Page 68 of Then Came You

Monday, Haven was sick, so she stayed home from school. Tuesday, I had meetings all day, and Wednesday, Row took a personal day at the salon to take Tori to her specialist. The world was conspiring against us.

Besides the short odd text here and there, we didn’t touch on the topic of us.

I was mad out of my mind.

As my shit luck would have it, on Thursday, Row had two new apprentices start at the salon and was busy inducting them.

My patience was as thin as a fucking piece of paper at this point, so I rang Trish and asked if Row could do a last-minute corporate shave and have Row meet me at the office so we could go together. Trish would never deny me, given how lucrative I’ve made this partnership for her, and there’s no way Row would miss lending a hand.

There are only 12 hours to go until I could see what was up with her.

I thought hanging out with my family would be a distraction, but I was wrong. “Are you constipated or something?” Alex tosses my way as he boots up the next episode of Ted Lasso. I’m grouchier than usual, but I don’t think I’m giving off the constipated vibes, the fucker.

“Alex!” Dad chastises, clipping him on the back of the head.

“What’s constipated?” Haven looks up from the floor, where she’s colouring in a Wiggles poster.

“It means when your tummy hurts and you can’t go to the toilet, princess,” I explain. She happily goes back to colouring the wrong colours. Apparently, all members have pink and purple shirts only.

“What’s with the attitude then?” Alex probes, pressing pause. “You look like you just had a prostate exam,” he adds, earning another clip to his head from Dad.

“Row moved out,” I respond sullenly, sinking further down into the couch and resting my head on the back.

“What did you do?” Dad’s ear perks up. He adores Row, despite the awkward complication of Zee.

“Nothing. I have no idea where it went wrong.” I throw the silver pillow that’s beside me on the ground. I wish it were a boxing bag with how much nervous energy I have pent up. “After the ball…things progressed.” Alex immediately cuts me off.

“You slept with her!” He’s astonished as he is accusatory.

“Language,” Dad bemoans.

“We were…intimate. Then the next day she tells me she’s moving out, and there hasn’t been a spare second to speak to her about it, so tomorrow I blocked out our whole morning to hash it out.”

“What happened to cooling things off for the sake of, I dunno, your son?” Alex asks bewildered, taking a sip of his scotch.

“I know. I’m monumentally fucked, and as much as I feel shit for what I’ve done, I’m even more of a cunt because I don’t want to stop, but where the fuck did I go wrong?”

“You’re a shit root. Only explanation, mate.” This time I punch Alex in the stomach.

“What else did Row say?” Dad asks thoughtfully, with his elbows resting on the armrest and fingers steepled on his temple. He’s contemplating all the possibilities, which is very much appreciated considering I’m brainlessly confused.

“Honestly, not much. She said it was because she wanted to be with her sister, but I think she feels guilty over Zee.”

“How are you going to make it work so that no one gets hurt?” Dad asks.

Contemplating the question, I look at Alex, who for once is looking at me with sympathy.

“I’ve got to be honest with Zee, but I can’t do that until I’ve spoken to Row.” I bang my head back on the couch, hoping for a concussion, so I can get out of this impending talk with my son.

“You’ve got this, son. Good luck.” Dad moves behind the couch to massage my shoulders in solidarity. When he goes to check on his rascal grandchildren, Alex, being Alex, reverts to his old self.

“Better than Avi?” he winks, asking the world’s most inappropriate question. I glare at him before putting him in a headlock. He laughs, wrestling me back. “What?”

“You can’t ask that crap. I don’t ask you about Syd, and you’ve never asked about Avi,” I shoot.

“Yeah, well, neither of them are 22, call me daddy, or have piercings and tats that would make the Pope bow down in worship.” I wonder how many years I’d get for intentionally murdering my own brother - surely, Dad could get me off?

“You’re a cunt.”

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