Page 40 of Love Is: Two Bodies One Soul

ChapterTwelve

‘Is that you?’Kate called from the kitchen as Lexie let herself into her friend’s second-floor apartment.

‘Hope so,’ Lexie said, swallowing an ironic smile. Perhaps Kate was expecting other visitors. She certainly hoped not. After the tension of the afternoon, all Lexie wanted was a quiet evening with her friend and an early night.

Kate popped her head out of the kitchen. ‘I’ve got a takeaway. Indian. I hope that’s all right for you.’

‘It is.’ Lexie shrugged out of her coat and hung it on a spare hook.

‘You didn’t bring him back with you?’ Kate called, her voice accompanied by the sounds of dishes and cutlery being gathered.

‘Who?’ Lexie kicked off her shoes and padded down the corridor.

‘Owen.’ Kate appeared in the kitchen doorway again, this time with a laden tray.

‘Why would I bring him here?’

‘Cos, you’ve only been down the road together in Camden,’ Kate replied and swept by, heading for the sitting room. ‘Fetch the drinks, will you? They’re on the kitchen table.’

Lexie found a bottle of wine, two glasses, and some beer. She gathered the lot in her hands and followed the spicy aroma.

‘So, how did it go?’ Kate asked, not looking up from peeling back the covers on the takeaway trays.

‘Bloody awful,’ Lexie replied, and opening a beer, she slumped onto a squashy chair and let out a long sigh.

Kate passed over a plate on which she had already spooned some rice. ‘Help yourself to the rest. There’s veggie curry and also spicy prawns with veg.’

‘Thanks.’ Lexie stared at it. Owen had made her so miserable she had entirely lost her appetite.

Kate poured herself a glass of wine and sat back. ‘So … not a success?’

‘Nowhere near it.’

‘Shame and I thought you two would get on. You make a very glamorous couple. So well suited.’

Lexie rolled her eyes. ‘I can’t imagine why you would think that. Haven’t you noticed the man needs a personality transplant?’

‘No. I haven’t. I’ve found Owen kind, courteous and considerate.’

‘Well, that’s not how he is with me. He’s the rudest, most self-absorbed person I’ve ever met.’

Kate took another sip of her wine. ‘I’m surprised you think that. He’s?’

‘He hardly spoke to me on the way there,’ Lexie burst out. The pent-up frustration and fury from the afternoon had to be released, else she would have a sleepless night churning over it.

‘What? Not a word,’

‘Nothing, except. “We’ll get the bus” and “Here’s the stop”.

‘He’s shy,’ Kate suggested uncertainly.

‘Ha! Don’t make excuses for him. He’s not shy, and he knew exactly what he was doing. Freezing me out. He doesn’t like me, and he doesn’t want me working with him.’

‘He does. It wasn’t you. It was the assignment. You heard him call it the assignment from hell, and the rest of the office heard his argument with George over it earlier in the morning.’

‘I don’t care if he hated the assignment. There was no excuse for what happened when we arrived at the meeting place.’

‘What did he do?’

‘We’d just stepped inside, and he turned to me in front of everyone and said, and I am quoting exactly here: “Leave the talking to me. Don’t get in the way, don’t ask any questions, and I’ll tell you when I need any photos taken”. The arrogant misogynist bastard! And to think I tried to help him last Friday!’

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