Page 34 of The Night Shift
‘And you, my friend, are an absolute melt,’ he said to himself.
Violet
The December sun shone weakly through the clouds as Violet cycled slowly up Redland Hill. She was close to home but the fatigue was kicking in and the combination of sleepless nights and the pleasant heat in her muscles from the swim made her legs heavy and slow as she pressed down on the pedals. She was tired and, if she was honest, a bit emotional. Gus’s revelations about splitting up with Amelia had left her feeling uncertain and vulnerable in a way she couldn’t really pinpoint.
It wasn’t simply the fact of the broken engagement that absorbed her, most of the time she wasn’t remotely concerned about other people’s love lives and talk of romance usually bored her witless. As far as she could tell, relationships either worked (like her parents) or they didn’t (like her aunt and the philandering Uncle Tony), and once an attachment was over, the best thing for all concerned was a clean break. Endless analysing didn’t change the facts– either you were compatible, or you weren’t and if the timing wasn’t right or two people had differing priorities it was better to call it quits than limp on for months of mutual self-delusion.
This was her usual response when hearing about other people splitting up with each other and Dev had told her she was an unfeeling wench when she’d said as much to him two years ago. He’d been curled up in a heap on the sofa for about three days wailing over some lost love by the name of Kyle, and Violet had eventually had enough. She’d hauled him outside into the backyard of their student house, where the autumn leaves had fallen and decayed into piles of murky sludge, given him a broom, and told him not to come back indoors until either the yard was clear or he’d pulled himself together, ideally both. She’d then locked the back door and refused to engage in any negotiation other than handing him mugs of tea through the kitchen window until he was done.
‘There is nothing more to talk about,’ she’d said. ‘Kyle was a wanker and you’re better off without him. End of. And for God’s sake don’t get another tattoo.’
He’d thanked her eventually– it had taken him a couple of weeks to accept that her special brand of intervention was necessary or helpful, but Violet knew he needed to move on, and she gave him short shrift when he wanted to wallow. Instead, she slowly and patiently dragged him out of the doldrums, keeping him busy and diverted until one day he was over Kyle, much as he’d got over Joseph a few years earlier (the man whose name was now covered by the Aztec symbol). A few months later he met Marvin in a nightclub and the rest, as they say, was history. Marvin hadn’t been jealous of Violet in the way of some of Dev’s previous boyfriends. He understood their long and binding friendship and treated Violet like a sister. From her point of view it was the perfect set-up– Dev had always felt like part of her family and now she simply had an additional adopted sibling.
Both men were sitting in the kitchen when she arrived home and Marvin gave her a hug and an expectant look as she came through the door. She always found it much easier to read the expressions of people she knew well, and Marvin’s excitement was bursting from every pore.
‘So!’ he said, barely able to contain himself. ‘Dev tells me you went swimming with a man. A gorgeous man who actually made you blush when you talked about him!’
She shot Dev a side-eye and he looked sheepish.
‘Ididtell him that the gorgeous man was engaged,’ Dev said pointedly, glaring at Marv. ‘And therefore not a candidate for the highly prized affections of our favourite girl.’
‘So did you have a good Christmas, Marv?’ Violet said, hanging her towel on the radiator.
‘Nuh-uh, you are not getting out of it that easily,’ said Marv. ‘At least tell us what he looked like in his trunks, or did he, ugh, was he wearing those booties like you do? If so, forget it, I don’t want to hear.’
Violet wearily pulled out a chair and sat between the two men. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ve got to get to bed, but first off, yes he was wearing the boots, and a good thing too, otherwise he’d have hated me forever. Two, he did look amazing, despite the footwear. He had on a shortie-wetsuit and basically looked like a very attractive, if chilly, surfer.’ She waited for Marvin to finish his approving nod. ‘And three, it turns out he is no longer engaged.’ She rested her arms on the table and awaited their reaction to this incendiary final detail.
Dev took a sharp intake of breath. ‘Shit girl, that was speedy work! You’ve managed to break up his relationship within two days. What did you DO to him? Do I even want to know?’
‘Yes, weabsolutelywant to know,’ said Marvin, just in case it wasn’t immediately obvious from both their expressions.
Violet held her hands up. ‘It wasn’t me, your honour,’ she said. ‘They broke up months ago. He hasn’t told anyone.’ She sighed gloomily. ‘Which obviously means he’s still in love with her.’
‘Oh,’ said Marvin. ‘You’re right– bit odd to keep it a secret unless he’s holding out hope she’ll change her mind.’
‘Not necessarily.’ Dev glared at his boyfriend for the second time in as many minutes. ‘He might just be embarrassed. It might have just been easier to keep quiet and go with the flow. Maybe he thought, well I’ll wait and see and if anyone asks directly then I’ll let them know, I just won’t volunteer the information.’
‘Is that not lying by omission?’ said Marvin before he was cut down mid-sentence by another of Dev’s looks.
‘That’s exactly what I said, Marv. And he did pretty much admit it. He also said that nobody had asked him the question quite as directly as me.’
Dev pulled her into a hug. ‘True to form,’ he said fondly. ‘Classic Violet.’
She rolled her eyes at him.
‘Main issue of course, is what we do with this knowledge,’ he said.
‘Weneed do absolutely nothing with this knowledge.’
Dev steepled his fingers together. ‘Come now, Violet. We must do something, surely? This does change things a little– it’s one less obstacle, even you have to admit that?’
‘One less obstacle to what?’ scoffed Violet. ‘Eternal love and matrimonial bliss? We both know that’s not going to happen.’
‘Well, notimmediately, no,’ Dev conceded. ‘But who knows in the future whether this could be the start of something big? Or even something small? Just asomethingwould do.’
‘Are you suggesting that I’m turning into a sad, lonely spinster?’ said Violet. ‘I’ve had boyfriends!’ She put her hands on her hips. ‘I’ve had boyfriendsrecently.’
Dev gave her a sceptical look. ‘Hmmm– I’m not sure as random hook-ups constituteboyfriends. I know you can get laid when you want to, darling. I meant something with a little more substance. A relationship. Or just something that lasts for more than a week.’
