Page 5 of Fit for Love
“Ooo, that sounds dramatic,” teased Louise. “Wait, does that mean you’re seeing Mal Colten again?”
“Louise! It’s been less than twenty-four hours since I found out my boyfriend is gay; I hardly think that’s enough time to have set myself up in a new relationship. And besides, been there, done that. Mal and I aren’t compatible, but he’s being a good friend.”
Although I couldn’t see her face, I knew Louise would be raising an eyebrow. Mal and I had parted on good terms; we simply wanted different things and those differences were too vast at the time to overcome. He always said if I ever needed a place to stay, I could go to him.
“Fair enough. What do you mean by ‘going dark’ though?”
“I’m going for a technology detox: no Instagram, no Facebook, no Twitter. Just some time out in the countryside to reconnect with myself.”
“Shit, Cora, if you weren’t my best friend I’d think you came out with some pretentious crap sometimes.” Louise laughed. “I know, I know, it’s all about your online persona.”
She really did know me too well. And if I was honest, there was some pretentious crap I put out there, but my followers seemed to lap it up.
“Well, it sounds like you’re okay, so I’ll let you go. I promise not to punch Orlando if I see him.”
“Thank you, I don’t need you getting arrested for me.” I smiled, taking in the level of her support.
“Love you, Cora, take care of yourself. You know where I am if you get bored down there.”
“Love you too. Speak soon.”
We hung up after making promises to keep in touch, despite my intentions of stepping away from technology.
I surveyed the chaos in front of me: the clothes, shoes and other paraphernalia I wanted to take. With a sigh, I threw a bunch of stuff into two cases. What did it matter what I looked like? I wasn’t planning on impressing anyone while I was there.
Mal and his girlfriend, Piper, welcomed me to Bayview House with open arms later that evening. I’d already managed to make a complete idiot of myself by not recognising Mal’s best friend, Ethan, who’d been charged with picking me up from the station. He was currently putting my cases in my room. I had only a vague recollection of meeting him a couple of times when Mal and I were together, and I didn’t remember a great deal about him.
I walked upstairs to the open-plan living room, to find Mal slouched on one of the couches. As he saw me, he jumped up and headed towards me, his gaze running up and down my body.
“What in God’s name are you wearing?”
For a moment, I’d almost forgotten the disguise and pulled off the glasses with a flourish. “Ta dah!”
He laughed. “I almost didn’t recognise you in that get-up.”
“That was the idea.” The wig was beginning to get itchy though and I wanted to take it off. “I didn’t want to be me for a while.” My voice came out thin and quiet.
“Do you want to tell me…” began Mal.
But then, Piper came down from the bedroom.
“Cora, how are you?”
Piper approached me and enveloped me in a hug. Immediately, I stiffened. She and I weren’t friends in the same way as Louise and I were, and the body contact surprised me. I had helped her to get her jewellery business going, by featuring a couple of the pieces in her collection on my blog. It was a contributory factor in her growing success and I was proud to have been part of it. The pieces were beautiful, delicate, and affordable. My followers snapped them up.
Awkwardly, I hugged her back before breaking away. “Um, upset, confused…”And in need of drink…The unexpected craving for something alcoholic hit me hard. How did one night of debauchery seemingly undo years of clean living? I wondered how much Mal had told her. I’d given him the bare bones of the truth, again leaving out the bit about my hotel stay. No one needed to know about that. I needed to get back on an even keel.
“I’m sure. Mal told me what Orlando did. It’s disgusting.”
That was certainly one word for it, even if it was a total understatement.
Piper went on. “I mean, leading you on like that is terrible; why wasn’t he honest with you in the beginning?”
That was exactly what I wanted to know. But I knew I never would, because I didn’t have the strength to tackle him about it. In fact, I never wanted to see Orlando Weare ever again.
Mal took Piper’s place in the physical-affection stakes and pulled me into his arms. His spicy-scented aftershave hit my nostrils, reminding me of happier times. It was nothing like the powerful, almost feminine fragrance Orlando had favoured, and it comforted me a little.
“You can stay here as long as you like,” said Mal, as he released me. “Seems I’m running a home for waifs and strays right now.” He chuckled.
