Drink Me

17.WHAT IS THE TRUTH, ANYWAY?

WHATIS THE TRUTH, ANYWAY?

Alice looked at him with devastating intensity, something he had never experienced before.

"What, Riley?" she urged him.

Riley blinked and sighed heavily.

"I am worried too, Ally. I realise something is wrong with Aidan," he lied eventually.

He trusted her but he had signed a contract and he valued the secrecy of his job. Secrecy was what kept people safe.

"Do you know something I don't?" she probed.

Riley shook his head. "No, baby, no. I just agree with you that Aidan's behaviour is strange and I can tell something's up."

Riley didn't fail to notice Alice's subtle reaction to his baby, happy she had concentrated on that.

She eventually sighed heavily. "I'll talk to him tomorrow. Hopefully, he'll come around..."

As she said this, Riley's phone rang from the bedroom. He excused himself and hurried to answer it.

"Hey Aidan," he said, coming back into the living room.

"Hey, mate. Erm... have you seen Alice? Or heard from her?" Aidan's voice was tense.

The woman nodded ever so slightly.

"No mate, I haven't seen her. Why?"

Alice smiled at him in gratitude."

"We had a fight a couple of days ago. She's barely heard from her since..." Aidan replied elusively.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, what happened?"

Riley leaned against the kitchen counter opposite Alice. There was a monetary silence on the other line and then a heavy sighed.

"It was a stupid fight, no need to go into detail." Another silence. "I was already frustrated because of work... anyway, I hurt her. I grabbed her..."

"You did what?" Riley cut him off. Although he knew exactly what had happened, hearing the words from his cousin filled him with rage again.

"Obviously I didn't mean to. I barely realised what I was doing until it was too late..."

"Fuck Aidan... Have you gone insane?" Riley passed his fingers through his hair as he spoke and glanced at Alice, who was staring at him, nervously biting on her thumbnail.

"I know. Listen, Riley, I don't have time for your lecture now. I need to talk to her. Maybe Nicole knows something?"

He shook his head. "No, Nicole hasn't said anything, you know women's complicity and all that shit... I will ask her though."

"Please, I need to make this right..." Desperation was now in Aidan's voice.

Riley nodded. "OK. But keep in mind Alice probably needs more time..."

"I understand that, but I need to apologise and make sure she's alright. I need her to realise how sorry I am..."

"Alright, mate. I'll let you know if I hear something but you gotta get it together."

"I know." Aidan retorted.

Riley promised again to stay in touch and hung up.

He and Alice were silent as they stared at each other for a moment.

"He's really miserable, Ally," Riley said eventually. "I wish I could have investigated more but I didn't want to make him suspicious."

The girl chewed on her inner cheek. "It's OK. It's enough you're lying for me... I'll text him in a bit so he knows we'll talk tomorrow, maybe he'll calm down then," she said.