Page 91 of (Not So) Mad About You

“Well, you’d best leave me to it,” he said.

She took a breath. “Um, I really need a car,” she began.

“Not my problem, is it love?” he said.

And he was big and oily and, to be truthful, she was a little bit scared of him. So she started pulling the bags of linens out of Benny’s boot.

“She’s in good hands,” the mechanic said cheerfully.

“It’s a he,” said Bea, getting the last bag out.

“What’s that?”

She shook her head and sighed. “Nothing.” She looked around. She’d called for a taxi twenty minutes ago but it still wasn’t here.

There was nothing to do but wait.

She sat on the curb with her bags as the mechanic winched Benny onto the back of a truck. Why did this have to happen today?

???

“Where have you been?” screeched Alli as Bea stumbled through the doors with bags under her arms and more in her hands.

She rushed over to help.

“There’s a problem,” said Bea. “Um, slight problem.”

“What is it?” Alli knew that her voice was too high, could feel that her stomach was starting to turn acidic, her mouth tasted bitter.

“It’s fine,” Bea said. “Just, um, there’s been an issue with Benny. He’s at the garage now.”

“Oh god,” Alli said, just as Sid came around the corner.

“Hi, Sid,” said Bea. “What are you doing here?”

“Starving to death,” he muttered. “I’m going to get a sandwich.”

“No.”

Bea looked around.

Alli felt hot and flushed. “No,” she said again. “Absolutely not.” The words were on the tip of her tongue. “Get back in there and fix that hole.” There was so much more that she wanted to say, and she was struggling not to say it, struggling to keep herself together. She hadn’t felt this way for a long time.

All that therapy, all that work, and it was all for nothing. She was still angry, she could still lose her temper, she could still…

“Deep breath.” Bea’s hand caught Alli’s, squeezed it. “Deep breath,” she said calmly, almost hypnotically.

Alli breathed.

“You’ve got this,” whispered Bea. “We’ve got this.”

Another breath. The air around her was cooling.

“Now, what’s this about a hole?” asked Bea.

Alli told her.

Bea turned to Sid. “Go finish fixing it,” she said evenly. “It won’t take that long. Once it’s done, you can leave. Simple. If you’re hungry, I can order something in.”

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