Page 26 of The Wedding Pact
‘What are you doing?’ August asked.
‘I’m texting Kenny to tell him I’ll be in late today because my friend is having a nervous breakdown.’
August batted the phone out of her hand, stopping Bel from contacting Kenny, her dental nurse and friend. ‘I am not having a nervous breakdown; I am actually very happy with the decisions I’ve made.’
‘Back it up then, and tell me what’s going on.’
August took a breath and explained how both she and Flynn had arrived on Elizabeth Street early, how he’d just flown in from Japan and was desperate to just get some accommodation sorted before starting his new, really busy job, and about how the place was perfect for both of them, so it made sense to just rent it together.
‘There’s something you’re not telling me,’ declared Bel when August had finished.
‘Nope, that’s everything.’
‘No … ’ Bel leaned forward and studied her friend’s face. ‘No, you’re leaving something out, I can tell by your twitchy eyebrows.’
‘I do not have twitchy eyebrows, I am an actress and I have full control over my face, thank you very much.’
‘Tell that to your eyebrows. What’s going on?’
August hesitated. ‘Well, there is one thing … ’ Bel waited, without saying a word. ‘It’s only a small thing, but there is a reason it has to be him that I move in with.’
‘I knew it. I knew that nothing is ever just easy breezy with you. What’s the reason?’
‘We just have to, very occasionally, just for show, no big deal, pretend to be … um …married.’
Bel sighed. ‘You and Casanova have to pretend to bemarried?’
‘Yes, but only to the landlady.’
‘Oh, good, I thought it would be to someone integral to the contract, like the postman!’
‘All right, Sarcastic Sue.’
‘What do you mean you have to pretend to the landlady that you’re married? Why do you need to do that?’
‘Because I heard her telling her son she only wanted to rent to a married couple therefore this was our only way in. It was this or both of us be homeless.’ August shrugged.
‘Homeless? You haven’t even handed in the notice to your current flat yet.’
‘But Elizabeth Street is my real home, I can feel it.’ August spent the next couple of minutes explaining to Bel and her rolling eyeballs all of the arguments she’d put forward to Flynn only the day beforehand out on the balcony, of why it wasn’t worth fighting the landlady, and how the arrangement was advantageous to both of them. By the end, Bel was shaking her head, but smiling.
‘This scheme is so typically August,’ she said. ‘And so is stubbornness, so I know I’m not going to change your mind.’
‘You’re not,’ August said, firmly.
‘And I won’t try, you’re obviously happy.’
‘I am.’
‘You’re finally going to live in your dream home.’
‘I am,’ August replied, sighing softly, relaxing her shoulders. ‘This feels like the start of something for me.’
Bel reached across and squeezed a sticky hand over August’s. ‘And Flynn really is a nice guy? You aren’t just letting the dream home cloud your judgement?’
‘He really is nice. He seems kind, and funny, and clever. I think you’ll like him.’
‘Okay, then, I’m happy for you.’ Bel smiled and checked her watch before pulling out some cash. ‘Listen, I’d better get going for work, but let’s catch up again soon. And I want to meet this husband of yours.’
