Chapter Twenty-Five
Erin and Riley were standing next to each other in the kitchen, putting together an order for afternoon tea, when Erin felt Riley stiffen beside her.
She turned to follow her gaze and saw Chegs pulling out a chair for Teagan, and her smiling coyly up at him through bat-wing-like eyelashes as she sat down.
They were obviously flirting. But why come to Riley’s place of work to do it?
‘You okay finishing this?’ asked Riley, unceremoniously dropping two scones on the top tier of the pretty cake stand.
‘Yep,’ said Erin, grabbing two tiny pots of strawberry jam and putting them beside the scones.
When she turned to get the clotted cream from the fridge, she couldn’t stop her gaze from following Riley to the table.
Chegs’ head was bowed over the laminated menu, his foppish hair falling over his face, but Teagan was gazing up at Riley with a sickly-sweet smile.
Erin continued to watch as Riley took their order, then turned and made her way back to the kitchen.
When Riley’s back was turned, Teagan extended her foot and tapped her Converse against Chegs’ trainers.
She whispered something and Chegs roared.
Riley turned at the sound, and they both glanced at her, then quickly away.
Her cheeks were flushed when she reached the kitchen.
Erin seethed. How dare they come into her café and make Riley feel small? ‘All right, love?’ she said.
‘I don’t like that woman.’ Riley gritted her teeth, making the muscles in her jaw protrude. The movement made the hollows under her cheekbones even deeper, and Erin wanted to take a photograph to show Riley how truly beautiful she was.
‘She looks more like a daft teenage girl than a woman to me,’ said Erin, taking in her cut-off denim shorts and the edge of red lace visible where her shirt was unbuttoned. ‘Like a mean girl.’
Riley sniggered. ‘You’ve always got my back, haven’t you?’
‘Always,’ said Erin. ‘Is she still staying with Chegs?’
‘Yeah. Apparently she’s paying rent now, so it looks like it’s a long-term thing.’ She slammed around making coffee.
That was not reassuring news. Erin might not like Chegs, but as long as Riley did, she would continue to hope for the best for their relationship.
Failing that, she at least kept her thoughts to herself and hadn’t yet given in to the urge to spill boiling tea down the front of his trousers.
She was the model of self-restraint. ‘And how do you feel about that?’
The steam from the coffee machine hissed in accordance with Riley’s expression as she glanced back at the table, where Teagan was giggling, head thrown back in an exaggerated display, long hair trailing behind her.
‘I wouldn’t mind if she was a bit more real, but everything she does seems contrived.
Look at her now, all, Oh, you’re so funny, Chegs.
You make me laugh so fucking hard.’ She used a high-pitched voice and screwed up her face.
Erin couldn’t help but laugh, but underneath she was even more concerned for Riley than usual. She agreed with her assessment of Teagan, and that she was now a permanent fixture in Chegs’ flat didn’t bode well. ‘Didn’t he talk it through with you first?’
‘No, but there’s no reason why he should, is there? It’s his flat. He’s just being a good friend. It shouldn’t make a difference that she’s a girl, should it? It makes me seem like I don’t trust him if I make a big deal about it.’
I wouldn’t trust him, or her for that matter, thought Erin. They looked like a toxic combination to her, but she could see Riley’s problem. Jealous girlfriend was not a good vibe. ‘Would he like it if you moved a lad from school into your place?’
‘That’s never going to happen, is it?’ said Riley.
She wiped milk from the frother with the cloth hanging over the wand.
‘My place is barely big enough for me.’ Riley lived in a room in a shared house.
She didn’t have her own bathroom, and the original sash windows and Victorian fireplace allowed the wind to whistle through her room.
If Jack hadn’t always maintained he wanted to move home after university, Erin would have asked Riley if she’d like to live with her.
Not that she necessarily would. Living with a woman the same age as her mother probably wouldn’t appeal any more than a place where the bathroom floor was spongy with mould.
‘Were you hoping you’d move in with Chegs?
’ Erin asked softly. Despite how she felt about him, she could see how the life Chegs might offer would be attractive to someone who’d always had to worry about their finances and never had a stable family or home.
She didn’t for one minute think Riley was with him for his money, but he represented a world that Riley had never been a part of, a life that appeared a lot easier to live than her own.
Riley shrugged. ‘It’s been a couple of years, so I suppose I thought he might ask me to move in eventually, but I’m not sure I would have said yes, even if he did. I like having my own space, even if it is a shit-hole.’
Erin squeezed her arm, both saddened and reassured by her response.
‘A shit-hole of one’s own,’ she said, intentionally misquoting Virginia Woolf.
‘What else can a girl ask for?’ A dozen answers instantly sprang to mind, but she chose not to say any more.
They both winced when Teagan’s giggles rang out again, loud and performative.
‘What did they order?’ said Erin, ‘and where did I put those laxatives?’ She tapped her chin thoughtfully before joining in with Riley’s authentic, throaty laugh.
‘Tempting,’ said Riley.
‘Very,’ said Erin. ‘But we’re better than that. We’ll rise above and choose not to poison either of them.’
‘But we could,’ said Riley. ‘And that knowledge sustains me.’ She lifted her chin.
‘We are in a position of power,’ said Erin. ‘But we are good, honest people.’
‘Not even a little bit of poison?’ Riley whispered, narrowing her eyes.
Erin searched her face to see if she was serious. Maybe her joke was rash. She didn’t want to give Riley ideas, not when she was channelling a woman scorned, and she certainly didn’t want a court case brought against her on top of everything else. That would finish her. ‘No. Not even a sprinkling.’
‘Spoil sport,’ said Riley, grinning.
Erin kept an eye on Teagan and Chegs all the time they were there, her discomfort growing when she noted Teagan’s shoe edging towards Chegs’ more than once.
Was she trying to play footsie with him in full view of his long-term girlfriend?
When Riley stood by their table as they finished their drinks and chatted with them for a while, Erin allowed the tight muscles in her neck to loosen.
She seemed fine. There was no need for Erin to be hyper-vigilant.
Riley was twenty-four, not twelve. She could look after herself.
Erin gave the pair a convivial smile and a wave when they made their way out of the café five minutes later.
Riley whistled along to ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ which was playing on the turntable as she took their cups through to the kitchen.
Something made Erin keep her eyes on the pair as they sauntered up Brigade Street.
Her stomach balled when she saw Teagan move closer to Chegs, then slip her hand into the back pocket of his jeans.
He grabbed her hand and moved it, before turning his head to gawk back at the café.
Erin turned away, hoping he hadn’t seen her watching.
But whether he knew it or not, she had seen that over-familiar gesture, and now she had to decide what to do about it.