Love/Fail

Chapter 13

Annoying Pinspiration Quote #13

"Do no harm – but take no shit."

The next Tuesday, I stormed into Savannah's office without waiting for her to collect me. She looked up from her desk, startled. "Mia! Are you okay? I was just about to come-"

"It's you, isn't it?" I said, uninterested in preamble. "You're the woman Cody is seeing. You're the one who's moved in with him. Tell me the truth."

She blanched, her tanned skin paling against the summery green dress she wore. "Mia, I can explain, but please, keep your voice down-"

"Are you kidding me?" I yelled, making no attempt to help her out. "You've been deceiving me for weeks, and now you don't want me to embarrass you at work because I'm maybe just a little pissed off?"

She hurried to close the office door, her head lowered in shame. "It's not the way it looks. Please, let me explain."

"Fine." I deliberately sat in her chair, leaving the squishy, lower couch for her to sink down to. "After all, I'm paying you for the hour. Tell me how you're not a complete conniving bitch. Please, do."

She folded herself up into the smallest space possible. I'd never seen her look so defensive before, and it gave weight to my theory that she knew she was in the wrong. With a shaking voice, she said, "The first week you were here, I was telling the truth. Cody and I were only together once, and he'd never asked to see me again. We weren't a thing anymore."

"But you wanted to be," I deduced.

"I did. He's... he's amazing, Mia." She sounded awed, and a small smile tugged at her mouth. "I kept asking him out again, but he always said no. I probably seemed really desperate."

I wasn't pulling punches. "Probably."

"But then one day a few weeks ago, I asked again and he said yes. He seemed sad, and I got the feeling he just wanted company, but I wasn't about to turn down the chance to spend time with him."

I cast my mind back. It would have been just about the time I called Cody a man-whore, when he'd said he was going to try to have an actual relationship. He's with her because of me. Savannah could have been anyone at that stage, but telling her she was just in the right place at the right time seemed too cruel. "So how did you go from dating to forcing him to let you move in?"

"I asked." She shrugged, embarrassed. "I know how that makes me look, but my lease had run out and I don't want to find somewhere new and be alone for another six months. I want to be with him. I know you must think I'm a terrible person, but I have really strong feelings for him, Mia."

"So does every crazy stalker," I muttered.

"Is he... Is he mad?"

"What?"

"Cody. Is he really angry?" She chewed on a manicured nail, tearing strips of loose flesh away from the cuticle in nervous pulls.

"I have no idea."

"You didn't... He didn't tell you? Then how did you know?"

Churlishly, I rolled my eyes. "Despite the fact I'm not a psychologist or a 'directional advisor' like you guys, give me some credit for having a brain. I worked it out on my own."

Although I'd never admit it to Savannah, it had taken me longer than I was proud of to realise it was her. The clues were there for weeks; her reactions to his name, wanting to cut off our sessions, suddenly becoming my best chum. The final tip was her comment about moving house, but what I really wanted to know was, "Why didn't you just tell me? You had to know I was going to find out eventually. Surely it would have been better for you to say something, rather than me hear it from him first?"