Page 22 of All the Right Words
Brenda raised an eyebrow. ‘Leave it.’
‘You didn’t ever think about murdering him at any point?’ Gina asked evenly.
Brenda gave her a look. ‘Of course I did. He cheated on me with the woman who brought our Tesco delivery. And you know what? She substituted cucumber for a banana the last time I saw her. How stupid do you have to be to think those things are interchangeable, I ask you!’
Gina tried not to laugh. ‘But I bet you could get away with it if you wanted. Murder. I mean, who knows more than you about that?’
‘I guess I might have picked up a few…’ She blinked. ‘Oh. Oh!’
‘What?’
‘I thought of this thing. I wanted to…’ Brenda paused and leaned in conspiratorially. They were almost touching noses. ‘I just want to prefix this by saying I wouldneverhave done it. But I was distraught, and the fantasy brought me some comfort.’
‘Of course,’ Gina assured her.
A wicked grin appeared on Brenda’s lips. ‘But I did think ofonepretty great way I could have killed him and framed that supermarket slut for it.’
‘Go on,’ Gina said.
***
Gina flopped onto her sofa in her tiny one bedroom flat. It wasn’t a lot bigger than Brenda’s office; truth be told. But Gina was not a fan of house shares, so she got comfy with being able to see into the bathroom from the kitchen.
What she needed right now were food and TV. She was mid-order on her phone (a greasy burger was in the basket) when a call interrupted her before she could hit order. It was from Olivia. Though it came after hours, Gina assumed she wanted to know how things had gone with Brenda.
‘Gina! Harper wants to take me to a bloody funfair!’
For a second, Gina was baffled. And then she realised it was their next date. A fun fair sounded alright to Gina. She quite liked them. But Olivia? Gina couldn’t picture her spinning on the waltzers, eating candy floss, playing hook a duck. She wasn’t the type. At all. Still, Gina wasn’t sure why she was getting the update. Not a lot she could do about Harper’s pick.
‘Sounds fun,’ Gina said, again trying not to engage.
‘Yeah, but… This is my last chance with her. And I’m not… How am I supposed to behave at a funfair?’
What Gina wanted to say in reply to that was that she didn’t care because she was exhausted from a long afternoon helping Brenda pull a book out of her arse and that she was not on board to be an out-of-hours romance counsellor.
But what she said was, ‘You’ll be fine. Just relax and be yourself.’ She didn’t exactly know what that meant, but that was what people said.
‘Look, I… I think I need more help than a pep talk.’ Whatever wild thing Gina might have imagined Olivia would say next, it certainly wasn’t, ‘I want you to come on the date.’
‘You what!?’ Gina exclaimed.
‘I mean, notphysically. I’ll put my phone in my pocket, put my earbud in, and put my hair over it so she can’t see. You can listen,’ Olivia explained like it wasn’t bonkers.
‘For what purpose?’ Gina asked.
‘So you can help me with what to say.’
That was ironic, but Gina had no words.
‘Look, I just want you to prompt me when I get overwhelmed, and I don’t know what to say,’ Olivia begged. She sounded desperate. ‘Look, I know I talk the talk at work. I know I was good at talking to the board and the shareholder's conference. But that’s because I learned how to do that stuff. Michael taught me. But nobody… I never really… I was never good at letting people get to know me. I just freeze up. And I like Harper. I’m aware this is an absurd request—too much to ask. But I’m asking it. That’s how much it means to me. I have a ton of respect for you, yet I’m happy to embarrass myself in front of you. For her,’ Olivia finished.
How in the hell was Gina supposed to say no tothat? ‘Olivia…’ she groaned. ‘Look. I’ll tell you what. I’ll listen for the first hour. But after that, you’re on your own.’
Olivia was over the moon. ‘Oh my god, Gina! You’re the best. I should get you to send a bouquet to yourself.’ Olivia laughed nervously. ‘That was a joke. See? I’m a bloody idiot.’
Gina had to smile. Poor Olivia. She was even more clueless than Gina was about this stuff. It made Gina feel like an emotionally mature adult, which didn’t suck.
‘OK, so what time are you supposed to-’
