Page 50 of We Used To Be Magic

‘Shh. She’s sleeping,’ One says –Marika, I realise.

‘Okay, okay,’ a girl replies, her voice rich and gravelly. It almost sounds familiar, and I’m wondering why when the door opens and they see me, standing in the middle of the room and quite obviously not sleeping. We all stare at each other for a moment. Then:

‘Hi. I’m Nicole.’

The girl standing beside Marika is considerably shorter with a soft, round face, hourglass curves and a lilac tint to her pale hair. She’s wearing a huge fleecy coat, and when she raises her arm in greeting the sleeve gapes to reveal an arm covered with ornate, floral tattoos.

‘Nicole,’ I echo, realisation dawning. ‘I know. You did my make-up at the Miranda Browning show. You got me a pastry.’

‘Right,’ she says, eyes alighting with recognition. ‘Wow. Hi! You changed your hair.’

‘Yeah,’ I say, touching it self-consciously. ‘It’s for a campaign.’

‘It looks awesome. And you’re Marika’s roommate?’

‘Audrey.’ I smile. ‘Nice to meet you. Again.’

‘Totally. Small world, huh?’ Nicole grins, glancing between us.

Marika still hasn’t said anything. She’s just watching me, wearing faded leggings and a hoodie that I’ve never seen beforeunderneath her leather jacket. But I recognise the glittery slip dress in her hand, hanging loosely from her grip. She was wearing it when she left the apartment last night.

‘Totally.’ I smile, slightly lost. ‘So—’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t message you to say I wasn’t coming back here last night,’ Marika says suddenly, apparently regaining her voice. ‘My phone died.’

‘That’s okay,’ I tell her. ‘I wasn’t here, either. I messaged you, but – I guess that’s why you didn’t reply.’

‘Yeah,’ she says simply. We’re both silent for a moment, then –

‘We’re actually about to head out for breakfast,’ Nicole says brightly. ‘Want to come?’

‘Oh, um – I actually have some errands to run right now,’ I reply. ‘But that’s really nice of you to offer. Thank you.’

‘No worries. Guess I’ll see you around?’

‘Yeah!’ I enthuse, picking up the laundry and grabbing my tote bag. ‘Yeah, totally. Um – see you.’

And then I leave, slipping past them. I shut the door behind me, and don’t linger. I definitely don’t mean to hear Nicole say, ‘She doesn’t know?’

I don’t hear Marika’s answer. I don’t need to, to understand.

EZRA

IT STARTSRAINING AROUNDMIDDAY,WHICH ISSO HILARIOUSLYon-the-nose that it actually lifts my mood slightly. I watch it come down from the restaurant on the corner of my street, eating dumplings and feeling sorry for myself.

Audrey left without saying goodbye this morning. By the time I woke up it was like room service had come and gone. The bed had been made, the bathroom smelt like bleach – even the spare towels were gone. The only personal touch was the note she left, which I’ve got in my pocket. I reach for it to reassure myself, smoothing it out on the table.

Thank you for everything.

Audrey x

Her handwriting is endearingly untidy, a sloping scrawl. She wrote it on the back of a receipt from the morning we got breakfast together – a small reminder of a good memory. I just wish it didn’t sound so much like a goodbye.

I reach for my phone. I’ve been contemplating messaging her all morning, but I find myself rereading Edie’s message instead – the message I should have replied to yesterday, only what’s there to say? What could she possibly want from me now?

It’s so typical of Edie to reach out just as I’m taking my first steps away from her. I deleted every trace of her from my phone post break-up, anticipating drunken lapses in judgement on mypart. Still, my notes app is full of all the sad, sentimental things I had wanted to tell her but couldn’t.

Fuck it – whatever the reasoning, I don’t want this hanging over my head. I quickly draft a response.

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