Page 140 of Never Tell Lies

“I’m working on it.”

Forty-Eight

Where are they? Where are they? Goddammit!

The next morning found me sitting on the bedroom floor, rifling through my bag with the grace of a crazy cat lady.

This can not be happening.

I sighed. There was nothing for it. Resigned to the clean up, I tipped up my bag, spilling the contents onto the floor. Purse. Phone. Keys. A pair of denim shorts. A toy dinosaur. But no Kitty Cat Coin Purse. Where the hell was my kitty cat coin purse? I know I left it here. Out of all the things I was irresponsible about, this wasn’t one of them.

I heard footsteps, and a second later a pair of Armani loafers appeared under my nose.

“Amusing yourself, baby?” I looked up to see Alfie looking unreasonably attractive considering my own dishevelled state.

“No. I can’t find my pills. I put them in my kitty cat coin purse in the inside zip pocket of my bag. I never keep them anywhere else and they’re not here. The whole purse is gone.” I looked back at the upturned chaos of my bag, half-expecting them to reappear as if it was all some sort of trick. A very unfunny trick.

“Your kitty cat coin purse?” he repeated, an obvious tone of mockery in his voice.

"It's not funny, Alfie. I would've thought you'd be more concerned. You haven't exactly been Mr Chill when it comes to my birth control." I arched an eyebrow at him but he just gave me a small shrug.

"I trust you with that now." As I tried to grasp the enormity of that statement, he frowned down at his watch. "We need to go, Lola." The weekend was over and Monday morning had come, along with the rest of the real world. I groaned and scooped up the mess, depositing it unceremoniously back into my handbag. I made a mental note to call my doctor for a new birth control prescription. "Why do you have a toy dinosaur in your bag?"

“Ryan,” I answered as I moved to the mirror and began attempting to reign in my hair. It was getting too long but the thought of the tantrum Alfie would have if I cut it prevented me from doing so.

“Of course. By the way, when do you plan on utilising the clothes I bought for you?” He nodded at the walk-in closet I’d avoided like the plague ever since he’d done what I explicitly asked him not to do and bought me a whole wardrobe. Well, actually I didn’t know if it was a whole wardrobe or not, seeing as I hadn’t actually looked at the clothes yet. I figured they were an argument waiting to happen and if I didn’t look at them, they didn’t exist. Lola Logic.

“I’d actually forgotten about them,” I lied. I ran the brush through my hair for a final time then left it alone to hang in long, loose waves.

“Well, seeing as you don’t have any other clothes here?—”

“Au Contraire.” I dipped my hand into my bag again. I held up the old denim shorts that had fallen out of my bag with the rest of my crap.

“You can’t be serious. The fabric is worn and the stitching is loose.”

“They’re comfy, though.” I tugged them on and grinned, even doing a little wriggle to show just how comfy they were. My ballet pumps followed next, my bra, and then one of his t-shirts. I rolled the sleeves over so they sat on my shoulders then bit the neck of the shirt and tore it so that I had a little cleavage. The dress I’d worn on Friday had reappeared in Alfie’s closet at some point over the weekend, miraculously laundered by some very kind maids. It felt weird to me but it was something I’d have to get used to if I decided to leave with Alfie.

I paused, a thought suddenly occurring to me. The maids. Maybe they had something to do with my pills going missing. Maybe I’d left them on a counter top or they’d fallen out of my bag and they’d been mistaken for trash? Or put away in a cabinet somewhere? That must be it.

I did a mental calculation as I applied some make-up and studiously ignored Alfie’s watchful gaze. I took my pill every morning, and the last time I took it was yesterday after we were done with our shower. We had sex in the afternoon…and last night…and this morning...but no pill today, so was I covered still?

“Hey.” Alfie was suddenly in front of me, his fingers gently freeing my bottom lip from my teeth. I hadn’t even noticed I’d been gnawing on it. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m just worried about missing a pill that’s all.” I smiled. “It’s not a big deal. I’ll call my doctor. Hopefully they can see me today.”

“And if they can’t?”

I was tempted to say that he could just illegally procure some pills for me like he’d done the first time we slept together, but I wasn’t about to let him think I was okay with that.

I side stepped him to give myself a final look in the mirror. We looked so peculiar next to one another. He in his bespokesuit, I in my ripped shorts. It was no wonder people gave us strange looks.

“If they can’t see me today, then I guess Wally will just have to wear a rain-hat for a while.” I eyed his crotch. He scowled back at me.

“I hate condoms, Lola.”

I shrugged again and swung my bag onto my shoulder. “I hate pregnancy.” I smiled as his soft chuckle followed me out of the room.

I didn’t waste a moment and immediately called my GP to book an appointment. By the time we stepped out of the Carlton Hotel and into the sunshine, I could breathe a sigh of relief knowing that I’d be getting a new prescription that afternoon.

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