Page 86 of In the Long Run
‘Would you like to revise your earlier “no comment”?’
‘No.’I laugh, surprised by how much fun this conversation is.I’m not fraught with worry about what Knox thinks of me, or wondering what unforeseen drama lurks around the corner waiting to ruin it all.I’m just a woman, standing in her kitchen with her friend, giggling over the guy I want to know everything about.The guy who’s doing his best to share the hard stuff with me.He could’ve just said it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go to Alizée’s with him and Eugene, but he had explained.He’d had the emotional awareness to spare me the anxiety that uncertainty would breed.‘I really like him.’
‘Wow,’ Caleb drawls.‘Since when do you talk about your feelings?What have you done with my friend?’
‘Shut up.’I roll my eyes.
‘I knew it!’Caleb points at my face, which must be broadcasting my thoughts like it always does.‘This is great.I’m so happy for you.’
‘I hate you,’ I tell Caleb, who laughs at me.‘But I’m happy for me too.’
‘And …’
I snort.‘Fine.He’s got a really big dick.’
One I hope to get a lot better acquainted with later tonight.
‘Hey,’ I say to Caleb.‘Can you help me make something nice for Eugene and Knox for dinner?They’re having a rough day.’
‘I can think of several nice things you could do for Knox’—I throw a tea towel at Caleb—‘but sure, let’s cook for your man.’
30
KNOX
Talk about a shitfight.There’s no other way to describe it.Instructed not to enter Alizée’s by a crime scene officer typing into a laptop, Eugene and I peer through the open back door.The back lock hangs at an unnatural angle, the wood around it splintered.Water has mixed with what must be flour – from the big bags bought in bulk and kept in the storeroom, I’m guessing – covering the pale blue and white tiles in sludge.Empty three-litre milk bottles have been tossed on top of the mess.The whole place reeks, somehow rotten and stale all at once.
‘Oh, my Alizée’s,’ Eugene whispers, his eyes filling with tears.I grab his hand and crouch next to his wheelchair, but I don’t know what to say.He’s been avoiding coming back here for months and now he has to see it like this?
How could so much damage be done in so little time?
‘I’m so sorry,’ Celeste croaks.‘This is all my fault.’
She’s paler than normal and her hands are filthy.So are the bottoms of her jeans and her shoes.
‘I forgot to set the alarm.We were short-staffed, and Brand Bolton came in as we were closing—’
I knew it.
‘Woah, woah, woah,’ I say.‘Take a deep breath and tell useverything.Why was he here?Again?’He’s the only rat that’s been anywhere near Alizée’s.
Celeste gulps and wipes her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket.
‘Here,’ I say, squeezing Eugene’s shoulder and turning the wheelchair towards one of the picnic tables near the car park.He doesn’t really need the chair anymore, but I wanted him to be comfortable.‘Let’s talk over here.Are you warm enough?’I ask Eug, ready to hand over my jacket if he needs it.The rage burning through my body will keep me warm enough.
He doesn’t answer me, just stares over at Alizée’s.I wait until Celeste is slumped on a bench, her elbows on the table, face buried in her hands.‘Let’s start again.You were about to close and …’
‘I’ve ruined everything.’She hiccups, shoulders shaking.
I shake my head.‘No, you said Brand came in?’
‘Yeah.It was just me and Margaux.She was doing the final kitchen clean-up and I was counting the till.I told him we’d packed everything away and he’d have to come back, but he pulled out a measuring tape and started measuring things.It was really weird.I told the police this already,’ she says, when I open my mouth to ask that exact question.
‘Then what happened?’I ask.Next to me, Eugene heaves a huge sigh and when I look over, he’s shaking.I pull my beanie off and put it on his head.Follow it with my jacket, which I use to cover his legs.He doesn’t fight me.
Celeste opens and closes her eyes, scrunching them shut for a beat, her nose wrinkling.
‘He laughed and said something about how it was cute that we were trying to save the place.That it would be his one day soon.’
