Fool for Love (High Rise) Page 8
“Oh my god. Who are you and what have you done to my flatmate?” As expected, Nat was being all dramatic about it. Alex had barely set foot in the flat since her date with Maddie last Thursday. It was late Sunday afternoon, dusk already settling into darkness outside. “Is that you, Alessandra?” Nat squinted into Alex's direction. “Oh, and if you’re going straight back up, tell your girlfriend the ceilings in this building are ridiculously thin for the exorbitant amount of rent we pay.”
“Imagine the things she must have heard coming from your room for the past two years then.” Alex took the chair opposite Nat’s computer.
“Ouch. It fights back.” Nat leaned back in her chair, the illuminated screen of her laptop lighting up her face. “You are positively glowing, Pizza. Hallelujah.” She pumped her fists into the air, punching nothing.
“What are you doing tonight?” Alex cut straight to the chase.
“Being a literary genius, as I do every Sunday night. Why does the seriously over-fucked lady want to know?”
Alex rolled her eyes at Nat. Maybe this plan she and Maddie had hatched was the worst one in the history of set-ups. It definitely looked like it from the outside. Come to think of it, from the inside as well.
“Maddie is inviting you and Isabella to dinner. And I’ll be there as well, of course.” Alex tried to keep her voice casual. She was bad at this sort of thing. Something always gave her away. An unfamiliar inflection in her voice. Or that twitch in her lip.
“You’ve barely been shagging a few days and are already playing house. How revoltingly lesbian and domesticated.” Nat slapped down the lid of her computer. The room now solely lit by a small reading lamp on the floor—not its correct place, but Alex had long given up on adhering to the right spot of things in the flat. “Good for you. But I’m sorry, I can’t make it tonight. It’s a little too short notice.”
Nothing was ever too short notice for Nat—especially if it involved a girl in her early twenties and the prospect of sex. “Oh really? What pressing matter is keeping you from a home-cooked meal with friends?”
“Work. I can see the end looming. Just a few more hours and my first draft is done.”
“Fair enough, but you’ve got to eat, right?”
“Not today.” Alex noticed how Nat deflated, her voice almost breaking. “I’ll have a liquid dinner tonight.” Just like that, Nat went from mouthy brat to broken girl. She drummed her fingers on the table, as if mustering up the courage to say something but not quite getting there. “I’m very happy for you. I honestly am. But I don’t have it in me to look young love in the face tonight.” Alex noticed how Nat swallowed hard before continuing, how she hesitated to say the next words. “Today’s the day, you know. My drunkest day of the year.”
That’s when Alex remembered. Nat had the morbid habit of commemorating the day Claire had dumped her three years ago. Claire, the woman Nat had left Brooklyn and moved to Hong Kong for. She got up and walked around the table, sitting down in the chair next to Nat.
“I say this with the biggest amount of love in my heart.” She took Nat’s hand in hers. “But isn’t it time you broke that habit?”
Nat brought both their hands to her face. “Good grief, Pizza. You could have washed. You reek of sex.”
“Don’t do what you always do, Orange.”
“Don’t try to fix me.” Alex hadn’t counted on this display of grief. It made her all the more determined to hook Nat up with Isabella, if only for a talk.
“I’m just trying to help you.” She gave Nat’s hand one final squeeze before releasing it. “Just like you would do for me.”
“One drink and the shrink’d better bring some of that Cadenhead.”
“You got it.” Alex risked a wink. Nat responded with the beginning of a sly smile, the cocky one all the girls fell for.
“And none of that lovey-dovey stuff, okay? Be kind to single lesbians.”
“Cross my heart.” Alex got up. “Come on. Stand up.”
“What for?” Nat pinched her eyebrows together. Alex pulled her up by her arms.
“Because I want to hug the silliness out of you.” She slung her arms around Nat’s firm frame and held her tight. Nat fell into the embrace with a desperation Alex hadn’t expected.
* * *
Two hours later, all four of them sat around Maddie’s round dining table. She’d prepared roasted chicken thighs, grilled asparagus and baked potatoes and Alex was quite impressed with her cooking skills. Isabella had brought a few bottles of Bardolino. Nat had purchased a bottle of the strong stuff herself. Her blue eyes were already a bit glazed over, but Alex knew she was better trained than that. She could drink a bottle and still be standing.
Maddie’s hand rested on Alex's thigh while Isabella poured the wine. Her best friend, a little broken but not unfixable, sat across from her. Not bad for a fitness instructor who, a few weeks ago, was still nursing a badly broken heart. Moving into The Ivy, one of the poshest high rises in Hong Kong, had been one of the best decisions she’d ever made.
TO BE CONTINUED…
High Rise Novella Two (Nat and Isabella’s story) will be released at the end of December 2012
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About the author
Harper Bliss has travelled the world in search of sexual satisfaction. She now resides in a hot Asian country and dedicates her time to writing down the stories that have inspired and aroused her.
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The ladies in this collection just can’t get enough.
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