Page 115 of The Reboot
‘What?’ She punched his arm playfully. ‘It’s a thing. I’ve read loads of stuff about it. She gaslamped you into thinking you’re an alcoholic—’
‘No, I really am an alcoholic—’
‘She made you think she was doing it for your own good.’
‘Look, I may be pissed off about it, but shediddo it for my own good.’
‘See? That’s gaslamping!’
He was glad he’d called Pippa. She was probably the only person who could have made him laugh right now.
‘You need to be deprogrammed – you know, like people who’ve been in a cult.’
‘I haven’t been in a cult.’
‘May as well have been. You missed out on the best years of your life, thanks to her. You’d have been a megastar. You wouldn’t have ended up as some nobody, living on benefits and renting out your spare room like a fucking student!.’
‘Well, it’s really Marty I have to thank for that.’
‘We might still be together…’
Roly jerked back in surprise. ‘Really? So you were just with me for my fame and fortune?’ He shouldn’t be surprised – it was what he’d always suspected. But he was shocked even Pippa would be so upfront about it.
‘No, silly. But if you hadn’t gone off to rehab, we wouldn’t have drifted apart like we did.’
‘You wouldn’t have shagged Adam Leader?’
She pouted. ‘I was lonely. You’d abandoned me.’
‘I didn’t abandon you. I was fighting for my life, for fuck’s sake. Not everything is about you.’
‘You wouldn’t have put on all that weight and got depressed.’
‘I wouldn’t have written songs with Phoenix or sang on stage with Walking Wounded.’
‘You never know. You don’t know what might have happened.’
‘I’d probably never have seen Ella again.’
‘Good riddance!’
He looked at her beautiful face. What would it be like, he wondered, being with Pippa again. He hadn’t really thought about it when he put it in his goals. He’d just assumed that was what he wanted. Now all he wanted was Ella, and for things to be the way they were yesterday. He wished he could go back to not knowing.
He leaned in and kissed her tentatively. Her lips were soft and yielding and she kissed him back for a moment before pulling away. ‘I don’t think this is a good idea,’ she said.
‘I think it’s a very good idea.’ He grinned. ‘It’s a sure-fire way to make me forget my troubles.’ He moved in for another kiss, but she held him away with a hand on his chest.
‘I’m not going to be your consolation prize because you’ve had a bust-up with your girlfriend.’
‘She’s not my girlfriend.’
‘And what about Adam?’
‘Fuck Adam!’
‘I do. That’s the problem.’
‘I thought you two had broken up.’
