Review of Australian Fiction, Volume 14, Issue 1 by Irma Gold

Author:Irma Gold
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781922171818
Publisher: Review of Australian Fiction

Esther shuffles into the kitchen, her hair falling about her face in imitation of the Dulux dog. As she pauses to flick on the coffee machine, she pecks Geoffrey on the cheek, her lips barely glancing his skin. He wants to hug her, wrap her in his arms and hang on. When she was a toddler she would creep into their bed and curl into Geoffrey with a violence that always surprised. She would wedge her head into his neck, pushing against his jaw. Bruise her way into the arc between his ribs and hipbone. Lie over his face, scraping her skull across his so that he could barely breathe. Daddy’s girl. The things that used to drive him mad, he now thinks of with longing. All that is lost.

‘Good night?’ he asks.

She grunts.

‘Your mother called earlier.’

Esther opens the fridge, mutters into it, ‘What does that bitch want now?’

‘Well what do you think?’ Geoffrey says. ‘She cares for you.’

‘Bit late for that.’

‘She’s been trying to get hold of you. I said you’d call.’

‘Well you shouldn’t’ve.’

She turns towards him, folds her arms across her nightie, Katy Perry’s stippled breasts overlaying her own. Her eyes are half-lidded, the death stare. The fridge slaps closed.

‘I promised her you would.’

Geoffrey holds his phone out to her. ‘Come on, love,’ he says gently.

She sighs as if this is the worst possible turn of events.

‘Fine,’ she says, taking the phone. ‘But only for you.’

Their eyes meet and for the briefest of moments something passes between them. He reaches for her hand, squeezes it. ‘Thank you, love.’

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