Page 54 of Couple Goals

Where did u go?

U still here?

Hey again we r just leaving the bar u still up? ;) x

And then this morning:

Missed saying goodbye to you last night, text me if u wanna get hungover coffee xx

Maeve groans and puts her phone back down to have some more toast before replying. She feels bad, but honestly, it’s the kind of bad she’d feel about letting any admin task slip, like forgetting to reply to a time sensitive email.

Maeve’s not used to kissing strangers and she doesn’t know the etiquette of how much or little to say to someone she doesn’t want to see again. There’s nothing wrong with Jess, she seemed like a very lovely person, but then, what does Maeve know? It’s not like they chatted much. Maeve saw someone making eyes at her when she was near Kira, and seized her chance. Kira should have been proud of her, for making a bold tactical move in the heat of the moment. Maeve knows now in the cold light of day it was a pathetic attempt to try and make Kira jealous, which just makes her feel stupider than she already did.

The perfect person to ask would of course be Adriana. But, even though Maeve, for the life of her, can’t remember exactly what they fought about,she knows that they did have cross words.

She picks up her phone and sees with a jolt that she has had another message too – from the contact she has saved as just CHOKSI.

i don’t want to hook up any more

Maeve reads it, and feels her face go immediately scarlet. She feels the punch of rejection, shame, and loss, right in the pit of her stomach. She reads it and re-reads it, feeling the panic bubble up inside her before realising she’s actually going to be sick again. She runs back to the bathroom, and throws up.

Flushing the toilet and feeling worse than when she’d first woken up, Maeve brings her phone with her to the sofa, where, despite the summer heat winning the fight with her air con, she hides under her own blanket to read the message again.

In the time between her reading that message and going to the bathroom, Kira has already sent another one.

i don’t want there to be any confusion over what we are doing or who we are to each other you have made it clear that you only care about being captain no matter what so fine, have it your way

Under the blanket, Maeve reads the message over and over, each time feeling like another wrench on her heart.

In the heat of the moment, angry and ashamed, Maeve types back with loud taps,

Fine.

And before she can stop herself, sends it with a swoosh.

She goes back to bed and buries herself into a cow-shaped pillow.

When Maeve wakes up, unsure how much later it is, her throat like sandpaper and her eyes like lab rats being tested with toxic eye drops. She manages to compose herself enough to put Mr Milkalot aside (he’s now damp from her tears) and makes herself another piece of plain toast.

Maeve should behappyabout Kira’s message! She can be more ruthless if there isn’t any – as Kira put it – ‘confusion’ about what they’re doing. Maybe this is a sign that Maeve is on the right track, that she’s successfully getting to Kira. So why doesn’t this feel anything like a win?

Adriana is the only person who could understand right now. Or maybe Maeve could pretend she’s heartbroken about someone else – this Jess person from last night?

Maeve, still sniffing, goes to check Adriana on Find My Friends to make sure she got home okay. That’s when Maeve sees Adriana isn’t at her flat.

She isn’t at her family’s, or anyone else in the team’s. Maeve’s pulse quickens, but it isn’t like this is completely unusual – Adriana must have gone home with a man last night. And now Adriana is at – Maeve zooms in as much as she can – what might be one of the new luxury studio complexes by the waterfront?

Maeve sends a quick message to check in on her. It doesn’t matter if they left things in a weird place, she just cares about whether her friend is okay.

Sat nursing her hangover alone, embarrassed, and rejected, Maeve can’t help thinking her friend is likely having a much better time than she is…

Chapter 19Adriana

Adriana wakes to the smell of freshly made coffee.

She opens one eye. Someone places a mug carefully on a marble coaster on the bedside table beside her. Then they get back into bed next to her, slowly and gently, leaning against the luscious pillows.

Adriana lets herself linger in the halfland between dreaming and waking for just a moment.

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