Page 112 of Red Flag
I knew how isolating the house was, miles away from the closest town.
From the ambulance.
Before, it had always been full of such warmth.
Since Dad died, it had cooled.
To almost icy temperatures.
Nix’s car pulled up on the circular drive next to my brother’s and my mum’s. The difference between the hotshot lawyer and Nix’s red convertible was laughable. There was rich, and then there wasrich. Nix had changed the car he hired after I commented how I never wanted to drive it again. Instead, he got one that reminded me of the convertible we’d taken to the intro sequence months ago.
My brother was stupidly successful. I only aspired to be half as much.
The curtain twitched from the living room as Nix pulled out the suitcase we had packed together. We were only staying three nights and I still had clothes here from the last few months of Dad’s life when I’d moved in to help out.
Ben opened the front door with a large grin as if I hadn’t seen him only a couple of days ago.
“Alright,Liv?” He whistled as he saw the car. “Damn, Nixon, that’s a nice set of wheels.”
Nix shrugged, dragging the suitcase behind him on the gravel. “Does the job, doesn’t it?”
I shook my head at his modesty. “The heated seats are to die for.”
“Need to set up the GPS, though,” Nix grumbled and threw a thumb over his shoulder at me with a fond smile. “This one got us going in circles.”
“Only twice!” I defended as we went into the foyer and Ben closed the door behind us.
The loud boom of it closing used to be the comforting noise of someone coming home. Now, it just sounded like entrapment.
Ben chuckled. “She has no sense of direction whatsoever.”
We walked up to my room on the first floor before resting our suitcase against the wall. Nix looked around the room with a secretive smile. “Teenage Olivia.”
My room was painted light pink. Framed certificates were nailed into the walls, and embarrassingly, a poster of an emo band was on the back of the door. It hadn’t closed yet, so I’d have to sneak that down before we went to bed.
“Very different to the flat,” he commented.
“Oh yeah, congrats,” Ben said, turning to avoid looking at me. “Heard you’re moving in together.”
The little stirrer.Maybe he’d forgotten that time I’d nearly drowned him in the pond.
Maybe he needed a damn reminder.
“Thanks, mate,” Nix said and patted him on the shoulder, still looking around. “Just made sense. She practically had a diary lock on her front door.”
Ben laughed and nodded. “Well, at least one of our guests of honour is funny.”
“One of them?” I asked.
“Mum and her boyfriend have just nipped out to get something,” Ben said. “I wanted to be here to give you the heads-up.”
I scowled but Ben only shrugged.
He’d subtly popped that in the conversation, hadn’t he? The heads-up should have been before we left the apartment.
Because I wouldn’t have come to this drama episode.
“But also neededyouhere so you couldn’t back out.”
