I don’t actually see Mase when he first arrives. By the time I notice him, sitting at the bar, he is about halfway through a bottle of beer. He raises a brow at my smirk for him flying solo, until I remember that the reason he is here with me is because his wife has been summoned to meet with Anita.
I join him at the bar and order more drinks. He opts for a soft drink and explains. “I need to collect my wife and her sister in a while.”
“Where have they gone?” I ask, hoping he’ll tell me. Maybe I can tag along with him and meet the girls and by girls, I mean hook up with Anita.
He ignores my question.
“How’s it going having her around you here?” Mase wears a ridiculously large, smug smile that tells me he knows exactly how it’s going.
“Fuck off,” is my very mature response.
He laughs at me. “You, little brother, are screwed. You are desperate to go and find her, aren’t you? She is under your skin and in your head every second of the day and night. Am I right?”
“Fuck off,” I repeat, and he laughs again, louder.
Anita
“You’re making a pig’s ear of this, that’s what you’re telling me here?”
I laugh at Liv’s choice of words but can’t deny their accuracy.
“I mean, Dec is fucking it up with you. You’re not alone in this.” She laughs herself now. “What do you want from this?”
I shrug. Refusing to admit what I want.
She shakes her head. “When Mase and I began seeing each other properly we knew that we wanted it to work. He wasn’t looking for serious and I didn’t think I deserved serious, especially not with someone as good as Mase.”
I am shocked at her revelations; Mase has never seemed to be anything but serious where Liv’s concerned, and she is the best person I know so if anyone deserves a good person it is her, but then aren’t her old thoughts regarding Mase the same as mine are in relation to Dec?
“And now?” I don’t know if I want reassurance, guarantees or some kind of epiphany with her answer.
“I’m worthy. He made me realise that, but I believe it now, feel it. My childhood was all kinds of fucked up, of that there’s no doubt. However, Mase made me see that by being resilient to it and then going on to feel in anyway worthless or less than I should was allowing them to win. They can’t win, not ever. And here I am now, happily married and pregnant.”
“I am so glad you met him and that you realise how worthy you are.”
“Me too, and now we just need to get you to see that you are too, don’t we? But does Dec fit into this plan?”
I drop onto her sofa and top up our wine glasses with the non-alcoholic bottle I brought with me. “I’d like Dec to fit into my plans, my future…”
“But?” My sister takes my hand and squeezes it, encouraging me to continue.
“But I don’t know if he wants that. He’s not exactly long-term plans, is he?”
She shrugs. “Give him a chance. I mean, don’t propose, or start talking joint bank accounts or children’s names, but take a little time, enjoy what you have.
The wiggling of her eyebrows makes me laugh.
“Let him show you that either you are worth the effort of being monogamous for.” She rolls her eyes now and we both laugh. “Or let him prove that he isn’t worth the opportunity to love you.”
“When and how did you get so wise?”
“When I decided to risk a one-night stand. When Mase shagged me a dozen different ways.”
“TMI,” comes a call from the now open door.
Dec. He stands with his brother who is grinning broadly at Liv having heard her words.
“Only a dozen different ways? I apologise for my brother’s lack of expertise.” Dec grins across at my sister before moaning as the punch to his arm from Mase lands. “Cupcake,” he says with a half-smile for me. “Want to kiss my ouchy better?”
