Page 69 of The Missus
Keira shrugged. ‘If you don’t want to…’
Alanna thought about whether she should say what she wanted to say and concluded that she shouldn’t. And then she said it anyway. ‘I’d say that maybe your need to make other people simple is actually because you need them to be. So that no one can ever hurt you. Because they’re just these two-dimensional jokes to you.’
Keira’s eyes bulged. ‘Jesus, Alanna.’
Alanna realised what she’d just said was far too much. The booze was lowering her inhibitions. ‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It was over the line.’
Keira looked winded. ‘I mean, Ididask for it.’
‘Yes, but I don’t know if you knew what you were asking for.’
Keira didn’t say anything for a moment. ‘Gotta say, it does sound to me like you’re describing a psychopath.’
Alanna knew she’d taken this too far already. But she wanted Keira to understand the fullness of what she was trying to say. ‘Quite the opposite. I think you might be burdened with an excess of emotion. More than most.’
Keira’s brow deepened, and there was no sign of her dimples now. ‘I can’t… I don’t know…’
Alanna didn’t want Keira to have to account for herself like this. Keira had been right all along. No good came of bringing her work home. ‘Look, I’m not your counsellor. You don’t have to listen to a word I say. I’d advise that you don’t. As far as you know, I’m fucking terrible at my job.’
Keira looked at her seriously. ‘I don’t think you are. And maybe there’s a little bit of truth in what you said.’ She paused. ‘I understand more than you think. Maybe even about you.’
‘I bet you do,’ Alanna said quietly. ‘Because I bet you’re good at your job too.’ Alanna took a pause, feeling overwhelmed. She didn’t understand how they’d ended up here, but it was too much. She decided to lighten things up. ‘Is that why you picked the mystery genre?’
‘You want to know why I write mysteries?’
‘Only if I’m not pushing my luck with all these tricky questions.’
‘It’s not tricky at all. It’s simple. The world doesn’t make a lot of sense. Bad things happen and they happen a lot. We don’t know why half the time, and there’s not much justice. But in my books, Iknow. I know why someone does a bad thing. And then I make it so karma catches up with them. It’s a just, logical world. It brings me a lot of satisfaction to create it.’
‘That’s a great answer,’ Alanna said. ‘Maybe we should do a trade-off. I get to read one of your books and I put you through a session.’
Keira started laughing.
‘What’s funny?’ Alanna asked.
‘Sorry. It’s just that I think you and I have different definitions of the word “Session.”’
Alanna felt herself blush from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair. ‘Oh, um…’
Keira chuckled. ‘I’ve embarrassed you. I don’t know what the hell made me say that.’
Alanna tried to scrape back some dignity. ‘You look kind of embarrassed yourself, actually.’
Keira laughed weakly. ‘Me? What would I have to be emb—’
Before Keira could finish that sentence off, they realised that a woman was standing next to their table, a tall blonde.
‘Hi,’ Alanna said, confused. ‘Did you want one of our chairs?’
She smiled slyly. ‘Actually, I just wondered if we could… have a chat.’
Alanna looked at Keira to see if she was as confused as she was. She didn’t look confused. She looked annoyed.
The blonde wasn’t waiting for permission to start this chat of hers. ‘So, are you two, er…’
‘What?’ Alanna asked.
‘A couple?’
