Page 60 of The Wedding Pact
From over the top of her mask, August could see Bel’s eyebrows raise towards Kenny.
‘Hey, what’s that look for?’ she said, before Bel pushed open her mouth and started counting along her teeth, tapping on them with a metal thing.
‘Nothing, three, two, one, one, two, three. Just happy for you that your fake husband makes you fake happy. Four, five, six, seven and eight.’
As Bel continued with the examination of her teeth and gums, August kept quiet (she had no choice), listening to Kenny humming along to the radio, which aptly was playing ‘Can I Have A Kiss’ by Kelly Clarkson.
Bel’s face was close to August’s, and their eyes met through the plastic glasses. The corners of Bel’s eyes crinkled, and August knew she was smiling from behind the mask, which made her start to smile, and then laugh, and she nearly choked on the probe in her mouth.
Bel sat back and removed her gloves, throwing them in the bin, and brought down her mask. ‘Everything looks great, just as it did before. No cavities, no plaque build-up, no loose dentures, all good.’
Kenny started dragging a stool over and paused to check with Bel, ‘Are we done? Can we discuss the kiss more now?’
‘Sure,’ Bel wheeled over her own stool as well, and August removed the glasses and sat up, cross-legged, on the reclining chair, and took the cup of mouthwash in her hands like she was cradling a cup of tea. ‘So how did you feel afterwards?’
‘Wait,’ said Kenny. ‘First I want to know what the actual kiss was like.’
August laughed. ‘He was a gentleman.’
‘Speaking of, did you see the new receptionist when you came in? Mark?’
‘I did, he seemed really nice. Did you kiss him yet?’
‘Kenny,’ scolded Bel, trying to keep the focus during the limited time they had. ‘August, go on, tell us about the kiss.’
‘It was … ’ she lapsed into a smile before shaking herself out of it. ‘It was very good and very professional. I think it would be believable.’
‘Did you believe it?’
‘What do you mean?’ August asked her friend.
‘Do you think he was just acting, or was hekissing youkissing you?’
That’s the million-dollar question, thought August. ‘I think it was ultimately just acting, but that we got quite into the scene.’
‘What does that mean?’ laughed Bel. ‘Wait, did you go further than kissing?’
Kenny gaped.
‘No, no, no, just kissing, but it was a big kiss, in a nice way, not like, tongues-and-grinding, just quite … smooshed?’
‘I think I know what you mean,’ said Bel. ‘So no tongues?’
‘A tiny bit of tongues,’ August whispered.
‘Are you going to do it again?’
‘No,’ said August, quickly. ‘I think he was a little embarrassed, and I think he regretted it a bit, you know, crossing over that line for a minute between flatmate-slash-friends to friends-with-benefits. We’ve agreed to just keep things as they were.’
‘Unless a public kissing display is needed,’ clarified Kenny.
‘Exactly.’
‘Are you okay with that?’ asked Bel.
‘Of course. It’s the right thing to do.’ She was okay with it, really. Sure, she’d enjoyed the kiss – maybe a little too much – and sure, she’d have kept kissing him all day if he’d wanted to. But it was just a bit of fun, a yummy distraction, and it had to stay that way. He’d made it pretty clear he didn’t want to be living with a girlfriend, and she agreed that hooking up with your flatmate was a bad idea. At least, she had felt that way. But would it really besobad … ?
Bel looked unconvinced, but moved on. ‘I do have something I wanted to talk to you about, actually, and now seems as good a time as any.’ She thought about that for a moment. ‘Or maybe it’s the worst time.’
