Emotional Rollercoaster

Chapter 8 - Confrontation

Monday morning. Roxy was walking past the Guest House after dropping Ethan at school when she bumped into Claire on the footpath outside. She stopped abruptly in her tracks.
'Claire,' she said, putting a hand to her chest, having been miles away in her head.
'Oh, hi,' Claire replied, suddenly looking up, having been miles away herself. 'Is that you just back from dropping Ethan off?' she asked, a little surprised knowing what the time was.
'Yes, we were late this morning,' she said, hiding behind a pair of dark glasses, not looking her immaculate self.
Claire could see she'd not got a scrap of makeup on, and was itching to see what she looked like behind those huge sunglasses. 'A touch seedy, are we?' she asked, not hiding the fact it was noticeable.

'More than just a touch, babe,' Roxy replied, peering over the top of the sunglasses with a wide smile, delighted to report, 'we had a huge day yesterday, and I'm paying for it severely this morning.'

Claire found it hard to smile naturally, having felt sour about the little soirée Lee and Stacey had arranged from the moment Roxy had mentioned it, but as usual, she couldn't help but ask about it.
'How did you go. Did you have a good time?' Inwardly she was hoping to hear that she hadn't, that she had found Stacey and Katie difficult to get along with knowing their differences. But Roxy wasn't going to give her the pleasure and immediately gushed, 'we had an amazing time. What lovely people they are!' and to rub it in even further added, 'you want to see their place, it's to die for ... and their outdoor area is stunning!' She couldn't have rubbed it in any harder if she'd tried.

Claire had met her match in the bitch stakes and knew it, and refusing to bite, ignored what she'd just said and asked, 'did Ethan say he enjoyed his time with us yesterday?'
'Yes, he had a fab time by all accounts,' she answered, surprised Claire hadn't risen to the bait like she'd expected. 'He was full of it this morning. I just went home and died after we left their place yesterday, and Tyler wouldn't "allow" me to come into yours with him when we came to pick Ethan up. He said I was too drunk!'

Claire let out a light laugh, 'yes, he said you were a bit under the weather.'
'Under the weather?' she repeated with a sneer, 'God, he can be a wanker at times. So, Luna Park, eh? That was good of you to take them there. Did Martyn go with you?' she pried, since Ethan hadn't mentioned Martyn at all.
'No,' Claire told her, refusing to admit Martyn had an intolerance to children. 'I decided I'd take them on my own to give him some time to himself. He's been so busy over the last few weeks, with one thing or another. It was great fun. The boys just loved going on the bus and the ferry.'

But Roxy wasn't listening. She was too busy pulling up photos on her phone to show Claire. 'Look at these,' she said, putting her phone in her hand but taking control over flicking from one picture to the next.
Claire hid her irritation as Roxy flaunted what seemed to be an endless stream of photos at her. Photos of mostly herself pouting in selfie mode, clutching onto whoever she could drag into the picture with her. She had her arms around Stacey, then Katie, then Lee and Bob. There were endless group pictures with her posing seductively with whoever she could - and even one where she was unashamedly draped all over Lee as she tried to get a picture of the amazing view in the background.

Claire, full of resentment, wondered exactly what Stacey, let alone Tyler, must have thought about it.

Roxy had definitely been on a mission to brag about her day.

'I tried to get as much of their apartment in as I could, so you can get a good look at it,' she said as if having done her a huge favour.

'Yeah, it's not that easy to see with everyone crowding into the shots,' said Claire, wanting to show no interest as Roxy now went through them again backwards.