Page 89 of Refrain
It was stupid schoolroom graffiti, but for some reason it totally undid her. She crumpled into a mess of snot and tears, bowing her head down to her lap.
“Shit! Hey! Hey.” He folded himself around her and pulled her up onto his lap. “Alle.”
Her lip wobbled. Tears ran into her mouth. “I miss him. I really bloody miss him. It felt so good. For five minutes. It just felt so fucking good. He let his guard down, and it was…”
“I know.” Paul kissed the top of her head and pulled her into the crook of his shoulder. “I know, babe. I was there. I saw you. The guy had hearts in his eyes.” He held her close, until her sobs dissolved into a series of bark-like coughs. “Whoa!” His brow furrowed. “Have you been to a doctor about that?”
Alle shook her head. “It’s just a stupid cough. It’s not on my chest.”
“Right, but it sounds nasty. Maybe I should be feeding you honey and lemon not wine.”
“Don’t have any. And no.” She grabbed the neck of the wine bottle. “Don’t take it away.” It might not be helping her resolve anything but was freeing her tongue enough to admit all the stuff in her head to someone else and get their perspective on the matter.
“Fine, but how about we order some food to go with it? Soup?”
“I don’t want soup. Also, I shouldn’t sit on your knee.” She shuffled about, attempting to rise.
“What do you want? And sit where you damned well like. I’m not going to try anything on, and even if you get drunk and unbearably needy, I’ll be utterly honourable. I only screw my mates’ girlfriends with their explicit say so. Besides, I can cuddle you better if you’re up here, and you clearly need a few more bear hugs.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, and snuggled back into his shoulder. “I do.”
“Here we go, then.” He swaddled her until she actually got bored of it. Eventually, they parted, and Paul pulled his phone out of his pocket. “So, what do you fancy to eat?”
“Dunno. Pizza, maybe. No, Chinese. Chow mein. And pancakes. Duck pancakes, and wontons, and prawn toast.”
Her list made him chuckle. “You’re quite hungry, then? You’re sure that’s everything?”
“Yeah. No. Maybe some satay? Wait, I’m not offending you with my meat eating, am I? Aren’t you a veggie?”
“Sporadic vegan, and no, you’re not offending me, not unless you’re banning mushrooms from the menu. Then… then I’m afraid it’ssayonara, friendship over, kaput.” He made the symbol of the cross with two fingers as if he were warding off a vampire.
“I’m good with mushrooms.”
He gave her a fist bump. “Good call. I like you.” He pulled up the online menu to start their order.
“I can’t really colour your arm while you’re ordering,” Alle muttered.
Paul turned sideways on the sofa, so that he presented her with his back. “Lift the shirt. Plenty of bits to colour under there. Just make sure you press, no flighty strokes, otherwise it tickles.”
“You know that’s asking for me to—”
“Don’t, or you won’t get your food.”
“Spoilsport,” she muttered, and set to inking the bits of his dragon that weren’t already coloured. She soon had it pimped up with pink and purple scales.
It wasn’t until they were most of the way through eating that their idle chatter turned back to the subject of Spook, because she kept picking up her phone expectantly. “Do I need to take that off you?”
“Maybe I should call again.”
“Or maybe you should give it a while. How long ago did you fight?”
She shrugged, it’d been about twelve hours ago, maybe a fraction longer at this point.
“Seriously, Alle. Be chill about it. And maybe don’t call. Text. You told him that’s what you missed, so prove it. Take a pic and fucking send it to him.”
“Of what?”
He pointed at the array of fast-food containers. Alle snapped them with his arm in the frame, showing off her colouring. She sent it captioned,Chilling with a friend. How about you?
