‘You heard me. Tough because I’ve got something else to say and you’re going to listen.’ Liv pulled back her shoulders. ‘Have you ever had an online dating profile?’ she asked.
His cheek twitched and he moved his neck as if trying to make it crack. ‘Why?’
‘Simple question. Yes or no?’
‘Then yes. Who hasny had a bash at it? It’s about as much fun as chilli in your underwear but I—’
‘Deleted the account?’ suggested Liv, feeling her temper hitch up a notch.
‘Yeah.’ Boom. There it was – the admission she’d been after – but it still hurt her to hear it. Now was her opportunity to say her piece. She’d waited five days to say it. ‘I’m Olivia Bingham. You connected with me on a dating app. We communicated regularly, like all the time. We got… close. And then you ghosted me. And I am here to tell you that you are a prize shi—’
Fraser was waving his arms in front of her. ‘Stop. I have no idea what you are talking about.’
‘Don’t deny it. It’s ridiculous to deny it now. We…’ She rapidly pointed between the two of them. ‘We’re a match. On the app, not in any other sense. You’re rude and grumpy while I’m—’
‘Also rude and…’ He waggled his head. ‘Possibly not quite as grumpy.’
‘We are not the same,’ she snapped. ‘Although we do have some things in common. Like Mariah.’ He was frowning at her. ‘Anyway that’s irrelevant. The relevant part is that we both swiped the right way, we connected and then we contacted each other through the app.’
‘No, we didn’t. You’re deranged and I don’t have time for this.’ He turned around.
‘No!’ snapped Liv. She’d got this far and heaven knew it had taken her long enough to drag up the courage to confront him. She wasn’t going without telling him what she thought of him. He looked over his shoulder. Those icy blue eyes fixed on her and after everything they still managed to make something stir inside her.Ignore them,she told herself. She took a deep breath. ‘You’re the worst. You’re…’ Why had her brain gone blank? ‘You’re a shit,’ she said.
He shook his head and went through the swing door. Liv watched the door swing back and forth a couple of times. That didn’t go remotely how she’d imagined it in her mind. For a start she’d been a lot more colourful with the name-calling. A better phrase popped into her mind. She pushed open the kitchen door.
Fraser glared at her. ‘What now?’
‘Cock womble!’ And with that she made a hasty retreat.
By the time Liv had got to the car she’d come up with at least five better insults she could have thrown at Fraser. Why was that always the way? She’d also forgotten that she’d planned to shout them at him for maximum effect and empowerment. But at least she’d done it. She’d called out his bad behaviour and told him what she thought of him. Although it hadn’t gone exactly how she’d hoped and she certainly didn’t feel as she’d thought she might. She was hoping for empowerment on an epic female scale. Images of Beyoncé, Mary Earps and Michelle Obama swam into her mind – maybe she’d been aiming a tad too high.
And why had Fraser denied it? Could he not at least have let her have her moment? Say, ‘Yeah you got me, I’m a nasty bastard. And now I’ve lost you and that makes me an idiot.’ Although would he think the last bit? She doubted it. But she had confronted someone who had wronged her and that was definitely progress. She would cling on to that fact. Although her brain was still unsettled about it all. It still felt like there was something amiss.
Liv was shaking as she got out the car keys. She popped the boot open and had the fright of her life at the sight of deflated Stan lying there. She put her hand to her chest. ‘Bloody hell, Stan. You almost gave me heart failure.’ She hauled her bag in next to him. ‘Anyway, we’re heading home at last. You might as well stay there. You look comfortable.’
Someone cleared their throat and Liv almost jumped in the boot in shock. She spun around. ‘I’m glad I caught you,’ said Robbie.
‘Caught me? What am I meant to have done now? Because it wasn’t me. Whatever it is. I didn’t do it.’ She realised she was gabbling and it was only piquing Robbie’s interest. ‘I’m going to shut up now.’
Robbie’s eyes narrowed and she felt that uncomfortable sweaty sensation on her neck despite the cold. He couldn’t arrest her for calling someone names could he? ‘Does cock womble mean something different in Scottish?’ she asked, which intensified Robbie’s squint. ‘I’m pretty sure shit’s the same in both languages.’
Robbie opened his mouth but there was a long pause before he actually spoke. ‘How about shite?’ he asked. ‘Is that the same?’
‘I think so,’ said Liv. This was a very strange conversation.
‘Like in – the food’s shite. Avoid like the…’
‘Plague,’ added Liv to finish his sentence.
‘Yes, I thought that,’ said Robbie getting a bit more chatty. ‘But that was all it said.’
‘I like things like that. Missing words,’ said Liv, unsure why she was having this superficial chat in the icy wastelands of the Highlands when she should be heading back down the country to lovely Blackburn where there was less snow and people who understood her.
‘You admit it then?’ said Robbie. ‘And now you’re about to take off back to England.’
‘Yes, I called him a shit and a cock womble and now I’m off home.’
‘You’re not denying the defamation then?’ He watched her, unblinking. It was both mesmerising and off-putting.
