Page 64 of (Not So) Mad About You

“Right. But given that… Well, we don’t seem to get angry a lot, do we?”

“You do,” Izzy said. “You got carried out of yoga class yesterday.”

“Right, I know I do. But I meant us as a group.”

“Charles did,” offered Julia. “Well, at the end, he did.”

Alli sighed. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” Her stomach rumbled again. She was starving. She bit into her sandwich. Itwasn’t like she was getting any answers anyway, was it?

THE PHONE WAS under her mattress, exactly where she’d left it. Not that Alli would know, not having slept in her own bed last night. Not that she was planning to sleep in her own bed tonight.

It was getting on toward evening. She wouldn’t have to wait long now. But every time she saw Bea, every look they shared, every word that came out of Bea’s mouth… Alli burned with wanting her.

She hadn’t known it was going to be like this. So all-consuming. In fact, Bea might have been the only thing she thought of all day, or she would have been if she hadn’t mentioned her suspicions the night before.

Not that anything had come from that. Alli had decided that investigating was not for her. St. Hilda’s was weird, but then she supposed most places like this were weird. She’d asked around and found out nothing odd. Okay, so the staff weren’t getting paid well, but that seemed like their problem.

She was just picking up her phone, about to check her messages, when it started to vibrate in her hand. She picked it up automatically.

“Hello.”

“Alli? Is that you?”

“Darren?”

There was a short crackling on the other line. “I, uh, I was going to leave a voicemail.”

“About what?” She started flicking through her suitcase, trying to decide if wearing fancy underwear would be too much for tonight.

“I just haven’t heard from you for a while. I mean, I usually get at least one call a day begging me to break you out of there, so I thought I’d better check that you haven’t been locked up in a padded room or anything.”

“Tactful,” said Alli, deciding just regular undies would have to do. It wasn’t like she’d be wearing them for long.

“Yeah, right, sorry. I, uh, I was just trying to make light of the situation. Probably not very tactful, you’re right.” He cleared his throat. “So, um, are you alright then?”

“Mmm.” What about a change of clothes? Or would that be too obvious?

He sighed through the phone. “I know it must be horrible for you there, Al. I’m really sorry. But I really do hope that they’re helping you. I hope that you’re learning something.”

“Right.” Not a change of clothes. Way too obvious. She’d just show up. Like she had the night before. Her legs quivered with anticipation.

“Al?”

She stopped, standing upright. He sounded serious. “What?”

“Is it really terrible?”

She sniffed. “It’s… it’s alright.”

He chuckled. “So you don’t need a rescue mission, then?”

One heartbeat. Two heartbeats. She could hear what he was offering, could hear that he was starting to feel guilty, that he was beginning to think that she’d paid her price. But… But Bea.

“Actually…” Was she really going to say this? “Actually, it’s quite calming. Restful.”

“Ah. Right. So… you might stay then?”

Outside, the evening was dark now, the grounds of the house wreathed in shadows. Twenty-four hours ago, she’d have ripped Darren’s head off for an opportunity like this. And now? Now things had all turned upside down.

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