“What?” Alex pushed herself up, making her triceps bulge in the process. “No.”
“I know they thought the world of her.” Alex hadn’t given her that information, but Nat had mentioned it once, late at night after a dinner including too much wine. “I understand your hesitance.”
“You want to meet my parents? Is that what this is about?” Alex crawled off Maddie and sat down on the ottoman next to the sofa, far enough not to touch her accidentally.
“No. I mean, I do one day when you’re ready, but we’ve only just got together.” Maddie already felt herself pussy-footing out. She couldn’t do it. She didn’t have the words to address Alex in a way that would make her open up.
“How about when we’ve been seeing each other for three months? I’ll introduce you officially then, but you will regret it because you’ll be spending many a Sunday off the island.” Alex managed a smile again and it was all Maddie needed to let the subject go completely. Maddie wasn’t in the business of making Alex feel bad. On the contrary, her sole task was to make her feel as good as possible.
“Deal, but you’ll have to come back with me to Melbourne in the spring so my family can finally be convinced I’m not a complete romantic disaster.” It surprised Maddie she was thinking so long-term. And that she even contemplated introducing Alex to her family, who had only ever seen her with Emma.
“We’ll see.” Alex offered her hand and Maddie gladly took it. “Let’s just enjoy the delicious early stages of this relationship without worrying about family.”
A broad smile split Maddie’s face in two. “While you were being a family girl, I went online and bought this.” Maddie grabbed her iPad from the coffee table and showed Alex a picture of a dolphin-shaped sex toy. “Delivery in two days.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “You have a box full of those already. I’m beginning to worry about you.”
“This one’s waterproof, though. And turbo-charged.” Maddie pulled Alex closer and sunk her teeth softly into the flesh of her shoulder.
“I may have to confiscate your credit card before this online shopping gets out of hand.” Alex let herself slide onto Maddie. “They have support groups for that, you know. I’ll go with you if you can’t find it in yourself to go alone.”
“Shut up and kiss me already.” Maddie pulled Alex’s tank top over her head, gasped as she always did at the sight of her flawless torso, and pushed her down into the sofa.
ALEX
Alex clicked the reply button to the e-mail Rita had sent her, then closed the e-mail window altogether. She’d repeated this process five times already. She’d read Rita’s e-mail about a hundred times, even though she knew it by heart by now.
Rita confessed to having been a heartless bitch. She’d taken Alex for granted for too long. She’d acted as if nothing could touch her. She’d never forgive herself for hurting Alex the way she did.
But just because Rita was coming to terms with her mistakes, Alex shouldn’t. Still, there was that tug. It had started deep inside of her. Not immediately after receiving the e-mail. Anger had come first—a crash of blind rage rushing through Alex’s blood. Who did Rita think she was? Casting Alex aside like that and then trying to weasel her way back in with an e-mail. But this was Rita and, try as she might, Alex couldn’t ignore her. Not forever. Not when the words blinking on the screen spoke of enduring love and endless regret.
Alex had Maddie now. She could be strong. She found herself in a good position to face Rita. She could have the upper hand in this. And it might be exactly what she needed.
Alex started typing and, despite the hammering of her heart, she knew she was doing the right thing. Not for Rita. Definitely not for Maddie, who Alex had kept in the dark about Rita’s message, but for herself. She could face her fear head on. She’d meet Rita, stare her straight in the eyes and tell her to go to hell.
Thursday after my evening class. The Rambler at 9.30 p.m. It was as simple as that. Alex was confronting Rita four months after their brutal break-up. She’d have to pick up some extra classes this week, to burn off the stress.
Apart from when she’d just received the e-mail, the topic of Rita had been left untouched between her and Nat. This was Alex’s private battle—and she knew what Nat would say, anyway. Alex had contemplated telling Maddie, but she couldn’t see the point. She tried to keep conversation about Rita to a minimum in any circumstance. She didn’t want what she had with Maddie to be tainted by tales of what Rita had done to her and how incredibly inadequate it had made her feel. Rita was the past, Maddie the future.