Page 18 of Clean Point

‘Say please.’

‘Really?’ she said on an exhale. ‘This is a game children play.’

‘Alternatively, you could tell me where you got the coffee.’

Her answer was quick and solemn, delivered over crossed arms and with a straightened back. ‘Never.’

‘Who’s acting like a child now?’

‘You threw me in the pool.’ Scottie cried, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. I almost did as she unwrapped her arms, and the pink bra was revealed once again. It used up all my control not to steal another look.

‘I barely touched you.’

‘And why on earth would I tell you my source now?’

I hummed for a moment. ‘Call it team building.’

‘Call it “I know where you sleep, and I won’t hesitate to smother you with a pillow”.’

Stepping away from the doorway, she gave up, the distance between us feeling strained with every step she took. I knew I was being immature, leaving her in the pool and now, with the towel, she didn’t deserve it. But everything she said on the plane, it cut deeper than she could’ve known. In the limited time we’d spent together, she’d managed to read me perfectly, and knew how and where to twist the knife. But I also knew I’d evened the playing field. With a shake of my head, I relented.

‘Here,’ I said, stepping out of the kitchen and reaching out to pass her the towel. She eyed it with suspicion, calculating the risk. ‘I promise it’s fresh.’

It took her another moment before she gave in, taking the towel and wrapping it around her damp body. I tried to look at anything else other than her patting the cotton material across her pale freckled arms and long legs, ignoring the flash of lace I could still see. Forced myself to fix my gaze on the wall, on the vines of green wrapping their way around the brick of the whitewashed villa. ‘We need to find a way to get along.’

‘Maybe if you stop pushing me in pools, that would be a start.’

‘You know,’ I pressed my lips together, trying to let any irritation simmer away, ‘I didn’t push you in.’ As much as I wish I had.

Scottie sighed, throwing the towel over her shoulder. ‘Let’s assume it was an accident.’

I saw her words for what they were: an opportunity to meet me in the middle and let the matter go. It was better than spending weeks arguing against each other.

A little more relaxed at her words, I joked, ‘And you still won’t tell me where to get coffee?’

She cracked a smile at my response, her eyes connecting with mine ‘And I probably never will.’

Her head dipped, and she looked back over through the lush garden again, a long pause filling the space between us.

‘But you’re right.’ she continued. ‘I’m serious about all of this, everything you said on the plane—’

I cut her off, ‘That was mean of me, I … I was mad.’

‘That’s not the problem.’

My brows pushed together in confusion as I watched her bite her lip in a move I could’ve sworn was nerves, that was, if she was even capable of feeling them.

‘It was all true,’ she added.

‘I swear, I was just mad. I didn’t mean it.’ I found myself arguing back, for some reason, trying to soothe her.

‘You did,’ she called me out on the lie as a calm look settled across her features. ‘And so did I. It’s not the point. I meant what I said about you, but it doesn’t mean it’s true. You know yourself, people come back from those surgeries all the time.’

She was right. They did. But my situation was different. A heavy knot pulled in my chest, the fear making the air feel tighter. I sat down to the right of her, avoiding the skinny grey cat that was perched at the end of the wall, watching our every move with its big eyes. There were dozens on the grounds of the villa, no doubt acting as a deterrent for mice and insects, but that didn’t mean I had to like them.

‘There were … complications,’ I admitted. ‘It wasn’t straight-forward. The surgeon botched the job, and that’s why the rehab took so long.’

I didn’t want to go into the details, the pain still seared in my memory. It was supposed to be simple, a few weeks of recovery and followed by intensive therapy. Instead, weeks had turned into months and corrective surgeries that never should’ve been needed, and suddenly I was staring down the barrel of losing everything. I’d never been in that position before, where everything balanced so precariously.

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