Page 3 of In This Together

She leaned against the wall and listened, instantly rattled by Jay. Since he and Sofia had been together, he’d slowly changed her. From convincing her to change her signature edgy haircut, to stopping her from seeing her friends. Jay was manipulative and sly. Increasingly so, Hannah thought.

‘Jay, I’m godmother. My dad is here. Plus, I told Hannah I’d help out.’

‘Are you telling me you’d rather cook pizzas and listen to kids screaming than be with me, huh?’ Then his tone changed and Hannah could imagine him schmoozing up to Sofia, the way he did.

Whatever happened next, Sofia started to giggle. ‘Stop it. Not here. Let me help sort the food, then we’ll leave.’

Hannah heard the freezer door shut.

‘Whatever, Soph. Go cook your pizzas.’

Hannah tiptoed a few feet away from the door, making a mental note to share the latest of Jay’s shitty behaviour with Andrea, then called out… ‘Soph? Would you be able to bring some ice, too, please?’

‘Sure, will do!’ Sofia called back.

In the kitchen, Hannah looked up from the quiche she was cutting and watched Jay sulkily traipse outside. Sofia planted a fake smile on her face and set the pizzas and ice down on the counter.

‘Listen, Hannah, I’m really sorry but Jay isn’t feeling too good. We might have to take off earlier than I wanted to.’ She gave Hannah an apologetic look and added quickly, ‘Not yet, though, not for a while.’

‘Really? It’s so great to have you here, though.’

‘I know.’ Sofia looked glum.

Like Hannah had told Andrea countless times, it was up to Sofia to finally see the truth about Jay, in her own time. Hannah putting guilt on her from both sides wouldn’t do anyone any good.

She turned her lips into a smile. ‘But there’s nothing you can do if Jay isn’t well.’

She busied herself with the quiche rather than seeing Sofia’s sadness because it broke her heart. The sooner Sofia saw through Jay’s act, the better.

Who knew, maybe it was everyone else who had it wrong. Hannah would willingly be proven wrong if it meant Sofia was happy.

When she stepped outside, Hannah saw Rosalie holding on to her latest boyfriend’s shoulder as she leant down and fiddled with the heel of her stiletto shoes.

‘Shoe trouble, Ros?’ she asked.

‘Oh, no, Dior doesn’t cause shoe trouble.’ Rosalie wafted a hand dismissively as she spoke without a trace of irony. ‘I’m just clipping on these protectors.’ She held up a translucent plastic thingy in demonstration. ‘You clip these on to the heels and they stop you sinking into the lawn, you see?’

‘Genius,’ Hannah said, chuckling. Only Rosalie would come to someone’s house prepared with anti-sinking heel protectors.

Rosalie was aspirationally glamorous. In fact, Rosalie’s glamour was essentially what had brought her into the lives of Hannah and Andrea. Back when Andrea had been running her family’s indie music label, Hannah had been her assistant and Rosalie had been making headlines as a socialite. She’d been dating one of Andrea’s clients, a frontman of a rock band that had since won multiple awards and had numerous platinum albums.

Rosalie, being somewhere between unemployed and self-employed – also known as living off a trust fund and charitably working if she felt like it – used to tag along to the band’s recording sessions. She would always bring coffees or food, and she’d sit in the sound booth with Andrea, Hannah and latterly Sofia, as the band laid down their music.

Beneath all the clothes and bags, Rosalie was a genuinely kind and funny woman. Her life was unreal. The money, the cliquey, gold-digging friends, the electronically revolving wardrobe. And the fact she seemed destined to forever search for but never find the Prince Charming to her princess. Knowing Rosalie was like having a free subscription to a television series the others just could not get enough of. Hannah strongly suspected that for their part, Hannah and Andrea brought a sense of realism to Rosalie’s otherwise surreal world.

* * *

Hours later, almost everyone had left Hannah’s place. Luke had gone to a friend’s house to stay over, having had enough of ‘kids’ – his words. Jackson had crashed from a sugar high and gone to bed earlier than usual. TJ had taken a full bottle of milk and was currently sleeping. Hannah, Rod, Andrea, Rosalie and her boyfriend, George, were sitting around a firepit in the yard as the last of the wood burned. Christmas lights, which Rosalie had incorporated into the decorations for the day, cast a low glow around the lawn.

‘Let’s go and do something, George,’ Rosalie said. ‘The night is young. We could go for cocktails when we get back to the city, or?—’

‘Rosalie, some of us have to work tomorrow.’

It was clear to Hannah that Rosalie wanted to take the huff with George, but then she must have thought better of it. For now, at least. To Rosalie, Sunday night was no different to Friday, Saturday or any other day of the week.

When Rosalie and George left, Rod announced he was going to take a shower. He kissed Hannah on the head where she sat in a garden chair and asked Andrea, ‘Will you still be here when I’m done?’

Andrea checked her watch. ‘I should be getting back to the city. I’ll babysit Hannah whilst you’re upstairs, then leave you guys to it.’

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