Page 23 of Why Cheese?
Imagine the scandal if your mother finds out.
“Oh, looks like Roq forgot some of his cheese things,” I shout. Is my voice higher?“Let me just get that.” Yep, that is definite chipmunk territory.
I heft up the box and make a beeline for the basement ladder. Just before I pop down, I peer across the floor. Cheddy’s got a hand around Brie’s shoulder. He pulls him closer and my toes clench.
Are they gonna…?
“Here’s your brush,” Cheddy says.
“To it, then,” Brie responds.
Oh. They’re working. Of course, they are. Two men aren’t going to start peeling each other’s clothes off in front of a window. Probably.
Certain I’m lobster red, I ease my way down the ladder, both hands wrapped around the box. It makes little clunk-clunk noises as I go. So if Cheddy and Brie sometimes,ya know, to work the edge off, then what do Cam and Roq get up to? My brain dances with the two of them at first arguing, tempers and nostrils flaring, before the stoic Roq grabs Cam by the face and—
“What are you playing at?”
My foot misses the next rung. Cam’s accusation echoes from the dark basement below. I nearly yelp from him challenging my filthy thoughts.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Roq answers, his voice disinterested.
“Sheep’s milk? Again?” Cam presses.
“It will work this time,” Roq insists.
“Just like in Venice, and Dorset, and Mar—”
“I know,” Roq snarls. That dormant accent is in full flare, dropping his voice to a dangerous growl. “Do you get a cheap thrill out of listing my mistakes? At least I am trying while you waste your time chasing skirts.”
“There it is. There it always is,” Cam crows.
“There is nothing.” Roq’s snarling evens out to a calm tone. “Now leave me be and get back to work.”
“Work, work, work. You’ve made work your life while refusing to live.”
“How can I live like this?” he exclaims before softening to a pang of regret. “How can any of us live like this?”
Cam doesn’t speak for a few minutes, the silence overwhelming. I press my lips so tight together they go numb. What’ll they do if they find out I’m eavesdropping?
“Why do I bother?” Cam says.
“I don’t know,” Roq answers, his voice nearly a whisper. New sounds fill the air, clanks of metal and wood, followed by the slow shuffle of feet.
Oh, no. Is Cam coming over here? Will he try to climb the ladder while I’m on it? What do I do?
The drawing footsteps pause. “Three months. You think she’s not going to figure it out before your pièce de résistance is finished?”
“Humph,” is all Roq says back.
“She’s not a fool,” Cam defends me.
My lips lift in a smile that turns into a panicking, silent scream. No one’s ever said I’m not a fool before, but I’ve heard the opposite my whole life. Growing overwhelmed, I try to rise up the ladder by lifting the box a step.
“Maybe we can trust her. If not for her, we’d still—”
I try to climb, fairly certain there’s a rung just under my foot. But as I place it down, the ball of my fool slices through empty air. “Oh sh—!” I cry out, slipping off the ladder. The box bounces on every rung, knocking into my chin as the tips of my toes hit each metal step along the way. There’s no stopping me as I hit the ground, then fall to my ass at Cam’s feet.
Blinking in the dark, I tip my head back to find both a confused Cam and a growly Roq staring at me. “Hi,” I sputter out.
