Page 74 of One More Shot
‘A wedding,’ I say. Pretty sure I’ve told her this before. ‘In Italy. Remember?’
‘Oh. Yeah. That’s cool.’
She sounds like she’s already bored of me, her attentiona million miles away. I glance over my shoulder and see that she’s pulled her phone from her purse and is quickly tapping away.
‘What about you?’ I ask.
‘Hm?’ She looks up for a brief second before turning her attention back to her phone. ‘What was that?’
‘What’re you doing here?’ I can practically feel my patience ebbing away. ‘Nan didn’t mention you were passing by.’
‘Oh.’ She looks up again and I wonder if I’m imagining the slightly guilty look on her face. ‘Right. I was in the area and just wanted to say hi. Am I not allowed to say hi to my grandmother?’ She flips her hair and rolls her eyes. ‘God, Elz. Sometimes you act like you’re the only one who’s allowed a relationship with Nan.’
Seriously? What is in the air today?
Nan saves Leanne from a sharp response by shuffling into the kitchen. ‘Let me grab my purse, darling. I’ll just be a minute.’
Realisation dawns on me.
Leanne dropping in unexpectedly. The guilty look on her face when I asked why she was even here in the first place.
I wait for Nan to leave the kitchen and then let the laundry basket drop to the floor with a loud bang. ‘Tell me you’re not borrowing money from Nan.’
She rolls her eyes. ‘I’m not borrowing anything from her.’
I let out a tiny sigh of relief. ‘Good, because—’
‘It’s a gift,’ she continues smugly. ‘A “congratulations for finishing your second year of uni” gift.’
‘You barely even passed.’
Another roll of her eyes. ‘That’s not the point. It’s a milestone for me and Nan wants to celebrate.’
‘By giving you money?’
Leanne shrugs. ‘I guess.’
‘You’re unbelievable.’ Every ounce of patience I usually have for my sister is gone. ‘This is the first time you’ve seen Nan in how long, and you’re just here for some money?’
Leanne lets out a snort and leans against the countertop. ‘Okay, here we go. Do your thing.’
‘Mything?’
‘The whole “I’m Eliott and I’m better than everyone else” speech.’ Her lips twist into a sneer that feels uncharacteristic. ‘You’re not my mother, Eliott. You know that, right?’
‘I’m not trying to be!’ I snap out. ‘For fuck’s sake, Leanne, do you think I like this? Do you think I like being the one who deals with everyone’s shit? The one who has to constantly bail you out because you either can’t or won’t get your own shit together? The one who always has to be perfect, because if I’m not, then the rest of you will fall apart? Seriously? You think I like it?’
‘You’re acting like we aren’t there for you too!’
‘When?’ I hiss out, tears blurring my vision just a bit.‘When have you ever been there for me, Leanne? When has anyone?’
We stand there in a charged silence for at least twenty seconds. I can practically see the gears working overtime in her mind, trying to comb through her memories to find something, anything, she can use against me.
It’s obvious that she’s come up blank because she suddenly shakes her head and scoffs, ‘God, you can be such a fucking martyr sometimes.’
‘And you can be such an ungrateful little—’
Nan clears her throat suddenly, stopping me from saying something I know I’ll eventually regret. She’s standing in the doorway holding her purse, a pained expression on her face.
