Page 21 of The Hampton Beach Café 4
“I still don't know what the last thing they called me was,” Frances said, feeling confused and stupid.
“The last thing?” he repeated.
Ah…right, she still hadn’t told him.
“Well…” she said, turning towards him awkwardly, “…the brick sort of had a note too…just the word ‘crook,’ which I didn’t understand either.”
“It's a slang term for like…a conman or criminal,” Alex explained. “It's pretty nasty that someone would write that about you…Not to mention, throw it through your door.”
Frances was taken aback. “Why would they call me that? I've never done anything illegal!”
“I know,” Alex said soothingly. “It's just some jerk…maybe trying to be funny? But why didn't you tell me about the note before? And I’m guessing you didn’t inform the police either when they were here?”
“I'm sorry,” Frances said, looking sheepish. “I didn't think it was that important. And I really didn’t want to worry you…or anyone.”
“Well, you need to tell them. Let’s go down there tomorrow and get it sorted out.”
“Get what sorted out?” Lucinda’s voice called down the stairs.
Oh, that was just perfect—someone else to tell her off for keeping the note to herself.
Frances shifted grumpily on the spot as Alex explained to Luce what had happened.
As she listened to the story from an outside perspective, she felt herself getting angry again. She couldn't believe that someone had not only broken her door but also insulted her with a word she didn't even understand! She felt violated and hurt all over again—throughout her career, she had made it her mission to know what she was talking about and not let anyone make her feel like the least intelligent person in the room. Multi-millionaires had tried and failed to belittle her, and yet some idiot with a brick had succeeded?
No.
“Alright, so hear me out,” she said, interrupting the tirade from Lucinda that she had been ignoring. “This and the other one used British slang, right? Alex, you know what it means, yes?”
“Why would Alex know?” Lucinda asked, confused.
“Because he’s been obsessively planning a secret trip to England for years…?”
Frances was assuming, but based on what he had told her the other day and the fact that there was no logical reason someone who wasn’t at least a little bit obsessive would know the slang from a country they’d never even visited—it felt like a safe assumption.
He pressed his lips into a tight line. “Yeah, kind of.”
“What? Why?” Lucinda asked again.
“Why do people do anything? Because they want to and they care about it,” Frances said. “Same reason they did this. Alex, can you tell me anything else about the things they called me?”
He looked deeply uncomfortable, and she regretted blurting out the bit about him secretly wanting to visit England—it had felt like something of a secret at the time, and here she was blabbing about it almost immediately after he told her.
“Well, this is going to sound…weird,” he started, pausing for a second. “But they’re kind of masculine? Like, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing inherentlymaleabout either one, but just from the shows and stuff I’ve watched, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone call a woman those things a bit like how the word—excuse my language—bastard. It’s rude and not actually restricted to men, but it would feel a bit odd calling a woman one…you know?”
He blushed deeply as both women stared at him.
“Not that I would! Even if it wasn’t…weird.”
Lucinda burst out laughing. “Calm down, buddy. I wasn't rewriting my opinion of you.”
“So they’re probably talking about a guy,” Frances said, ignoring the exchange. “Which, annoyingly, doesn’t actually narrow it down and, in fact, expands it. They could be talking about you, Vince, or even Clarkson. I’ve been assuming this is about me and Clarkson going on a date and his nut job fans being obsessive…but it doesn’t have to be. Luce, what do you know about Vincent’s past?”
Her face hardened. “Why are you picking on Vin? Why not Alex?”
Oh wow,Frances thought,Lucinda must really have it bad for this guy.
“Because I know his past, and I don’t think he’s got any British nemeses.”
