Page 11 of The Missus
Alanna paused for roughly half a millennium. ‘Why would you want that? Are you having problems with the rent?’
‘Oh, no. I’m all good. I wouldn’t charge you. I own the place. Well, mortgage it. But I can manage that alone.’
‘You do?’ Alanna asked, looking Keira up and down. ‘Aren’t you about my age, though? How the hell did you manage that? Rich parents or something?’
Alanna was still standing in the elevator, and the doors began to close. Keira put a hand in front of the sensors, and they opened again. ‘Self-made woman. I made my money… Anyway. It’s got two bedrooms. My second one’s been a study, but I reckon I could shift the desk out. My bedroom’s got the space for it—’
‘Hold on, hold on,’ Alanna said, raising a hand. ‘You’re offering to give me your second room for free? Why on earth would youeverdo that?’
Keira grinned sheepishly. ‘Well, I was sort of thinking we could have… an arrangement?’
Alanna put a hand to her chest. ‘Ohmy. Keira—’
Keira tutted. ‘I didn’t meanthat. Jesus.’
Alanna looked relieved. But only for a second. ‘Oh. So what’s the nature of this arrangement, exactly?’
The doors started to close again, and Keira put her hand in front of them. They bounced back open. ‘I want you to be my girlfriend,’ Keira told her.
Alanna sighed. ‘I’ve had quite a day of it, Keira. And I would love it if you could lay this out simply for me, because so far, you’ve given me several heart attacks on the bounce during this conversation, and I don’t know how much more I can take.’
Keira took a deep breath and gathered her words together. ‘I want you to be my fake girlfriend so that I can pretend to some of my…overnight gueststhat I’m taken. Like you did before.’
Alanna paused. ‘I see.’
‘All those girls… Sometimes it gets heavy. Not every time. But when it does…Shit. I always thought that if I was straight with them, that it made it impersonal, and they were free of any bullshit ideas about me. But some of them seem to go and catch feelings anyway. I don’t like that—for meorthem. I don’t want anyone feeling hurt about the way I am. Which is single for life. And Ialsodon’t want to be stalked on my doorstep. So what I’m thinking is that I’d rather them feel thatI’mthe piece of shit than feel liketheygot rejected. That way, everyone wins.’
The doors began to close. Alanna waved in front of the sensor, and they opened again. ‘I’m just gonna come out.’ She stepped out of the elevator. ‘Let me just… Let me think about this for a second.’ She chewed the inside of her cheek as the elevator doors shut behind her. ‘How often do you have your visitors?’
Keira shrugged. ‘I don’t plan it. Shit happens. Sometimes Imakeit happen, obviously. Trolling the apps and whatnot. But sometimes it’s on the fly. At the gym or whatever. One time I pulled in a shoe shop.’
‘Come on, I’m gonna need a number if I’m going to consider this,’ Alanna said reasonably.
Keira thought it over. ‘Well, it varies. But I guess—broadly–it’s, I don’t know, maybe a couple of times a week?’ she said.
Alanna’s eyebrows shot up.
‘Is that a lot?’ Keira asked, suddenly a little embarrassed.
Alanna softened. ‘I don’t know what could be considered a lot.’ She still looked undecided about the offer.
‘I know this is weird. I see that. But I thought it could be mutually beneficial,’ Keira said.
Alanna looked down at the bag in her hand. ‘But like, how long would we do this?’
‘We could work that out. I mean, you could leave whenever you like. Unless we found that it was working. For both of us.’
Alanna looked like she was swaying in Keira’s direction. She just needed a little push. ‘Look, it’s rent-free. Your money is yours. And you spend a few minutes every now and again putting on a little performance. Where are you going to find a better deal than that?’ Keira asked.
Alanna’s shoulders slumped in resignation. ‘I guess wecouldtry it for a few days. See how it works. If it works at all.’
‘Great!’ Keira said. ‘That’s great.’ She hit the button for the elevator, and the doors opened again. She took the bag from Alanna’s hand. ‘Come on, roomie.’
She stepped into the elevator, Alanna right behind her. Alanna looked at the ceiling of the elevator. ‘Alanna Hall, what the hell are you getting yourself into?’ she muttered to herself.
Keira gave her a grin as she pressed the button for their floor. ‘This is gonna be great, seriously.’
Alanna sighed as though she didn’t fully believe that. Keira didn’t mind. Alanna had said yes, and that was all Keira needed.
