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Chapter Thirty-Two
Iwas glad that was all arranged.
I’d just finished messaging Holly and invited her over for a coffee tomorrow afternoon. Her questions to Geli had been going round and round in my head all day. Something was off. My guess was that sleazy Silvestro had been trying it on and that worried me.
Holly was such a trusting person who liked to see the positives in every situation and the good in everyone. So if he was overstepping the professional boundaries, I wasn’t sure if she’d stand up to him. She’d probably make excuses for his behaviour or just brush it off and carry on as if it didn’t affect her. But if I was right, Holly was living in a toxic environment. It was a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode. Like me, she probably didn’t have many friends in this town, so it was important I looked out for her.
Talking of friends, tonight I was having a video call with Bella and Roxy. After our trip to Florence, we’d vowed to try and speak once a week. And rather than texting, we thought it’d be nice to actually see each other.
The phone rang.
‘Hey, Soph,’ said Roxy. ‘One sec. I’m just going to add Bella.’
Bella appeared on the screen. She was sitting up on the bed, like me and Roxy.
‘Hi, ladies!’ said Bella. ‘Nice to see you.’
‘Itis!’ I took a sip of my G&T. ‘So glad we’re doing this. Let’s hope we can keep it up.’
‘That’s what I say to all the guys over thirty-five that I sleep with,’ Roxy cackled.
‘Gosh!We’ve barely spoken for twenty seconds and you’ve already taken the conversation to the gutter,’ Bella sighed.
‘Exactly! Anyway, who are you kidding, Rox?’ I said. ‘We all know you don’t sleep with any men over thirty!’
‘You know me, darling.’ Roxy winked. ‘Well, there was this one time…’
I vaguely remembered the guy in his fifties that Roxy slept with after her divorce had come through, but that was definitely a one-off. Twenty-five to thirty tended to be her preferred age range.
‘Actually… you say we know you, but do we?Really?’ I raised my eyebrows.
‘Of course you do!’ said Roxy. ‘I’m always wide open!’
Bella cringed.
‘I didn’t meanthat! Now whose mind is in the gutter?’ she cackled again. ‘I meant I’m always open with you guys.’
‘If that’s true, then what’s the deal with you and Geli? What happened between you two?’
‘Hello…hello…are you there?’ Roxy started making a cracking noise. ‘You’re breaking up… I think I’m losing signal...’
‘Roxy!’ I shouted. ‘Your signal is perfectly fine! What’s up with you? Why are you avoiding talking about Geli?’
‘Yeah,’ said Bella. ‘If you like women too, it’s okay. We’re not going to judge you. It’s fine to be bi or pansexual.’
‘I’mnot!’
‘Well, then, I don’t understand…’ I frowned.
‘Look, I was drunk, okay? And she was coming onto me and I was curious, so we dabbled, but it wasn’t for me. I prefer guys.’
‘So what’s the big deal? Why are you avoiding her? She says you’re not replying to her messages.’
‘Yeah… I’ve been busy. I will, though... I can tell she’s really into me and she’s cool, but it’s awkward.’
This wasn’t sounding like Roxy at all. She was squirming and even seemed a bit embarrassed. Never had I thought I’d see the day that Roxy would act shy about anything sex-related.
‘I don’t get it. You don’t normally have a problem telling people you’re not interested.’
