Page 131 of Begin Again Again

Sal raised an eyebrow. “Can you?”

“Not really,” Beth admitted. “My parents are dicks, but what you’re going through sounds like bullshit.”

Sal wiggled around on their leather stool. “It is.”

Beth waited.

Sal glared down at the orange slices. “They kicked me out. Mum mostly, but Dad didn’t stop her. Then she texted me saying I was an embarrassment and to never talk to them again. All that shit.”

“Fucking hell.”

“Yup.” Sal downed half their Old Fashioned. “Then Mum calls on Christmas and asks why I’m not there.”

Beth gasped.

“Exactly. Calls me ‘Sally’ too. Calls me ‘she.’ Then I saw the fucking Facebook thing she put up.”

“What was the…?”

“Here. Have a look.” Sal pulled out their phone, fiddled around and handed it to Beth.

She looked down and saw a Facebook post from Lauren Thomas, a glamorous blonde who looked way too young to be the mother of adult children. Beth glanced at Sal. “Is that…?”

“My dear mama? Sure is. Read the thing.”

Beth glanced back down.

Merry Christmas from the Thomas family!Hope your day is as magical as ours! Love Dave, Lauren, Byron and Sally!

Grimacing, Beth took in the photo. Shamefully the first thing she noticed about it was Byron—specifically how hot he looked in a black t-shirt with his arms folded over his chest. The second thing she noticed was Audrey, smooth and perfect in a pink dress at his side. God she was sexy.

“Horrible, isn’t it?” Sal asked.

Beth realised she was baring her teeth. She adjusted her face and noticed the person standing at the front of the photo. “What the fucking fuck!”

The sight of Byron’s sister in a slinky pink dress and heels, their long hair tumbling down their back was startling. Not because Sal looked beautiful—they were beautiful now—but because past Sal looked so basic Beth wouldn’t have been surprised if they loved The Bachelor and Mario Badescu face spray and never had a genderqueer thought in their lives. She gaped at Sal. “Your mum put this upthis year?”

“Yep. Christmas 2020.”

“That’s dogshit.”

“Pretty much.”

Something about the picture drew Beth’s gaze again. She squinted. “Jesus! Are you and Audrey wearing the same dress?”

Sal rolled their eyes. “Such a crime. I was desperate for a sister.”

Beth nodded. “I don’t know what’s weirder—that you used to cosplay as Byron’s ex or that your mum is so delusional.”

“It’s pretty tragic, isn’t it?”

“She’s tragic,” Beth corrected. “You’re just figuring things out.”

She checked the time at the top of Sal’s phone. 3.15pm. Byron was only an hour away if he came right after work—which he usually did. Beth weighed her options. “Hey, Sal?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to be here when Byron shows up? Do you want to talk to him about this?”

---