Page 68 of Seven Exes

Sighing furiously again, I stomp across the room and flip the lock.

‘What?’ I say, yanking the door open and taking her in.

She looks like she hasn’t slept much. But that’s probably more about the all-night shagging sesh with my ex, rather than any guilt she might be feeling. She doesn’t say anything for a moment, just looks me up and down. It makes me even crosser because I don’t know if I want to look normal, so she doesn’t get the satisfaction of knowing she’s hurt me, or if I want to look dreadful so she feels guilty. If she’s capable of such an emotion.

‘You didn’t go to work,’ she says coolly. The observation is infuriating and I roll my eyes.

‘I called in sick,’ I say impatiently, feeling momentarily bad again about my put-upon assistant. Yet another day of projects she’ll have to crack on with all alone. ‘I found out my two best friends have been lying to me and I guess I couldn’t sleep that well.’

I wait for Bibi to say something else but she doesn’t. ‘So?’ I snap. ‘What do you want to tell me? Are you going to tell me how Alex is The One and how you loooooove each other and couldn’t resist betraying me? And how finding your soulmate meant I didn’t matter to either of you and that I deserved to be lied to for…’ I pause. ‘For how long? How long has it been going on, Bibi?’

She regards me carefully, assessing things before answering. ‘A month. Five weeks, maybe.’

‘Five weeks?’ I am aghast. I thought she would say a coupleof weeks max. Five weeks is too long – that’s way too many lies. I’ve seen them both countless times in five weeks. I see Bibi every day, Alex at least a couple of times a week. How many collective lies is that? Or lies of omission if I’m being extremely generous? Which I’m not.

My chest gets tight. I willnotcry in front of this traitorous, deceitful cow.

Oh my god, was Alex just using me and my friendship so she could cop off with Bibi? How much of the last couple of months as friends again was a lie?

‘I know we’ve hurt you,’ she says slowly and thewehurts more than any of it. They are a team now; a pair. They’re in it together. They’ve comforted each other over this and discussed how awful my reaction was. They’ve convinced each other that what they’ve done isn’t that bad and told one another I’m being a dick. They’ve cuddled for hours and talked about how to move forward with this situation. They had each other. They chose each other over me.

All while I’ve been sitting here alone, crying my eyes out, wondering what to do.

‘So what’s all this bullshit been about, claiming you’ve been sooo super happily single then?’ I spit out, wanting to hurt her. ‘Clearly you weren’t! You made out like I was some desperate loser, chasing this mission to meet someone. You looked down at me and acted like I was pathetic, and all the while you were chasing something too! You copped off with the first woman to walk in our front door!’

‘It wasn’t bullshit!’ Her eyes flash. ‘Don’t you darestart saying that! I have been very happy, being single has been great.’ She sighs. ‘I never expected to meet someone like Alex. Honestly, she blew me away from the moment I met her.’

I shake my head at her hollow words. ‘And a bit oflustwas more important to you than betraying me?’

She looks down and a tiny part of my fury gives way to sadness.

Don’t cry. Not now, not yet, not again. She doesn’t get to see me break.

‘You know what you’ve done,’ I say quietly now. ‘You’ve chosen to sleep with someone who isn’t just someone I cared about but someone I lost foryears! I lost her because of this kind of situation and you’ve chosen to go ahead and casually do it again. You’re going to end this fling eventually and I’ll lose her again. Or you. Probably both of you.’

She looks broken and devastated, but says nothing.

It makes me angry again. ‘You’re not even going to fucking apologize, are you?’ I can feel the tears welling up in spite of myself. ‘Just get the fuck out of my face, OK, Bibi? Just get out, I don’t want to talk to you again. Not ever. In fact, I’d really appreciate it if you could find somewhere else to stay for a while, while I look for a new place to live.’ I walk over to the door and hold it open for her. ‘I’m sure Alex will gladly have you stay with her. That way you don’t have to sneak around here and lie. You poor things, it must’ve been so difficult, lying to everyone all this time.’ My voice drips with sarcasm.

Bibi looks like she will say something, but instead she nods and walks out. I slam the door behind her as hard as possible. It sets Ivan off downstairs and I am grateful for his cover noise, because my tears – when they finally arrive – are loud and embarrassing.

It is half an hour before I stop weeping, and when I do, I instinctively reach for my phone. I need a distraction. Any distraction will do. And I find one.

I open Google and type: ‘Chef Carl Hurst’.

EX 2: CARL HURSTAKA The Work MistakePART ONE

A’Diva Restaurant

The car park

10.35am

‘Lou,’ I hiss into the phone. ‘You have to help me, I’ve tried everything.’

Someone walks by, glancing curiously at me standing so close to my car.

‘Hey,’ I nod over as nonchalantly as possible. They nod back awkwardly, walking away a little faster.

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