Love Simmers by Jules Deplume

the ridiculous outfits I’d had to compliment him on. He really
had no sense of style. I had never seen anyone try harder to be
fashionable than him.
    “ He didn’t like
dogs!” She shouted, getting more and more animated. “I want a
dog!”
    “ You know who
don’t like dogs?” I asked her, “serial killers and sociopaths!” I
answered my own question.
    She stopped drinking suddenly,
her eyes widening in shock as a pretty blonde walked into the bar
wearing a skimpy dress. I froze in fear, terrified that the woman
was who I was assuming she was. The only woman who could put that
psychotic look on Maddie’s otherwise docile face. Surely it was too
big a coincidence, then again it was the only bar in town.
    “ That’s her. I
found pictures of them on his phone.”
    Maddie didn’t breath as the
woman walked over to the bar to order a drink. She turned to me, a
friendly smile on her face.
    “ You’re Logan
Blake!” She squealed excitedly until she looked over my shoulder
and saw Maddie.
    “ And you’re
Chuck’s ex,” her voice lost all its warmth. Why I had no idea, it
wasn’t like she was the one scorned and betrayed.
    “ Chuck?” Maddie
rose to her feet to stand closer to the blonde, her body visibly
trembling with rage. I stood up in front of her, wanting to keep a
distance between the two women. Maddie was far too delicate for
prison.
    “ Look, no hard
feelings. You can’t control the heart,” she sighed as if bored by
this conversation.
    “ You can’t
control your vagina, bitch!” The bar went silent as those words
erupted from Maddie.
    I had never heard her say
vagina before. Under any other circumstances I would have
laughed.
    Before I could stop her, Maddie
picked up the glass of red wine the bartender had put in front of
the woman and poured it over her blonde head. The woman screamed in
outrage.
    “ My hair,” she
grabbed a napkin, “my dress!”
    The dress wasn’t really a loss
in my opinion.
    “ I couldn’t
control myself,” Maddie laughed quite wickedly, her actions seizing
the attention of the entire bar. It was like watching a scene from
a movie. Stuff like this just didn’t happen in Chester.
    “ You’re going
down, butterball!” The woman shoved Maddie hard enough to send her
backwards against the barstool. I tried to pull Maddie back,
lifting a leg to try and keep the other woman at a distance. Of
course, like shell-shocked buffoons the bar patrons just stared in
disbelief that two woman were now fighting and a celebrity chef
with a broken arm was trying to keep them apart. Maddie flew past
me, lunging towards the woman. I had no idea what she would do
next. I couldn’t imagine her hitting someone.
    “ Can someone
please help?” I shouted at the men and women who just watched with
open mouths.
    “ Sure,” a
female voice said calmly behind us. “You three. You’re under
arrest.”
    We all stopped instantly,
turning around to see a police officer standing a few feet away
watching us with an amused expression.
    “ Shit,” I
groaned, knowing we were in for a long night. How was I ever going
to explain this to my publicist?
     

Chapter Ten
     
    “ I’m so sorry,
Logan,” Maddie said as she sat beside me in the local police
station cell. “Is this going to damage your career?”
    I laughed wearily, my head and
arm pounding. I was in dire need of another painkiller now.
    “ Who doesn’t
want to watch a chef who gets into a bar fight on holiday?” I tried
to make her feel better, wondering whether Ollie would make it here
soon. I’d called him half an hour ago. He was probably making sure
his phone was charged. He’d want pictures.
    “ Are you going
to apologise to me?” Kate asked from the far side of the cell. “I
could sue you for like, emotional distress and the cost of my
dress.”
    We’d learnt after getting
arrested together that the blonde from the bar was called Kate.
    “ You paid for
that dress?” I asked incredulously, glad to see