Chapter Forty-Five
Ben can’t get hold of Aurora, but I hear him and Liv squealing with excitement down the phone to each other.
There’s a mix of awe, pride and disbelief.
I drop into the call to say a quick hello to Liv once I’ve finished vomiting, and I attempt to ground the conversation with normality, asking about her and James.
They’re off on holiday to Turkey, so I try to talk about that, but Liv gives up on me, asking me to put Ben back on the line so that they can squeal at each other again about Aurora.
At least these two are on speaking terms again, good and proper.
When Ben finishes the call I say, ‘I thought you didn’t want anyone getting together with Aury.’ I attempt to make this sound light, breezy, but I can hear the failing in my own voice. ‘You made a whole thing of it that night at her party.’
Ben looks up at me. ‘What?’ he says distractedly. He’s busy, once again, scrolling through the photos of Aury. He’s online, searching for more images elsewhere now. To no avail.
‘You didn’t want anyone getting with Aury,’ I repeat. ‘So why are you so excited about her getting with this Sam Charlton? Surely you’d be pissed off?’ I can’t get my head around his reaction.
He looks up from his screen. ‘I don’t want anyone I know to get with her.
That’s just odd. Mad. Sickening, really.
Someone I know going where I’ve been – like a fucked-up game of compare-and-contrast.’ He shakes his head in disgust. ‘But I don’t know Sam Charlton.
Or, rather, I do, because I’ve seen him on TV loads.
Sam Charlton is sleeping with Aurora, by the looks of things, and she’s the most serious girlfriend I’ve ever had. That’s pretty cool. That’s a story.’
‘A story for who?’ I ask in bafflement.
‘For anyone,’ Ben says, continuing to scroll. ‘Yeah, you know the model Aurora Miller, yeah, that’s her … dating Sam Charlton. I used to date her too back in the day. We were pretty serious. See? A story.’
You sound like an idiot, I want to say, but don’t. ‘Yeah, I see.’
I roll my eyes and walk away, flick on the kettle in the kitchen and leave Ben to re-create stories in his head about the woman I’m pretty sure I’m in love with.