Page 96 of After the Siren
‘My interest inHerculeswas completely innocent,’ Theo protested.
She paused. ‘AndPirates of the Caribbean? There was that time I walked in —’
‘Oh my God, Eva,stop.’ Theo had almost forgottenthatincident, and wished he hadn’t been reminded.
‘Bring the knafeh,’ she ordered.
‘Yes, ma’am.’
Theo stared at the blinking cursor. He’d managedDear Abi and Ommiand stopped. Maybe he should just ring them. But the thought of calling – of having to be on the line for whatever their initial response was – made his stomach churn. He didn’t think they’d have a problem with him being bisexual, but he also didn’t think it had ever occurred to them that he might be. He didn’t want a box seat for their surprise, or incredulity, or whatever their first reaction might be.
Writing an email had been a suggestion from Jenny – not about his sexuality, he still hadn’t told her anything about that, but she’d floated the idea of him raising some of his feelings about his family and his football in an email rather than in person. She said it would allow him to ‘set clear boundaries’ about their response. He’d been mulling that over.
He called Priya after a few more minutes of staring at the screen. She’d taken a two-week holiday in some lush mountain cabin and had been keeping him updated with observations about the scenery, the people in the other cabins, and her reading material. She liked to set a reading theme for holidays, and this time it wastentacles. It had led to a very varied selection of books.
‘What’s up?’ she asked. Theo could hear jazz playing in the background.
‘Nothing urgent, if you’re busy.’
‘I am so far from busy.’ She sounded very pleased about it. ‘I am lying in front of the fire with a whiskey and a book. I have never been less busy.’
‘Sounds idyllic.’
‘I needed it so badly. I have not checked my emails once. I am thriving.’
‘Do you feel like thriving while helping me with something?’
‘Of course.’
‘I’m thinking about coming out to my parents.’
‘Wow.’ There was a moment of silence. ‘Why now? Because it went well with Eva?’
Theo tapped his finger absently against the space bar. ‘Maybe. I don’t really know. I’m not going to do it today. I’ve just been thinkinghowI’d do it.’
‘Or is this because of Jake?’ That was Priya – right for the jugular.
He leaned back in his chair. ‘I guess what happened with Jake made me think more about the fact I hadn’t told them. AndwhyI hadn’t told them.’
‘So what’s the plan?
‘I’m writing an email.’
‘How’s that going?’
‘How do you think?’
Her laugh was sympathetic.
‘It’sweird. How do you tell people something like that?Hi, how are you? I’m bisexual. Love, Theo.’
‘That would get the job done.’
‘I feel like I need to tell themwhyI’m telling them now.’
Priya made a thoughtful noise. ‘Do you? I mean, I don’t think you owe them a big explanation or anything. You could just say it’s important to you that they know and leave it at that.’
‘They’re going to ask how long I’ve known.’
