Page 65 of Unapologetic Love Story

‘That’s enough,’ Raina said quietly, getting up and brushing non-existent lint from her dress. The action busied her trembling hands. ‘Stop. Stop it now.’

Pepper glanced over at her, and Raina watched as her friend’s face moved from anger to disbelief. Then shame. As if she hadn’t meant to do any of it. As if it had been a psychotic episode.

‘Raina,’ Pepper breathed.

‘No,’ Raina said. ‘That was awful, Pep. Stop. Enough now.’

Raina was alone in a room full of neurotypicals, and for once, they were the ones unable to endure eye contact. She staggered to the doorway, painfully aware of the man standing there. She could hear Solana sharply orchestrating a change of subject while turning the music right up. She could also make out Pepper, Nick and Matt, all raising their voices in a confrontational debate.

She wanted none of it.

She stumbled into the kitchen and dived for the fridge, hauling it open so she could bask in the cool.

‘Him? That’s the guy? The one you left East London for?’

Tom thundered into the room, closing the door decisively behind him. He’d shut everyone else out; the two of them were completely alone in the kitchen.

‘They both deserve each other,’ he all but spat.

‘What?’ Raina shut the fridge door and leaned against it, staring at her writer with whatever dregs of composure she had left after that performance.

‘That!’ he said darkly. ‘That nasty display. I could kill both of them.’

His indignant anger, seemingly on her behalf, made her body heat up all over again. She turned her back and started busying herself with some glasses, reorganizing the unused dinnerware on the kitchen counter.

‘Pepper’s upset about something deeper,’ she said, her voice shaking a little. ‘She’s overprotective and she never liked Matt, but there’s something else going on.’

‘Don’t do that.’

‘Don’t do what?’

‘Don’t excuse what she just did in there. It isn’t excusable.’

‘So . . . what? You think she did that to hurt me. She didn’t. You don’t know her. She’s just out of control at the moment, and when I work out why, I—’

‘Who cares! You don’t actually have to do that, you know. You don’t have to look for the reason behind the abominable behaviour. You’re allowed to just be angry. Or hurt.’

‘She’s my best friend. In her own way, she thinks she’s avenging me.’

You don’t understand, she thought. I have such a hard time keeping friends, I’m not throwing away the one that’s actually there for me.

‘But she embarrassed you! She wanted drama, she wanted attention, and fuck, she got it!’

She turned to glare at him. ‘Why do you even give a fuck? Seriously, what are you doing in here? Wasn’t that a perfect little scene for you to write about? If you want to see me crack, you may not have long to wait.’

She could do no more with the glassware, so she moved to the kitchen island, grabbing onto a small purple bag.

‘Raina, they don’t deserve your good opinion right now,’ Tom said, moving around the island to stand behind her. She could feel him trying to get her to look at him, but she was still fumbling with the gift. ‘You deserve better, Raina. You deserve better than a toxic friend and a pathetic ex-boyfriend.’

Raina laughed bitterly, pulling at the purple tissue paper inside of the little Liberty bag. ‘This from the man who thought I was a nice new subject for his long list of manipulators and liars.’

‘Stop, I’ve never thought you were anything like them.’

‘No, I won’t stop. Don’t think for a second I’ve forgotten how we met. Why we met. I wasn’t just some girl you saw across the room. You sidled up to me with a purpose and both of us know what that was, so let’s not start pretending. Or carry on pretending, I should say.’

‘Carry on? I haven’t pretended once. Were you pretending with me, Raina?’

Raina pulled a small, narrow box out of the tissue paper. A lipstick. A deep scarlet. The tube was a beautiful gold. It was expensive and exactly her style. It came with a small compact mirror which matched the aesthetic and reflected her own face back to her. She could see the whole evening on her face, but her lips were almost bare. Her usual red lip had been forgotten when she’d heard Matt arrive at the party.