Chapter Twenty-Two
Candace
I’m still getting used to the fact that I can’t leave my flat on a whim. I can’t go out on the sidewalk without someone shouting my name. I can’t just pop into a café for a tea or coffee without people recognizing me. To have gone from total anonymity to veritable fame in a matter of a few weeks is doing a number on my head.
Mum and Dad can’t stop phoning. They think it’s all wonderful. The press is knocking on their door with questions, and my mum is inviting them into the house and showing them photos of me from my baby book. There she is slinging around one of her dirty nappies. Poo went everywhere! When my dad goes out to get the post, he waves and chats with the photographers, asking them if they need a cup of tea or to pop in to use the loo.
I’ve told them to cut it out, but that’s nearly impossible. Telling two parents to stop gloating about their only daughter? Good luck with that.
Logan and I are still trying to learn how to navigate it. He’s come up with a brilliant plan:
I should quit working at District, let him hire me a bodyguard, and oh yes, MOVE IN WITH HIM.
He told me all about it when I phoned him Wednesday night.
“I worry about you in that apartment. That building isn’t secure at all.”
“Isn’t secure?! I’ve got at least four hardened Russian grannies between me and the first floor. They’re as scary as they come. They shout at me if I bang up the stairs too loudly or if they think I’ve gotten too thin. One of them threatened a takeout man with an umbrella last week when he tried to bring Yaz and me some noodles. Believe me, no one is getting past them.”
“Candace.”
“Logan! What you’re asking is insane. I can’t move in with you! I barely know you!”
“You’re deflecting. We know each other. I know you.”
“Yes, well, you know all the outer bits, don’t you? But you don’t know what I’d be like to live with. A real slob, I’m afraid. You’d hate it.”
“Lois can help with that. Besides, I think you could learn to hang your clothes up in your closet instead of just throwing them on the floor.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’d be surprised.”
“I think you should consider it.”
“Right, well, even if I did agree, good luck convincing Kat and Yasmine! I think they’d have my head if I tried to move out. We’re a package deal, you know. I can’t just abandon my friends.”
The next day, I arrive back to the flat after work to find that Kat and Yasmine have gathered up all my clothes and dumped them in the living room in a huge pile.
“What in the world are you doing?!”
Kat glances up then from her spot on the sofa. “Oh look, Yaz, Judas is home.”
Yasmine glares up at me with her arms crossed over her chest. “Who? I don’t see anyone.”
“Guys, what are you going on about—”
Kat shakes her head. “You’re dead to us. Don’t even look at me.”
“KAT!”
She jumps to her feet, stepping over the mound of clothes in the middle of the room. They’ve really cleared out my closet, haven’t they?
“So you’re moving out, huh?” She starts circling around me like a seasoned interrogator. “Logan phoned me today, offered to cover your part of the rent. He told me he’d asked you to move in with him. Yaz! Grab a lighter—I’m burning all her bras.”
I can’t help but laugh, but that doesn’t go over well.
“You’re both in need of a mental check. Truly.”
“She thinks she’s too good for us now that she’s got that lover boy of hers,” Kat continues.
“I thought you and Jay were getting on well?” I prod.
“We are! But I’m not moving in with him and abandoning my best mates!”
“I think you’re both overreacting. I haven’t agreed to anything.”
Yasmine rolls her eyes. “Oh sod off. There’s no way you’re going to turn that bloke down, not with that lovely hair and those nice eyes—”
“And don’t forget his arse!” Kat chimes in.
“Listen, you two. God, you’re both mad. I’ll phone him right now and tell him I won’t do it. I’m staying here.”
“Good. We’ll listen in. You can no longer be trusted, Judas.”
“Would you stop with that? Do you even know what Judas did?”
“Yes, of course—something horribly traitorous back in the day.”
“Yeah, wasn’t he the lad with the Trojan horse?” Yasmine chimes in.
“Ugh, don’t bother!” Kat shouts. “She’s only trying to change the subject!”
I make a big show of getting my mobile out of my bag and waving it in the air.
“Dial him,” Kat insists, stepping closer and crossing her arms.
I do, and then she reaches out to put it on speaker.
When Logan answers, he sounds so sexy I sort of wilt. He gives me a hello and I forget my agenda for a moment as I try to think of some way to get over to his flat for a quick lay.
Kat clears her throat with an exaggerated, “AHEM.”
“Right, hey Logan…I’ve got Kat and Yasmine here with me on speaker. Say hello, you loons.”
I fully expect him to get the same loathsome treatment they’re giving me, but instead, they’re positively delightful.
“Hello Logan!” Yasmine says in a chipper tone.
“Hey bud!” Kat adds.
I frown. “What? You aren’t going to shout at him like you’ve been doing with me? How’s that fair?”
“Well Logan hooked us up with his lovely mates.” Yasmine shrugs.
“And he’s not the one abandoning us!” Kat says with a narrow-eyed glare in my direction.
“So I guess you haven’t made much headway with them?” Logan asks me.
“They’ve piled all my things in the living room. Kat wants to burn my bras.”
He laughs then. “I thought you were joking about them giving you a hard time.”
“No, we’re quite prepared to cut her out of our lives completely. You know, excommunicado style,” Kat says, leaning toward my mobile. “But Logan, while we’ve got you, has Jay said anything to you about me?”
“Yeah, actually. I talked to him today during our workout. He mentioned that he was going to call and ask you out on a date for this weekend.”
Kat beams. “Brilliant. I can’t wait. Did he look handsome then? At the workout? I’ll bet.”
“Can you ask him about Marcus?” Yasmine shouts from across the room.
Kat slices her with a hard look. “Not right now, Yasmine! This is important. Logan, your girlfriend is a traitor for abandoning her mates, and we do not accept your offer of partial rent payment. Good day.”
Except I don’t hang up, and we all go silent. Then finally, Logan laughs.
“Call me later, Candace?”
“Sure, yeah, before bed.”
There’s that heavy pause again! The one we keep doing at the end of our calls! It happened when I left his flat the other day too. He kissed me then I pulled back, and we looked each other in the eyes. It was like we were right back in primary school, all blushy and awkward.