Page 107 of Fling

‘Hey, it’s not my fault it’s a total rip-off,’ Emily said, shooting Oscar a look.

‘Look at it this way, ladies. You get what you pay for,’ Oscar joked, causing Tara and Emily to erupt in laughter.

After a nerve-wrecking hour in the chair letting the dye set and telling Oscar the entire story about Jack, it was finally time to take the gel mask off and see the result. Tara took a deep breath. She had no idea what to expect. Oscar took the mask off and Tara looked at her reflection in the mirror. She nearly collapsed in pure shock.

She was a redhead once again.

Her first instincts were to not like it. But when she looked closer, she realized it was the most luscious shade of red she had ever seen. It was the kind of red you see on Hollywood starlets. This was Academy-Award-winning red. It was the colour of summer wine with the hue of a fiery sunset. It was like her natural colour but a more enhanced, vibrant shade. As she saw her true reflection in the mirror for the first time in years, she came to a beautiful realization.

Tara had become herself.

‘Oscar, you’re a miracle worker,’ Tara said, giving him a hug.

‘Well, we’ve been fighting the red for years with that ashy tone. It was time to let the real you shine through.’

‘Thanks, Oscar,’ Tara said. ‘I hope Jack likes it as much as I do. If he even shows up, that is.’

‘If he doesn’t appear, Tara, it’ll be his loss,’ Oscar smiled.

Chapter 37

When Tara arrived home and pulled into her driveway, she could see a moving van outside Celine’s house and dozens of cardboard boxes on her lawn. Tara got out of the car and looked across the street to see Celine arguing with the van driver. The other mothers on the street were standing outside their homes, watching Celine pack. She spotted Tara looking at her and began to rush towards her. Tara tried to avoid her gaze but she was already halfway across the road.

‘Tara!’ Celine cried. ‘Tara!’

Tara turned around. ‘Everything OK, Celine?’ she asked.

‘Tara, my life is falling apart. Everyone is calling me a con artist. We have to sell the house to refund all my ambassadors or else they’re going to sue me for fraud. We have to move to . . .’ Celine began to gag on her own words. ‘. . . we have to move to . . . THE NORTHSIDE!’

It took every ounce of Tara’s willpower not to laugh.

‘Is there anything you can do to help?’ Celine begged. ‘You work in marketing. Is there a way we can spin the story to make me look good? We’re both girl bosses. And boss babes need to support each other. I mean, you know I don’t belong on the Northside. I’m the one who put Hillcrest on the map! It won’t be the same without me.’

‘Amen to that,’ Tara smiled.

‘Excuse me?’ Celine said, taken aback. ‘I will not stand here and be judged by you or anyone else for that matter!’

‘Well, good for you not caring what people think. I’ve always admired your confidence,’ Tara said, giving Celine a dose of her own backhanded compliments.

Celine let out a grunt and stormed back to her house to finish her argument with the van driver. Tara took out her phone and opened Celine’s social media profile. She was down to only 410 followers from 10k. Then, in what was one of the most cathartic moments of her life, Tara hit the Unfollow button. The Wicked Witch of the South was now the Wicked Witch of the North and she was no longer Tara’s problem. She only wished this had all happened sooner, before she and Colin had agreed to put the house on the market. She wished she could have got to experience Hillcrest now that Celine’s spell had been lifted.

Tara headed inside to perform a quick outfit change before meeting Jack. She felt a million dollars and she already knew exactly what she was going to wear. When she opened the front door, she saw a large envelope lying on the hall floor and she immediately knew what it was.

The separation agreement had arrived.

She picked it up and carried it to the kitchen. When she opened the envelope, she saw that the document itself wasn’t that big. Her entire life with Colin, summarized down to a few pages. It didn’t feel right for their story of eighteen years to be reduced to so little. She flicked through the pages and saw the section where she was supposed to sign. She took a pen out of her handbag and held it in her hand.

As the pen kissed the paper, Tara felt a knot in her stomach. She was temporarily back on keto and she hadn’t eaten a carb in twenty-four hours, just to ensure she wasn’t bloated meeting Jack. But this didn’t feel like hunger. It was something different. Colin’s words suddenly echoed in her mind. He had told her that before she signed the separation agreement that she should look in the shed. Something to remember him by was waiting there, he had said. She looked out the kitchen window. She knew she was no match against her own curiosity.

As she approached the shed, she wondered what could have possibly been so important in there. If Colin thought organizing a few boxes after months of her asking was going to fix anything, he was very much mistaken. She opened the door and could barely see a thing. The shed had no windows so it was in complete darkness. She considered turning away there and then, but she owed it to Colin to see what was inside. She walked blindly into the darkness towards the general area of the light switch. Colin had installed it on the back wall instead of by the door like common sense would have dictated. She felt around and finally – eureka! – she found the switch. Tara turned on the shed lights and almost collapsed with shock at the image before her eyes. Every inch of the room was suddenly illuminated. At first, she thought she was hallucinating. But as she looked around, she realized what he had done.

Colin had transformed the shed into a replica of O’Malley’s pub.

It wasn’t as big as the real O’Malley’s, of course, but it was an authentic scale model that captured the essence of one of her favourite places in the world.

The place they had fallen in love.

The bar, which was made up of two standing pallets and a large plank of wood, had been painted mahogany, just like the real thing. It even had a Guinness tap. Above the bar hung a makeshift sign that said ‘O’Malley’s’. All of Colin’s vintage pub signs were hanging up on the walls, in exactly the same positions they hung in the real O’Malley’s. It was only then that Tara realized why Colin had begun his collection in the first place.

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