Page 58 of Plot Twist

‘Drew, I think it’s better if you just go,’ I said. ‘Rae and I need to talk this out. Girl time.’

‘OK,’ he agreed. ‘If you need anything, you let me know, OK, Rae?’

She looked up and nodded sadly, reaching out her hand to hold his for a second.

‘Thanks, Drew. It was good of you to come round. You’re one of the good guys.’

‘What time’s your flight?’

Drew drummed his fingers on the edge of the counter. I’d told him my flight time about four times already. I’d also sent him a screenshot with the details, but he hadn’t responded to my message. I wasn’t even sure if he’d read it. We’d barely seen each other over the last week. He kept agreeing to extra shifts and staying late after work. I kept myself busy, packing for holiday after work and shopping with Rae.

I already missed him and I wasn’t even gone yet.

‘Only five more hours to go and you’ll be rid of me,’ I joked.

He was barely listening. As his eyes darted around the room, I wondered what, or who, he was looking for.

My heart sank as I looked up and spotted Leila, Drew’s new boss, sauntering towards us, her hips sashaying from side to side. Her boobs were so big that I wondered if they ever caused her to topple over. She flicked her long, flowing jet-black hair behind her shoulder and pursed her bright red lips, placing a perfectly manicured hand on her hip.

It all started to make sense. Leila Jackson had made her mark as soon as she’d started, batting her eyelashes at anyone who looked her way. Especially Drew.

‘Drew.’ Leila smiled widely. ‘We could have a drink now, if you like? Talk about your career progression plans.’

Drew stood up.

‘You don’t mind, do you Becca? You’ve got to get going for the airport now, anyway, right?’

‘Right,’ I said, standing up. ‘Of course.’

‘I’ll walk you out,’ Drew said. ‘Give me five minutes, Leila.’

She grinned and walked back towards her office.

‘Wow, five minutes. Thanks,’ I muttered as we began walking to the door.

My stomach clenched.

‘Don’t be like that, Becca.’

‘You can get back to your drink with Leila.’

I knew I was pushing it. Him. But I couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth.

The last thing I wanted was to fight just before I left for our holiday. I planned to spend the whole time cheering Rae up, not the other way around. But I could tell by the way Leila looked at Drew that she had more on her mind than discussing his ‘career progression’. I could spot it a mile off, but he seemed to be oblivious. Or was he?

‘What do you want, Becca? You don’t want me to have a drink with her? She’s my new boss. She wants to talk about career development. I’m not like you and Rae. I’ve not got university to get back to. I need to try and carve out a career here. I know this was just a stupid summer job for you guys so you could earn enough money to book a flight and drink some shots, but this is it for me. I don’t have a back-up plan. This is my plan,’ he said, his voice straining more with every word he uttered.

I couldn’t fix my face into a neutral position. ‘Nice monologue,’ I muttered.

Drew frowned back at me. He was looking at me like I was a stranger. I wanted to wrap myself around him again, sit on his lap and laugh about ice cream. But Rae reappeared and started pulling me towards the taxi that had turned up.

‘Have a good holiday, Becca,’ he murmured.

When he turned on his heel to leave, he didn’t even glance back.

25

We whiled away the time in the hot tub for over an hour, talking about high schools and growing up.