let me ask Ralph”, this other loser working there. So he asks Ralph or whatever his name was and they both started laughing at me. These two spotty high school drop-outs were laughing at me! I’ve never been so outraged in my whole life! I mean, what sort of a shit stain of a place is this that they don’t have
Vogue
!’
Isla exhaled, her cheeks reddened with fury as she relived the encounter.
Aiden watched her closely, waiting to see if she was joking only to sadly realize that she was being completely serious.
‘You know you can just order
Vogue
online, right?’
‘That’s not the point.’
‘Then what is the point?’
‘This place! It isn’t
me.
I care about fashion, about designers, about the latest trends. The people here live in a goddamn bubble and I’m sick of it!’
‘But you can still care about fashion and all that. Just order
Vogue
online.’
‘You’re not getting it!’ Isla screamed at him in frustration.
‘What exactly aren’t I getting?’ Aiden shouted back. ‘That you are so vacuous that you want to leave somewhere just because they don’t stock an overpriced fashion magazine?’
‘It’s all of it!’ Isla wailed.
‘You are so selfish!’ Aiden seethed. ‘I genuinely thought that your concerns were legitimate. That maybe you were just really struggling here but, actually, you’re getting upset about something so minor, something so insignificant!’
‘It’s significant to me,’ Isla told him coldly. ‘But then you don’t seem to care about what matters to me. You’re too busy either working or taking Meegan out. You don’t take me anywhere.’
‘So now you’re jealous of our daughter?’ he asked in disbelief. ‘You’re crazy, you know that? I’d take you out but you refuse to go anyway around here.’
‘I’m miserable and I want to leave here!’ Isla cried.
Aiden stood up to leave, tired of arguing over something as trivial as a magazine, though he did make a mental note to set up a standing order of
Vogue
online for Isla, for his own sanity as much as hers.
‘Why can’t we go back to Chicago?’ Isla demanded. Aiden was almost through the door when she added bitterly, ‘it’s because she’s there, isn’t it? God, Aid, you’re just so infatuated with her it’s pathetic!’
He immediately knew she was referring to Brandy. Was he really that transparent with his feelings?
Aiden turned to look at her, his eyes watering. He needed to say something, to reassure her that Brandy wasn’t an issue between them. As he stood, dwelling on what to say, the plaintive sounds of crying came filtering down the stairs. Their shouting had awoken Meegan. Aiden glanced upwards and then back at Isla who was now weeping gently at the table. It made him feel sick to think that he’d upset her like that.
‘I’ll go and see Meegan,’ he told her, his voice soft, the hostility of the argument melting away. Isla didn’t answer.
It took Aiden a while to calm Meegan down.
‘Daddy, why you yell?’ she asked him repeatedly through her floods of tears. He rocked her gently in his arms, reassuring her that everything was okay.
‘Mommy and Daddy are just tired,’ he told her, ‘people shout sometimes when they are tired. You know how grumpy you get when you don’t nap?’
This seemed to make sense to Meegan and she rested her head on Aiden’s chest, feeling sleepy once more.
‘We go to the game?’ she asked before putting a comforting thumb in her mouth.
‘Yes, sweetheart, we’ll go the game tomorrow.’ Since Aiden had become aware of the football scene in Avalon following his involvement with the Brandon White case, he’d tried to attend as many games as possible, soaking up the community spirit and enjoying the jovial atmosphere.
Meegan especially loved it, always insisting on being purchased a foam hand – she now possessed quite the collection, along with popcorn. It was a fun night out for them all. Although Isla only sometimes joined them, she
Vogue
!’
Isla exhaled, her cheeks reddened with fury as she relived the encounter.
Aiden watched her closely, waiting to see if she was joking only to sadly realize that she was being completely serious.
‘You know you can just order
Vogue
online, right?’
‘That’s not the point.’
‘Then what is the point?’
‘This place! It isn’t
me.
I care about fashion, about designers, about the latest trends. The people here live in a goddamn bubble and I’m sick of it!’
‘But you can still care about fashion and all that. Just order
Vogue
online.’
‘You’re not getting it!’ Isla screamed at him in frustration.
‘What exactly aren’t I getting?’ Aiden shouted back. ‘That you are so vacuous that you want to leave somewhere just because they don’t stock an overpriced fashion magazine?’
‘It’s all of it!’ Isla wailed.
‘You are so selfish!’ Aiden seethed. ‘I genuinely thought that your concerns were legitimate. That maybe you were just really struggling here but, actually, you’re getting upset about something so minor, something so insignificant!’
‘It’s significant to me,’ Isla told him coldly. ‘But then you don’t seem to care about what matters to me. You’re too busy either working or taking Meegan out. You don’t take me anywhere.’
‘So now you’re jealous of our daughter?’ he asked in disbelief. ‘You’re crazy, you know that? I’d take you out but you refuse to go anyway around here.’
‘I’m miserable and I want to leave here!’ Isla cried.
Aiden stood up to leave, tired of arguing over something as trivial as a magazine, though he did make a mental note to set up a standing order of
Vogue
online for Isla, for his own sanity as much as hers.
‘Why can’t we go back to Chicago?’ Isla demanded. Aiden was almost through the door when she added bitterly, ‘it’s because she’s there, isn’t it? God, Aid, you’re just so infatuated with her it’s pathetic!’
He immediately knew she was referring to Brandy. Was he really that transparent with his feelings?
Aiden turned to look at her, his eyes watering. He needed to say something, to reassure her that Brandy wasn’t an issue between them. As he stood, dwelling on what to say, the plaintive sounds of crying came filtering down the stairs. Their shouting had awoken Meegan. Aiden glanced upwards and then back at Isla who was now weeping gently at the table. It made him feel sick to think that he’d upset her like that.
‘I’ll go and see Meegan,’ he told her, his voice soft, the hostility of the argument melting away. Isla didn’t answer.
It took Aiden a while to calm Meegan down.
‘Daddy, why you yell?’ she asked him repeatedly through her floods of tears. He rocked her gently in his arms, reassuring her that everything was okay.
‘Mommy and Daddy are just tired,’ he told her, ‘people shout sometimes when they are tired. You know how grumpy you get when you don’t nap?’
This seemed to make sense to Meegan and she rested her head on Aiden’s chest, feeling sleepy once more.
‘We go to the game?’ she asked before putting a comforting thumb in her mouth.
‘Yes, sweetheart, we’ll go the game tomorrow.’ Since Aiden had become aware of the football scene in Avalon following his involvement with the Brandon White case, he’d tried to attend as many games as possible, soaking up the community spirit and enjoying the jovial atmosphere.
Meegan especially loved it, always insisting on being purchased a foam hand – she now possessed quite the collection, along with popcorn. It was a fun night out for them all. Although Isla only sometimes joined them, she
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