My Girl by Jack Jordan

life?’
    ‘Who says I don’t have a sex life?’ he raised one eyebrow and smirked.
    ‘Touché,’ she said and laughed.
    They sat in silence for a few moments.
    ‘What was all that about with the doctor today?’
    ‘What do you mean?’ she asked.
    ‘You both looked as though you were staring at corpses.’
    ‘I think he feels guilty about Ryan’s death, you know? He prescribed him antidepressants, but clearly they weren’t enough.’
    ‘Why would that shock you enough to drop the hymnbooks?’
    ‘I’m still getting used to this,’ She raised her cast. ‘I keep thinking I have the use of both hands.’
    He frowned at his plate. ‘Did you sleep with him?’
    ‘Excuse me?’ She looked at her brother with dismay.
    ‘You’re my little sister. I don’t want you going with men like that. You’re better than that.’
    ‘What I do is none of your business.’
    ‘Why do we have to argue every time we’re together?’
    ‘Because you pry too much.’
    ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’ll work on it.’
    They ate and tried to ignore the tension swelling between them. Paige longed to sip at a glass of white wine. The dinner seemed odd without it.
    ‘You know that was his wife he came to the church with today?’
    ‘Maxim, I really don’t want to talk about it.’
    ‘Perhaps you should think of her before you meet with him again.’
    She dropped the fork onto the plate. Maxim jumped.
    ‘If you’re going to make me feel like shit, I’ll go and stay with Dad.’
    ‘You’re better off here.’
    ‘Right now, I’m not so sure.’
    ‘I’m sorry, all right? It’s because I care for you. I don’t like the thought of you being with him.’
    ‘Well, don’t think about it. And you can do that by not talking about it.’
    They finished their dinner in awkward silence. Paige imagined packing a bag and going to her father’s, when she remembered that she didn’t even have any belongings to pack. She looked at the phone in its dock in the hallway. She could call her father and be asleep on his sofa within the hour. Maxim was behaving oddly tonight and she didn’t like it. She looked at his shirt. It looked familiar. For some reason, it didn’t sit right with her.
    ‘Why is the third bedroom locked?’
    ‘Pardon?’
    ‘The other bedroom. The door’s locked. Why?’
    ‘Would you like to see inside?’
    For the first time in her life, Paige felt uneasy in Maxim’s company. ‘Are you feeling all right?’
    ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
    ‘You just… you don’t seem like yourself.’
    ‘I’m fine. Would you like to see the room?’
    Their eyes locked. Maxim didn’t blink.
    ‘All right,’ she said.
    Paige followed him as he led the way down the hall and up the stairs. Something was wrong. She wished her father had stayed for dinner, but couldn’t explain why.
    Maxim pulled a key from his pocket. He looked strange in the dark.
    ‘You ready?’
    She nodded slowly. He stepped aside and allowed her to enter. What she saw made her stop in her tracks. Cold sweat broke out all over her body.
    By the flickering light of numerous candles, she saw photos of herself plastering all four walls: her as a baby, a toddler, a child, a teen, her as an adult, a mother, a widow. Her entire life was in front of her. There were photos of her at the graveyard the night she was arrested, and asleep on her sofa hugging to her chest the jumpsuit that Chloe had worn as a baby. There was a photo of her naked, taken up close – her eyes were closed in sleep.
    Lit candles were dotted around the edges of the room – he had planned to show her all along. The carpet beneath her feet felt rough, and was stained with hardened, white spills.
    She couldn’t understand. Her thoughts refused to string together and tell her what was right in front of her.
    ‘It’s always been you,’ he said, walking up behind her.
     His hands slipped around her waist and pulled her gently against him.
    ‘What?’ Tears filled her eyes as she gaped