If her alters were talking to each other, that would be considered co-consciousness. Even rarer. ‘OK. So shall I talk to you, Jacob?’
‘No ta. I might be able to find Sally, though. She loves a natter.’
‘Sally?’
Holly’s voice suddenly took on a posh, female booming quality. ‘Oh, hello, I’m Sally. Lovely to meet you!’
Alanna took a deep breath. ‘Hi, Sally,’
***
Alanna was supposed to sign the contract on the new place today, but time had run out. She’d just spent two hours talking to her supervisor, taking one quick break to call the letting agent and ask to reschedule. Because Holly was a lot and Alanna wanted to help her. But even her sagely wise supervisor seemed a bit foxed.
One thing they could agree on was that Holly might well have some issues stemming from some incident in her past, but they were pretty certain she was not a legitimate sufferer of DID. She’d done a reasonable impression of some media depictions, but since the media usually got it wrong, so had Holly. The dead giveaway was how cartoonishly broad her alters personalities were. One of them had a southern American accent that was straight out of Foghorn Leghorn.
Eventually, Alanna and her supervisor had agreed on a plan for Alanna to keep treating Holly, which most likely had something to do with childhood neglect, common to Munchausen’s sufferers. Alanna had never been more thrilled to have backup. She was worn out from the whole thing. But her day wasn’t over. She still had to go to Benjamin and Kelly’s little soiree.
She went home to get ready for the party with a slight feeling of dread. This was not an engagement she was looking forward to. But Keira had seemed embarrassed, and in the grand scheme of favours, Alanna was happy to even things up a bit before she left.
She wondered if Keira would go out afterwards to meet some stranger from an app. She’d been out every evening this past week, though she never brought anyone back. Alanna assumed she’d found a work-around for her old rule about strangers’ houses. Maybe she was paying for hotels? That had to be racking up a serious bill, but Alanna would be out of her hair soon enough and Keira could go back to how things used to be. Alanna only hoped she didn’t find herself getting into trouble again with some of the more attachment prone matches.
But Keira didn’t seem particularly put out to be losing her fake girlfriend. She was very blasé about the whole thing. Alanna had thought it would be a much bigger discussion than it turned out to be. Likely, Keira was secretly relieved to get her place back. That only reinforced Alanna’s decision. It was the right choice. She was gonna take that shabby room in the house share with three nice-enough seeming people, where there was not much space or great coffee. But what it had going for it—its particularly attractive amenity—was that it contained a lack of anyone she was currently in unrequited love with. Once Alanna had settled in there, she could begin the process of getting over it. At some point. Hopefully.
Alanna stepped into the flat and found Keira writing. She stopped tapping immediately. ‘Hi. Ready to party down with our ex-lovers and partners?’ she asked acerbically.
‘You know it!’ Alanna said with a sarcastic thumbs-up. ‘Just let me run a brush through my hair and slap on some lippy.’
‘You don’t need to do anything,’ Keira said. Adding quickly, ‘Those jokers probably won’t notice anyone but each other. That’s what this whole thing is for, I think. Us to admire their love.’
‘That sounds like a healthy relationship I’m sure will last right down the years. Alright, let’s get this thing over with.’
They stepped out of the flat together and across the landing to the opposite door. Beyond the door were party sounds. Things had kicked off quickly, Alanna was surprised to find. She knocked on the door. It was flung open by Alanna’s mother.
‘Mum? The hell are you doing here? I haven’t seen you in days,’ Alanna exclaimed.
‘I wasinvited,’ her mother said irritably, walking away from the door. Alanna and Keira entered to find a busy flat, full of a variety of people Alanna had seen in the elevator or around the bins. It was a decent turnout. There was booze in the kitchen, snacks on the table, jazz on the speakers.
Alanna’s mother was in the corner, chatting with a group that included Jonty, as well as Benjamin. Jonty was hanging on her every word. As was Benjamin. Odd how he still kissed her ass when he was not interested in Alanna anymore.
Over in the kitchenette, Kelly was throwing her head back and laughing with two middle-aged guys with beards who Alanna vaguely recalled lived together on the first floor.
Seeing her old flat like this, with a social function in full swing, made her suddenly sad. Benjamin, Kelly, her mother. Everyone was moving on. While she moved… sideways? Well, better than backwards.
‘I need a drink,’ Keira said, heading for the kitchen where Alanna had found Benjamin destroying her makeup once upon a time. There was red wine on the side. ‘I hate red wine,’ Keira said, pouring two glasses out. She handed one to Alanna and took a sip from the other. She gagged and took another sip.
Alanna smiled. ‘You could just not drink it.’
‘That’s how the terrorists win,’ Keira said cryptically.
‘Oh, wow, you guys came!’ exclaimed Kelly, noticing them, detaching from her new besties. Her conjoined twin, Benjamin, appeared by her side.
‘Do you like that wine?’ Benjamin asked. ‘We got it from this little vineyard we visited recently.’
‘I wouldn’t ask me that. I’m a total philistine about wine. It’s all grape-flavoured drain cleaner to me,’ Keira said easily.
Benjamin and Kelly looked expectantly at Alanna. She felt pressured to sip the wine. ‘Yes, that’s… very full-bodied?’ Alanna was pretty sure that was a phrase applied to wine, which was not a subject she gave a rodent’s anus about.
They nodded. ‘That’s whatwesaid,’ Kelly smiled.
