“Don’t lie. You two were weirdly obsessed with each other. Also, didn’t you take a pair of her—”
“No,” Scott interrupted, a hot prickle spreading over the back of his neck. “I don’t want to…I’m not here because of that, I’m here because of a business offer. I think my father already came by about it this morning?”
Tabitha’s blue eyes widened. “Oh my God! Oh my fucking god! I forgot that nut-brick is your dad! Where is my head at right now? I guess ithasbeen ten years since we had to deal with you, in fairness. Your dad moved away right after you left, yeah?”
“Yes, but he still owns the house next door.”
“Right, wait, hang on. Sam said you were back in London. What the fuck are you still doing here?”
“Tabby!” A tall black-haired woman strode up to Tabitha, her pretty face drawn into a snarl. “What have I told you about talking to customers?”
Scott’s heart clenched but it wasn’t Samantha, but Nicole. The silk shirt and lack of visible tattoos made differentiating the twins a breeze but he’d always been able to tell them apart. They moved in different ways. Nicole moved cautiously and Sam danced. Even her walk was a dance.
“Hello, how are you?”
“Good,” she said, without any sign she recognised him. She turned to her younger sister who was leaning against the reception desk like a colorful Han Solo. “What on earth is going on? I can hear you yelling down the hall. I told you, when we have clients you have to talk—”
“Yeah, yeah sure,” Tabby interrupted. “Only it’s not a client, it’s Scott Sanderson.”
Nicole’s pale brow furrowed. “What? Oh my God, Scott! Hi!”
“Hello,” he said, feeling even more like a tit. “I uh, didn’t know you were working here.”
“Tabby and I are just down for a couple of weeks to help Sammy out. I live in Adelaide these days. My fiancé and I have a house there.”
She said the wordfiancé with anoticeable pride. “That’s great, how are you finding South Australia?”
Nicole launched into a short but clearly well-established speech about how the weather was nice and Adelaide wasn’t Melbourne,obviously,but it was lovely. As she talked, Scott marvelled at how different she’d become. She and Samantha had always been chalk and cheese personality-wise but it was clear the chasm had grown even wider over the past decade. She’d developed that smooth, Adelaide way of talking that made her sound nearly as posh as he did.
“Adelaide’s shit,” Tabitha interrupted as Nicole waxed poetic about the wineries. “There’s no nightlife and it’s full of middle-class edgesters who say the word ‘dancing’ wrong.”
The two sisters glared at one another, not hostile, but not entirely friendly. Just as Scott decided to excuse himself, Nicole turned to him again. “I’m sorry, I forgot to ask. What can I help you with?”
“He’s here to get a tattoo,” Tabby interrupted again. “I’m thinking the reaper wearing Polly Pocket roller skates.”
Nicole frowned. “What are you—”
“He threw them on the power line! Don’t tell me you don’t remember? It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my young life!”
“I’m sorry,” Scott said, feeling stupid. “I can…give you some money for them?”
“Oh fuck yeah!”
Nicole clapped a hand over her sister’s mouth “Don’t be silly. She’s just melodramatic. So why are you here?”
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. Saying this to the cool, corporate-looking Nicole was proving almost as hard as talking to Samantha. “I’m here about the deal my father offered you earlier today.”
“Ah,” Nicole said delicately as Tabby mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like ‘arsehole.’
“I’d like to apologise for whatever he did. My father has always been…well I’m sure you remember what he’s like.”
Nicole gave a small nod. “You don’t need to apologise for him.”
Tabby ripped her hand from her mouth. “Yes he does! He came barging up and said he needed to see Sam and when I told him she was with a client he went down the hall to the tattoo suites!”
Oh fucking hell.“He didn’t?”
“He did! He opened the door to room one and told Sam she should sell up while she still has the chance! And then Noah walked in and said he’d punch him in the face if he didn’t leave!”