Chapter Forty Two - The Vultures in Chicks Clothing

It was a slow-motion moment, as I stood with my mouth open as Tam told me about how she’d rang Adrian and asked him to go out for a drink (or something!) with her. I know that she’d seen the flash of irritation in my eyes as I’d stood and told her how pleased I was for her. She’d tried to grab my arm as I’d breezed past her and into the kitchen, but I’d swerved her grasp and flung open the fridge door, clutching at the chilled bottle of Soave and glugging straight from cool neck of the green glass. I can hear her shuffling and scratching her head at the doorway.
Keeping my back to the door, I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and raise my voice,
“You might as well come in and say it. I know it’s killing you - wanting to apologise and wanting me to be pleased for you at the same time. I know you like him and I wish I could be happy for you. But I just can’t. You know how I feel about him and what an unscrupulous bastard he was to me. And his damned sidekick, Trevor Malone too! In all honesty I can’t even believe that you went behind my back like that. I mean, you’re my closest friend and...“
I’m cut short as Rob’s voice cuts in,
“Em, Sophie?“
I spin around to see him standing in the doorway, smiling awkwardly at me,
“Em, Soph. Your sister’s here.“ He whispers, an uncomfortable expression on his face. I frown and whisper at him,
“What’s wrong, Rob? Where is she?“
He shrugs and indicates toward my front door by flicking his right hand to his shoulder, “She’s at the front door. Bringing in her luggage.“
“Oh, OK.“ I put the half empty bottle of wine down on the worktop and then think twice about it. If Jen sees that there she’ll be drinking within minutes! As I open the fridge door again, the yellow light shines onto my face as I feel Rob’s warm hand in the small of my back.
“Sophie, when I say she’s bringing in her luggage, I really mean bringing in her luggage.“
I stand upright and frown at him again, pushing my hair back from my face as tendrils stick to my lips,
“What are you talking about Rob? What’s the problem?“
He tries to answer me but is drowned out by Jen’s shrill voice, shouting from the lounge,
“Hey, Sophie ya bitch? Your big sister’s here! Get the wine out of the fridge. I’ve only come from Ireland but feel like I’ve been travelling for the whole frigging day!“
I can tell that she’s already been drinking - probably since she arrived at Dublin airport in the early afternoon and Rob watches my shoulders sink. It’s then he holds me firmly and looks into my eyes,
“Sophie. She’s brought 3 enormous suitcases with her. How long is she staying, again?“
“Oh my god, you’re not serious?“
He smiles at me sympathetically and lifts my chin so that our mouths meet. Ready to lose myself in his kiss once again Jen appears at the kitchen doorway,
“Holy fuck tonight, Sophie! Thought you were meant to be staying single for a year?“
And as Rob and I grimace at her drunken words, she walks in and slaps Rob hard on the bum as she opens the fridge door,
“OK, so where’s the wine, then?“
Great.
And so this is what it’s going to be like with my sister staying. Ice breaker and ball breaker wrapped into one, is our Jennifer.
And by the way she’s giving Rob the eye, I can tell that I’m going to have to be extra firm with her.
For once in our lives.


*

AJ was hunched over her laptop as she sat, cross legged on her bed. She’d been stuck in that same position for hours, but was still glued to the newspaper archives and the genealogy sites that she’d subscribed to. She was determined to dig out the Ben Scott story. She’d hoped that Trevor Malone was going to do that, but he was obviously not up to it! It pissed her off that she had to do everything herself. The silence in her flat was becoming deafening and she wished that her mobile would ring - or even bleep once in a while. She found it slightly embarrassing - her severe lack of friends, but continued to hide behind her steely facade that she was a one-man-band and needed nobody to enrich her life. She’d been fixated in the same akimbo pose for hours and was surprised to see that it was approaching 3am. The small clock counter that timed her online usage flashed discreetly that she’d been connected for what was approaching 8 hours. Her shoulders were beginning to ache and her hips felt stiff from a perpetual cross-legged pose. But it was all going to be so worthwhile. She already had lots of what she needed, but was extremely excited and driven by the prospect of what she was going to do when Sophie appeared on her next prime time television slot. The Richard & Judy show was a massive cult following for Channel 4 and AJ have every intention of making as much a monkey out of Sophie as possible. She wanted to humiliate her as publicly and as harshly as was possible, and she’d heard Delaney harking on about the Richard & Judy show once again, so knew that it wouldn’t be too long to wait.

It was all going to be so worthwhile.....

Chapter Forty One
Chapter Forty Three