Swotting Up by A. A. Albright

Author:A. A. Albright [Albright, A. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-08T06:00:00+00:00

14. Emily’s the Boss

I could hear Emily and Max in the kitchen when I arrived home, so I took my time shrugging off my coat. I was exhausted, I was scared, and I was sincerely thinking of looking into moving to another dimension. There had to be one good one, right? One where everyone got along with one another and didn’t carry out acts of unspeakable evil?

We had no idea who had drained the members of the board. Just like we had no idea who killed Bess. Or Kilian. But I knew one thing – an enormous amount of people had just been murdered, meaning that the second of the rituals might already be complete.

Finn was rushing around the club even now, desperately trying to discover the killer, while I … I was hoping for a flash of inspiration that would lead me to the truth. And if that flash didn’t come, then I was going to stick out a thumb and hitch a ride to the aforementioned perfect dimension.

As I hung my coat on the stand, I noticed a large black bag on the floor below it. I glanced at the kitchen door. It was shut tight, so I quietly opened the bag and looked through. As I did, my face fell. This was every single gift I’d ever given to Max. Books, clothes, and even the wizard-made stationery box I’d bought him the Christmas before.

I pulled the box out and stomped my way into the kitchen.

‘Hey Max,’ I said, then added, ‘Hey Emily,’ in a darker tone, holding up the stationery box. ‘How come all of this stuff is out in the hall?’

Max’s face reddened, and he looked down at his hands. ‘It’s … I’m just getting rid of some stuff. Giving it to charity.’

‘But … you love this stationery box. I got you this.’

Emily turned to me and smirked. ‘He only said he loved it to be nice. Max is far too nice for his own good, Wanda. But I’ll tell you the truth. That present was tacky. Everything that you’ve ever bought him is tacky. Anyway, I’m getting rid of all of Max’s stationery as it happens. No one needs that many pens and pencils. It’s ridiculous.’

I stared at her. ‘It’s not ridiculous,’ I protested. ‘Max loves stationery, and he loves this box. But if you think that the things he loves are ridiculous, then I’m beginning to wonder why you’d even want to be with him.’

She steeled her jaw, narrowed her eyes, and turned back to the cooker. ‘We’re about to sit down to dinner together,’ she said. ‘We’ve not made enough for three. Especially if the third has an appetite as big as yours.’

My mouth hung open, and I turned to Max. ‘I’m going to ignore the fact that your robot murdering girlfriend is being even ruder than usual,’ I said. ‘And I don’t want to have dinner with you, either.’ I waved the stationery box in the air. ‘But I’m keeping this, for when you come back to your senses.

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