Never Tell Secrets (18+)

Ch 30 - Professional Ghostbuster

ATTENTION RADISH READERS! Please don't leave any spoilers in here or you'll be getting a spanking from Alfie. Or Elliot. Or Keira. Whoever you'd prefer. 😘

***

I awoke in bed linens so light I felt like I was sleeping on a cloud. That was the first sign I wasn't in my own bed. My lids drifted open and the first thing I saw were my framed Evergarden sketches on the wall. I sighed, gazing at them. I had been so hopeful when I had created those, so excited for our future. So naive about the kind of man Alfie truly was. 

I stretched and eased out of bed, my gaze falling on an envelope that looked like it had been pushed under the door. I opened it and sure enough, inside was a message from Alfie.

Lo,

I've been called away on business so will be unable to have breakfast with you this morning. Please make yourself at home and feel free to stay as long as you like.Elliot will drive you home when you're ready.I hope these will make up for my absence.A.

I frowned - what was he talking about? Confused, I unlocked the door, my heart swelling as I discovered what was on the other side. I knelt, running my fingers over the delicate petals of the Bleeding Hearts. Except that these weren't pink like the ones he used to send me, they were a deep red, representing not only the romance and passion of the pink hearts, but power and strength too. He was telling me to be strong. The thing was, I was already strong, and sometimes I thought it was that very strength that wanted me away from him.

I ran my fingers over the silken velvet of the petals, wondering whether it would take more strength to take Alfie back, or let him go for good.

***

"He's really pulling out all the stops, huh?" Keira's voice startled me. I turned to find her eyeing the vase of bleeding hearts as I arranged them on the window ledge in our living room.

"Yeah, I guess so." I gave them a final tweak and straightened to face her. "I haven't seen much of you this week."

She'd only gotten home a few hours ago, carrying her shoes and looking her usual dishevelled self after a night out. Now, she was showered and dressed again, looking deadly in a little black dress and heels so high they must be giving her vertigo.

"I've been busy," she shrugged. "Work." 

"Right..." I trailed off, wondering when things had gotten so awkward between us. I eyed my best friend. She held herself as she always did, like a woman confident in her sensuality, but there was a distraction behind her eyes. Something was gnawing on her, a poisonous parrot whispering in her ear. "Keira, is something going on with you? You haven't been right since we went to the club." Since you met Damien. I didn't want to say that part out loud, the phrase 'don't poke the bear' springing to mind. 

"I'm fine, Lo. Just...work, like I said." Bullshit, I thought but instead of calling her on it, I decided to let it be for now. She turned to head out the door but paused. I waited as she hovered, biting her lip before she finally spoke. "When you first met Alfie, what was it like?"

I stared at her, surprised by her question. "Getting punched in the face, kicked in the stomach and set on fire, in the best, most terrifying way. Why?" 

She looked pensive, her dark eyes darker than usual. She cleared them, giving me a shrug full of faux nonchalance. "Just making sure I know what to stay clear of."

My eyes narrowed - what the hell was wrong with her? "I wouldn't change it, you know. All the pain, the damage, I'd do it all over again."

"Why?" She asked, looking at me like I was insane. Maybe I was.