Page 30 of The Reality of Us
Owen didn’t understand. No one did.
But this was the way it had to be.
11
When Alice woke up, hours after silencing her running alarm, the light filtering through the gaps in her curtains was muted, sombre. She reached for her phone automatically, her heart thumping at the notification-filled screen. Ignoring the ones from the usual suspects (TikTok, Instagram, her mother), her finger hovered over the Google Alerts icon. Tucking the covers tightly under her arms, she took a deep breath and opened the app.
There they were. In the park. There was no audio, but it was clear from her rigid posture and Phoenix’s waving arms that they were fighting. Her fingers twisted in her hair on the video, and she had to physically stop herself from doing the same thing.
Cops Called to Domestic Dispute Between Estranged Stars.
It was all her nightmares come true. Alice scrolled through the first article, words jumping off the screen like grenades. Phoenix had always been so much better at playing the media game than she was.
“I never thought she’d give up on us so easily. She won’t even try to fix this,” Phoenix said.
Anger raced through her veins. What about all the times she covered for him? Made excuses about where he was, what he was doing. Alice was all out of tries because Phoenix had bled her dry.
A comment caught Alice’s eye. She pushed back on her pillows, brushed her hair off her face, and sat up, the hard wall behind her shoulder blades reminding her this wasn’t fan fiction.
@ShutUpPhoenix: ‘He even went so far as to wipe a lone tear away, struggling to compose himself.’ Are you f*cking serious? He cheated on her & now he’s playing the victim? #nodeal #jogonmate If UR reading this, Alice, RUN. Don’t stop. Don’t look back. U deserve better. We all deserve better. Can’t wait to see what U do next. My days as #PhoenixPhanatic are officially over. #TeamAlice
It wasn’t the only comment of support; there were more than she could’ve ever imagined. Alice threw the covers back so quickly her phone fell to the floor, landing in an Ugg boot. Her feet barely touched the carpet before she yanked her cupboard open, reaching for her favourite soft, fluffy cardigan.
No more standing still.
She recited her sales pitch for Lulu all throughout her shower and as she blasted her hair and put on her make-up. When she swiped her liquid eyeliner on, curling it at the end into the perfect cat’s eye, she was invincible.
Alice nodded at her reflection.
She could do this.
The bell above the door jingled, and Alice wiped her feet on the doormat, her lips stretching into a grin. ‘Buy yourself something pretty’ was written in blocky, black letters on the brown coir. Hidden speakers piped out soft jazz, the music drifting down from above like the leaves slipping off the trees outside. Her sample candles clinked against each other in her oversized tan shoulder bag.
Lulu waved enthusiastically from the counter a few metres away, mouthing an apology as she pointed to the cordless phone held to her ear. She was wearing a gorgeous blush-coloured cropped velvet jacket and an intricately beaded headband. Alice smiled at the older woman before turning and looking at the store properly. Some of the tables were covered with delicate lace tablecloths, others with velvet or fake grass. Miniature pewter birds were lined up next to leftover Easter stock, bright yellow sale stickers stuck to their ears. Rows of necklaces dangled from a tiered hanging stand attached to the ceiling and a crystal display glittered next to the counter.
Alice walked past shelves of bath bombs and face masks, her shoulders relaxing when she realised there weren’t any candles. She’d checked the website, but it was a little outdated, so she hadn’t been sure.
She was so lost in reading the ingredients list for a bath bomb that smelt like heaven that she didn’t hear Lulu’s sandals slapping across the hardwood floors.
“Alice!”
She jumped, almost dropping the raspberry and vanilla bath fizzer as her hands flew to her chest.
“Sorry! How lovely to see you.” Lulu beamed at Alice, her bright red lipstick bleeding a little into the fine lines around her mouth.
“Your store is so … I don’t even know how to describe it.” Alice couldn’t keep the awe out of her voice. Why had she waited so long to come in here? She’d been skirting around the sweet white painted brick cottage with its picket fence covered in climbing roses ever since she arrived. She spied a gorgeous pastel pink leather jacket hanging behind Lulu and added it to her mental wish list. If Lulu agreed to stock her candles, maybe she would buy herself something pretty.
“I’ve been here twenty years next month. I needed an escape from all the testosterone at home.” Lulu’s eyes twinkled as she placed her hands on her face. The delicate stack of bracelets on her wrist tinkled with the movement. “I still can’t believe it’s all mine some days.”
There was a pang in Alice’s chest. This is what she wanted. Not necessarily a store, that was quite the leap from the small candle start-up she was planning, but something she built with her own two hands. Something that was hers, that she created. That no one could take away from her.
Alice took a deep breath, gathering her courage. “There’s something I was hoping to talk to you about.”
“Perfect.” Lulu linked her arm through Alice’s. “Me too—unless Owen’s beaten me to it.”
Owen stowed his umbrella under his arm, balancing the bag of food and tray of drinks as he pushed open the heavy door to his mum’s boutique. A few raindrops snuck through the black canvas awning. They slid down the door, dripping off the chin of the lion’s head door knocker.
He wiped his feet, shivering until the blast from the heater hit him.
