“Like when your dad is having a bad day?” I give her a tight smile.
“Exactly.” She slumps down into the chair next to me, filling both glasses with wine. “He told you about that?” she asks, her eyebrows dipping into a frown.
“Yeah, I mean, not all that willingly.” I take a small sip. “but it came up.”
“Mason had our parents for three years more than me, and I think he remembers a lot about Mum, whereas I only have the pictures.”
“I’m so sorry, Scarlet.”
“Please call me Scar.” She clinks our glasses together, taking a large gulp from her glass. “How did you meet my brother?”
“Ah, through Elliot and Charlie.” My lips pull up in a smile, and I feel my cheeks redden with my next question. “Hey, do you know why Elliot would call me Pixie?”
She snorts, choking on her wine as she seemingly inhales instead of exhaling at the wrong time, and wine starts to drip from her nose.
“Oh god, are you okay?” I grab a napkin and pass it to her.
“Sorry, did you sayPixie?”
“Yeah, since the first night I met Elliot, he’s called me Pixie.”
She hesitates, but I can see her smile beneath the napkin, the glimmer in her brown eyes giving her away. “No, I’m afraid I don’t know, Nina.” She wipes the remnants from her chin.
“Wow,Scar. Are we really starting this friendship off on a lie?” I tease, reaching over to top up her glass.
“Not my story.” She shrugs with a smile before changing the subject. “You know, it’s nice to have a female around here. Some days I feel like saying screw it and finding myself a job. I just can’t leave Dad right now.”
“Have you ever worked?” I ask, hoping I don’t sound rude.
“Nope, I feel like it’s too late now. I’m twenty-nine tomorrow, and I feel like my time to study has run out.”
“Your birthday is tomorrow? And it’s not too late to study! This is the prime of your life.”
“I wanted to be a doctor. Started studying medicine after college but dropped out when Dad got sick. I never really thought about going back,” she says, and I know it’s a lie with the sad look in her eyes.
It’s not the revelation of a lost dream. It’s the confession of one that’s never left her.
“You should absolutely go back. Surely Mason could help you with your dad?” I raise my brows at her over the rim of my glass. I should probably slow down. I’m starting to poke my nose in places where it’s not wanted. “What’re your birthday plans?”
“Nothing really. Dad has an appointment at two, and I will need to drive him to that.”
“What about tomorrow evening? Will you be out with your girlfriends?”
“You mean the snooty girls who haven’t reached out since I left college?”
“Did you reach out?” I question.
She tuts, shaking her head sarcastically. “Just when I was starting to like you.”
“We are sooo going out,” I decide, knowing my friends and my own bank account won’t hack it, especially with Erin arriving Sunday and the prospect of another night out in the city. But I can’t have her stuck here all day. I’m already imagining her as a hermit for the past ten years, just with a better sense of style.
“Out? Out where?” Her eyes bug out, but she bounces on her chair, excitedly.
“Wherever you want. I have a morning class, but I could be here by twelve thirty? We could go anywhere.”
“What do you do?”
“I have a dance studio in London.”
