, I want to talk to you as well!’ Joe said, with a performative vivacity that signalled real menace. ‘First of all, I came to give you this in person.’

He handed a small box with a large red satin bow to Roisin. ‘It’s my key. For the apartment. I’m all moved out. It’s yours.’

‘Thank you,’ Roisin said, stiffly, feeling exactly as uncomfortable as Joe had intended.

‘Secondly, I did some gumshoe stuff myself.’ He lookedfrom Matt to Roisin and back again. ‘We should set up a little agency. Powell, McKenzie & Walters. Got a ring to it, haha.’

‘I really think I should give you some pri—’

‘Remember when I asked you, straight up,several times, if you’d personally gone to Sesso and asked about me, and you said you had?’ Joe continued, cutting across Matt to Roisin. ‘I thought that sounded really unlikely, but you swore on your mum’s life that it was true?’

Roisin internally writhed.

‘Well, guess what. I met up with Rick, too, and he didn’t know who you were. He did recall Matt McKenzie here coming in and asking a bunch of questions about a waitress who might’ve got involved with a customer. Imagine my surprise!’

Roisin folded her arms.

‘You’re not usually such a bare-faced liar, Roisin. I have to assume you reallyreallywanted to protect him. I wondered why? THEN the answer arrived. Doh! Joe!They are having regular sexual intercourse.The whole “trying to find me cheating on you” thing was a way of legitimising this.’ He gestured at them both in turn.

‘No, we’re not,’ Roisin said.

‘Mmmm. Sure. Looks like it,’ said Joe. ‘Very normal vibes here.’ He made a swirling hand gesture. ‘The vibes are feeling highly normal. Just two pals, having a heated emotional exchange,needing to talk about something, the morning after the night before, outside your mum’s place.’ He looked upat The Mallory. ‘Do you need me to rip the Care Bearsduvet off your wriggling bodies before you admit it?’

Roisin saw now that underneath the superior scorn, Joe was boiling with jealousy. She opened her mouth, but Matt spoke first.

‘I helped Roisin because she’s my friend. I didn’t care about the effect on you, because you’re not my friend. Simple really.’ Matt didn’t sound the slightest bit intimidated and having been agonised he was a witness to this, Roisin found herself grateful he was there.

He pulled his punches with Joe, but he wasn’t scared of him.

‘Your dear friend, sure. Finally found your moment to shine, haven’t you?’ Joe looked from Matt to Roisin. ‘You keep trying to catch me out, missing the deception going on right here, Roisin. There’s a technique that committed shaggers use that you may be unaware of. They pose as sympathetic shoulders to cry on about other men, while spoon-feeding you more negativity about those men. Eventually, you become so sure they’re the safe haven and protector, you take your clothes off and fall into bed with them. The “Not Like The Rest Of Them” device. It’s a grift, Rosh. You’re just this month’s mark.’

‘Seriously, Joe. Stop … you’re way out of order,’ Roisin said.

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