Chapter Twenty-Six
Kivi
Just what I fucking need.
It had been an excruciating day of trying to avoid Saskia.
Kivi had never been quite so wrong about anybody before.
To the uneducated eye, Saskia seemed like a nice person.
A mature, intelligent, level-headed human being, with perhaps a little too much acidity now and again.
The trouble was, Kivi was no longer uneducated.
Last night's research had shown her that, and it had completely thrown her to realise that within the slender, attractive, angelic-looking frame lay a rotten core of prejudice.
By the time she'd finished up for the day and settled outside in the garden to relax, Kivi felt she'd earned it.
The beer in her hand confirmed it. Every fibre of her being had wanted to strangle Saskia during their brief interactions, and that fire had only been stoked when the woman had called her out on it at dinner.
She knew that eventually, they'd probably have to talk about it.
They still had Cass and Felicia's wedding to plan, and it wouldn't do the two fiancées any good to breathe in the air of poison that was quickly developing between their wedding planners.
Plus, she and Saskia were stuck together for a few more weeks while she stayed at the guest house.
The issue needed to be lanced. Probably tomorrow.
Then she looked up and saw Saskia approaching. Her fist tightened around the beer bottle.
Or maybe not.
“Saskia,” Kivi said in greeting. She didn't recognise the coldness in her own voice. Toto didn't pick up on it, and stood up to greet her, stretching and wagging his tail.
“Hey,” Saskia replied, surprisingly nervously. She ran her fingers through Toto's golden fur. “Um… how are you?”
“Exhausted,” Kivi said. “And socially burnt out. I know we have things to discuss for the wedding, but can they wait until tomorrow?”
“No,” Saskia said, sounding faintly strangled.
Kivi squinted up at her – her hands were clenched into fists at her sides, and she appeared to be gritting her teeth.
Toto had given up on trying to get her attention, and flopped back down.
“I'm sorry. It won't wait until tomorrow.
I need to know. What is your sudden problem with me?
Yesterday we were perfectly good friends, and today you're treating me like I pissed in your cornflakes.”
Wow. Saskia didn't mince her words, or beat around the bush. And although Kivi opened and closed her mouth a couple of times while her brain loaded, she couldn't think of a smart-arsed reply.
In the end, she huffed. “Pull up a chair. There's a fold-up one leaning against the fence.”
Saskia did so, positioning it so they were both facing the field behind the house.
A wild bunny or hare hopped by, and it made Kivi’s mouth twitch for just a second.
When she looked back, Saskia had sat down, folding her legs in a dignified manner and resting her clasped hands in her lap.
Suddenly, Kivi could see her in a high-powered job, ordering her minions around and putting the fear of God into them.
To add to this image, Saskia raised an eyebrow, silently emphasising ‘Well?’.
Kivi sighed again. “I did a little research last night. Into you.”
Saskia's expression didn't change. She, in fact, remained motionless. Kivi felt obliged to fill the silence.
“You've had a varied career, I see. You've been to lots of places, seen lots of people…”
Oh, listen to yourself rambling. Get on with it!
“...And shared lots of opinions. Some of which I found… unfavourable.”
“You think kitten heels are God's gift to mankind?” Saskia said dryly, holding her hands up. “That was probably the most controversial article I’ve penned in recent years. Unless you’ve unearthed that old blog I had when I was a teen.
I don't even remember what I wrote, but I can't imagine it was very well written.”
“Not a blog,” Kivi said. “But something else from when you were a teen. Something with… less words and characters, shall we say?”
“My… Twitter account?”
“That’s the one. The early days of Saskia Saltmarshe. The unfiltered ones.”
Saskia's expression remained blank, but Kivi could see her clench her jaw. Yep. She'd cottoned on to what Kivi was saying.
“I must say, you fooled me, Saskia. All that enthusiasm about Cass and Felicia’s wedding, all the smiles and being nice as pie… I would never have had you down as a homophobe.”
Saskia flinched. Kivi’s words had struck her. Good.
“Knowing I was gay, as well. I thought you thought that lesbians were disgusting? Aren't you worried that I'll somehow… I don't know, infect you? With my lesbian spores?” She wiggled her fingers mockingly.
“Don't be ridiculous,” Saskia muttered, her cheeks turning pink.
“Ridiculous? You think I'm being ridiculous? Did you have no self-awareness? Couldn't you see that those posts you were making were ridiculous?”
“You think I'm prejudiced,” Saskia murmured. “You dug out my teenage social media account. I don't believe this.”
“Neither do I!” Kivi hissed. “I could hardly believe my eyes. I was so wrong about you. I thought you were a good person. Chippy now and again, perhaps, but not a bigot.”
“You think I'm a homophobe,” Saskia murmured.
“Well, aren't you?” Kivi said indignantly, waving her arm in the air. “Because your social media posts give a pretty good indication of what festers inside your head.”
Saskia snapped back to Earth. “Kivi, pray tell, when were those posts from?”
“The mid-2000s, something like that. See? Your prejudice has gone unchallenged for so many years, the rot will have well and truly set in now. Don't you see? It's people like you, attitudes like yours, that drove Gareth and Drew into early self-inflicted graves?”
Her voice broke on the last word. Oh, fuck. She wasn't going to cry. Saskia Saltmarshe did not get to make her cry.
“Kivi!” Saskia actually looked furious. As if she had any fucking right.
“They killed themselves because people were against their sexuality. People like you, with your so-called opinions and world views. Well, let me tell you something about me-”
“Kivi! That was fifteen fucking years ago!” Saskia finally exploded.
Her face twisted, and it was faintly terrifying.
“I was a bloody teenager then! Presumably, while you've been working yourself up into a froth all day thinking I'm the rainbow version of Cruella-de-fucking-Vil, it didn't occur to you that my viewpoints may have changed?”