Page 77 of Love Is…?

“You really should. It looks like you need to.” Angel tilted her head in encouragement.

Jayde blew out a breath. “Something happened last night and I don’t understand it. We were, you know, getting into it, and pretty much on our way to—” She snapped her mouth shut at Angel’s raised hand.

“Yep. Got the picture. I can work with that.”

Jayde’s shoulders dropped in relief. “Okay. Well, suddenly, she stopped and said she had to leave because she wanted to be well rested for the hike. It was almost like she was embarrassed.” Jayde reached out and placed her mug on a coaster. “I have enough self esteem to know it wasn’t about me, but?—”

“It was.”

“What?” Somehow she’d hurt Tessa without even knowing it. Jayde, appalled, looked at Angel’s face for clues.

Angel placed her mug on the table as well. “It was and it wasn’t. Look, Tessa is the world’s most wonderful sprite of joy, but she holds onto negativity with the strongest glue in the universe. She assumes, because of shit experiences in her history of bedroom-related activities, that all future bedroom-related activities will also be rather shit.”

Jayde gasped. “How shit are we talking?”

Angel shook her head. “Not what you’re thinking. We’d think of them as teeny blips but they’re Tessa’s teeny blips and her story to tell.”

Jayde’s heart constricted.

“Tessa is tame. I told you that a while ago,” Angel continued. “I wasn’t joking when I said she’s as vanilla as ice cream.”

Jayde pressed her fists into her thighs. “But that’s fine! It’s fine.” She leaned forward to emphasise her words.

Angel shrugged. “You’d think.”

“What?”

“Hm. Look, I’m about to break the cousin-flatmate secret code but sometimes you have to when potential girlfriend-type people are sitting right there.” She pointed at Jayde’s shocked face. “I know these things. Anyway, here’s the heavily edited Tessa-can-fill-in-the-rest version.” She shuffled farther into her corner of the sofa, and grabbed a cushion to hold. “Tessa is vulnerable and yet strong. She’s picked up women before but been cast aside. She's been judged so many times about her apparently bland bedroom choices that she now gaslights herself.”

Jayde stared, then wiped her hands down her face. She and Tessa definitely needed to talk.

“That explains quite a bit. I was atKings and Queenstonight and ran into a woman named Olna.”

Angel jerked. “Wait. What?”

“She said her name was Olna. I’m pretty sure I got it right.”

Angel raised her eyebrows. “Blonde Canadian wearing glasses?”

“Well, her hair was probably blonde once but now it’s more multicoloured. Sort of drifting towards pink.” Jayde gestured vaguely. “She claims to be Tessa’s girlfriend, but said that they’re on a break, or doing the long-distance thing, or something. I thought Tessa said they’d broken up ages ago. Olna wasn’t clear, because she was three sheets to the wind.”

Angel’s eyes were round. “What else did she say to you?”

Jayde huffed out a breath. “Pretty shitty stuff about Tessa.” She pointed. “About exactly the sort of thing you were just telling me. Oh! Also that she cheated on Tessa.”

“I knew it!” Angel smacked the arm of the sofa. “Fucking cheating shit of a woman.” She growled at Jayde. “Tell me you drop-kicked her up the street.”

Jayde pursed her lips. “I was close to it. I was, still am, angry about her words and her actions. Anyway, she followed me out of the pub, which added to the anger, et cetera. I have no idea where she was heading off to, but she wouldn’t have got there in one piece, so I shoved her into a taxi, and sent her back to the hotel.”

Angel scoffed. “I hope she had enough money. Melbourne taxi drivers get pissed off when their meters don’t match the cash.”

“She’ll be fine. There was an equal meter to cash ratio,” Jayde said.

Angel gave Jayde an inscrutable look. “Goodo.”

Jayde shrugged. “She said she’s here to surprise Tessa. Maybe she really is.”

Angel grunted. “Doubt it. I never trusted that woman with Tessa’s heart, even when Tessa was adamant that her heart would be fine.” Angel’s face dropped and she shook her head sadly.

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