Page 5 of Best Served Hot
Her address wasn’t to be found. But she did have social media. Though she never posted.Butshe was tagged. Some friend had taken a snap at a café in a park, The Beanery.Our usual Sunday haunt,read the caption.Perfect.
Four
Ethan had been quiet all weekend, apart from a quick text to say that his dad was alright, only a small fracture in his leg. But he’d be taking care of him all weekend, and he’d see her at the show on Monday.
Alex didn’t mind that. She quite wanted a weekend to herself. She’d forgotten how tiring dating could be. Going here and there, having to dress up all the time. It was a lot of energy.
Her childhood best friend, Andie, usually dragged her out on a Sunday morning, which was much less strenuous. They’d walk Andie’s Staffordshire bull terrier, Janet (she thought it sounded funny, and it did). Then they went and got coffee at a place in the park.
‘You’re off,’ Andie noted as they trundled about, waiting for Janet to drop her little brown marbles.
‘Am I?’ Alex asked.
‘Yeah. I know I do all the talking, but you usually chip in with a grunt now and again. Not even grunts today.’
Alex chewed the inside of her mouth. ‘I guess… It’s silly, actually. Never mind.’
‘Oh yeah. I’m gonna drop this subject and never speak of it again. That totally sounds like me,’ Andie said dryly.
‘OK, fine, you nosy bugger.’ Alex took a deep breath. ‘It’s just… You know I’ve been seeing someone recently.’
Andie’s head whipped to face her. ‘Have you?’
Janet squatted, and out came her spherical offerings.
‘Yeah, I mentioned it to you,’ Alex said.
‘Are you sure? I feel like this would be big news,’ Andie said, whipping out a little bag to collect Janet’s poop. ‘Breaking your dating policy and everything.’
‘I’m sure I said something…’ Alex broke off. Had she forgotten to mention Ethan? ‘Well, anyway, I’ve been seeing this guy from work. Paused the policy.’
‘Oh, right. Well, great! Glad you’re moving on from whatsherface.’
Alex smiled. ‘You can say her name. I won’t break down.’
‘But maybe I will,’ Andie said with a touch of anger. She had not calmed down from it all yet. She still regularly pitched breaking her ex’s legs. Alex had never been sure if it was a joke or not, but she appreciated the rage on her behalf.
‘Well, anyway, his name’s Ethan.’
‘Ethan. Solid name.’
‘Yeah, it’s just something a bit weird happened yesterday, and I don’t know what the hell it means…’ Alex realised that Andie wasn’t looking at her. She was looking over her shoulder. ‘Hey!’ she said. ‘You’re not listening.’
Andie’s eyes flicked back to her. ‘Iamlistening. It’s just that woman over there. She’s got my radar up.’
‘What woman?’ Alex asked, turning around. There was no one there.
‘Wait, where did she…’ Andie muttered, scanning, wild-eyed. ‘Did she jump behind a bush?’
‘Have you had a coffee yet?’ Alex asked her.
‘I don’t drink coffee anymore,’ Andie told her.
‘Since when?’ Alex asked, surprised.
‘I stopped yesterday.’
‘What, cold turkey?’ Alex asked. ‘You can’t do that on your level. You’ve got to take it slow. You’ll go into shock.’
