The Lonely Hearts Travel Club : Destination India (An excerpt)

‘Damn. We’re out of milk. Could you go and grab us some coffees? You can take some change from the kitty tin,’ Ben called over from the small kitchen at the back of the room. ‘Fine,’ Kelli huffed, knocking one of my pens to the floor. ‘Careful,’ Ben warned. ‘Don’t mess up her desk.’ ‘Yeah, we both know how OCD she is,’ Kelli replied, sniggering. ‘Organised, Kelli. The word you’re looking for is organised,’ Ben said. I could sense a smile in his voice. ‘Hmm, more like psycho control freak if you ask me,’ Kelli muttered quietly. ‘What was that?’ ‘Nothing. I just said I won’t make a mess.’ I wasn’t a psycho control freak nor did I have OCD. I just liked order. I liked to keep tabs on things, to have a plan, to know that everything was going as it should – so yeah, I did need to have some level of organisation, something Kelli could do well with learning, I silently seethed.
Kelli’s skinny arm dipped down to pick the pen up, her hand fumbling on the floor inches from my feet followed by her blue-streaked hair and anaemically pale face. Her bloodshot eyes clocked mine. ‘Oh!’ I pressed my finger to my lips, wincing. ‘What?’ Ben called out. I shook my head and pointed to the roof of the desk. A slow smirk broke out on Kelli’s face and she straightened herself up. ‘Nothing. I just, erm, just found that stapler I’ve been looking for.’
Her feet backed out of view. ‘Erm, actually I think you should get the coffees. I’ve got lady problems and shouldn’t be out in the cold air for too long.’ I stifled a laugh. Nicely done, Kelli; every woman knows if you want to get out of doing something then talking about your period is the number one way to spook a man out. I could sense Ben’s face turning a lovely shade of crimson as I heard him stutter. ‘Right, OK. Not a problem. You just, erm, get to work and I’ll grab us some coffee.’ Kelli dramatically slunked onto the office chair opposite. ‘Thanks, Ben. Really appreciate it. I promise I’ll go when I’m off the blob.’ I heard a rustle of fabric and the bell tingling as the door opened and quickly closed again. Nervously I peeked around my filing cabinet to check the coast was clear. ‘S’all right. He’s gone,’ Kelli said, swinging her feet up.
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