Page 18 of The Grand Duel

I consider lying, because if Edna is the devil, Scarlet is hell itself.

I’m not. At the office but heading home now.

The three dots appear and bounce. And bounce. And bounce. And I know that she’s about to give me shit for it.

It’s been a day Scar.

It’s been a fucking week.

The dots stop then start again.

Need to talk about it?

I look up and around my office, the silence unnaturally familiar.

I quietly fucking hate it.

They don’t need your shit, too, Charles.

I nod and chew on my cheek as I type my reply.

Nothing to say. You girls get some sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow.

When was the last time you went to The Nightingale?

I stiffen at her message.

Circumstances have tightened our entire friendship group over the last few years, my friends’ wives and girlfriends becoming trusted and important to me. I know they know my vices, but still.

?

It was Nina’s suggestion. But don’t you pay a shit ton for the membership? You don’t pay however much a year because it doesn’t scratch an itch, do you?

I’m fine Scar.

Yeah, me too.

I sit and stare at her message for a while, knowing she doesn’t expect a reply.

Knowing she isn’t fine.

FIVE

Lissie

The club is busy. Maybe the busiest I’ve seen it in the four shifts I’ve worked. I’m on the second level with Iona and Alex, Christian watching us as he loiters at the far end of the bar. Or watching Iona, maybe.

There’s something about the club I’ve quickly come to love. It’s not easy to explain, but I feel like I fit here. When the music is playing and I’m making a cocktail, watching people mingle out in the room, I’m just Lissie. My mind quiets, and the night ticks by quicker than it would if I was at home on my own.

It might be my favourite job I’ve ever had.

“What’s with all the martinis tonight?” Iona asks as she lines her glass up next to mine. “I swear this is the fifth I’ve made this hour.”

I chuckle and pour the gin into the mixer. “How come you’re not out in the room tonight? I didn’t know you worked the bar.”

“We’re not allowed to work the floor more than four nights of a week, and I have a shift on Sunday.”

“You’re not? Why?”

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