Page 26 of Monarch
“Roos, it’s not a big deal. Me and Mari, we’re history.” I take a small step forward. “And I can come back later, but I also need to grab some of my things if you still have them.”
Roos takes a moment to look at me, and then her shoulders sink. “You don’t have a place to stay, do you?”
“No, but that’s not why I’m here. I can afford a hotel, or I can stay with someone else, but I did want to get some of my clothes.”
“You left six months ago!” Roos raises her voice for the first time. “Did you think I’d just hold onto everything for you like some free storage unit?”
“No, I didn’t expect anything, but–” I slowly point at Mari, or specifically their T-shirt– “it looks like you’ve kept hold of some of my things.”
Mari looks down at the T-shirt, at the wolf howling up at the sky. They grimace. “This isyours?”
“Yep.” I smirk at them. I can’t help it. “Looks good on you.”
Mari takes a quick step closer to me, and it’s a reminder of so many things. Their smell – a crisp, clean musk that has undertones of eucalyptus and jasmine, their curves, and the way I always think we’re the same height but, in reality, I’m actually an inch shorter. I hold onto my smug smile as they stare me down.
“Fuck. You,” they bite out before pulling the T-shirt over their head and thrusting it into my chest. I reach for it and look down at Mari’s full breasts when I reach my hands up to catch it. My core tightens, and my mouth goes dry.
But then they’re gone, walking down Roos’ corridor with their middle finger raised above their head for me to see.
Chapter Ten
Mari
Idress in a hurry, only fastening one side of my dungarees and not bothering to find my socks. Roos can keep them as a souvenir. She can put them in the drawer with all Lex’s things that she’s kept hold of, ready to give to another future lover.
Not that I think any of this is Roos’ fault – far from it. I feel terrible for her that she’s starting to learn that her shitty ex has been a shitty ex to many people before. But I’m angry, so fucking angry, that this happened, that Lex ruined what was such a perfect night.
Because that’s exactly what xe has done. Xe has appeared as if from nowhere, like a literal fucking ghost, and xe has changed everything. With the tip of one of the many piercings in Lex’s ears, xe has burst the bubble Roos and I had built around ourselves. No, it was stronger, sturdier than a bubble. It was a cocoon; warm and cosy and full of hope. Transformative.
But now, I feel exposed and furious, and I just need to get out of here. I need to get away from xem.
I find my phone on the floor and switch it back on. I briefly watch a small flurry of notifications arrive, and I swipe most of them away until I see one from K1NK. I open it up and feel a small flip in my stomach when I see it’s from HungTransMan, or Joel, as Roos knows him.
I smile briefly, temporarily forgetting the chaos of the last half an hour as I imagine going to QISS tonight or tomorrow night and letting some strangers help me forget all about Lex.
But Roos. I don’t want to forget about Roos, it just feels like now I can’t possibly think about her without thinking about xem, and I hate that. I fucking hate that. Without replying, I pocket my phone and give Roos’ room one last look. The clothes on the floor, the plants hanging from the curtain rail, the stack of romance novels on her bedside table, the perfume bottles, and the tray of burned-down candles that have melted into one another. I felt immediately at home here. I felt…
Too much, too soon. And now I’m getting burned because of it.
Stomping back down the corridor, Roos and Lex have barely moved, although Lex is now inside the flat and the door is closed behind xem.
“Where are you going?” Roos asks as I pick up my jacket and scarf from the hooks on the wall.
“To the tattoo convention,” I say, deliberately avoiding Lex’s eyes.
“Tattoo convention,” xe repeats. “So you did it. You’re a tattoo artist, like your mum.”
I snap my head in xir direction as I poke my arms into my jacket. “I’m a tattoo artist, like me.”
I don’t hate comparisons to my mother, who is regarded as one of the best tattoo artists in the southwest of England, if not the whole country. I just detest every single word that comes out of xir mouth.
“How is she, your mum?” Lex has the nerve to ask.
“Are you fucking for real right now?” I ask and don’t bother to wrap my scarf around my neck, I just hang it over my shoulders and do my best not to trip on it as I walk past Roos and Lex, very deliberately avoiding any kind of physical contact.
“Wait, Mari!” Roos calls out.
