Cherry Coloured - Alex Turner

22. Marketed Luxuries

The chemically white tiles seemed to move towards Alex as he sat in the waiting lounge, the effects of long distance driving were warping his perception. He squeezed his eyes shut and blinked away the illusion. Vienna was still talking to him about her travel itinerary, fantasising about all the memories she was going to make and the conversations she was going to have. It was nine in the morning and they had arrived an hour ago.

"You have to come next time," she was saying to him, holding one of his hands between both of hers. "Everyone is dying to see you again."

"I hope you don't mean literally," Alex said with a smile in her direction.

Vienna rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna miss you," she said.

"I'm going to miss you too," Alex smiled and kissed the back of her hand. Amsterdam wasn't far but it was separated by sea and was the furthest they'd been from the other in over a year. Vienna's cousin had allegedly been begging for her to visit, it barely took an ounce of convincing, the trip had been planned and anticipated for months.

"That's me," Vienna grinned, tuning into the overhead announcement. People began to rise all around them and file towards the gate, separated into Economy and Priority, Vienna was the latter. "You'll be fine it's only a couple of weeks," she said as they too stood from their seats.

"I know," Alex laughed shortly.

"Okay, I'll text you when I land and keep you up to date with everything we get up to," Vienna smiled and stood in the priority passengers line. "I love you."

"I love you too," Alex smiled and offered her his cheek when she leant over to kiss him.

"Hey, proper kiss, thank you," she said, hand on his neck and pulled him in to meet her lips. Pushing away his reluctance, Alex gave in and wiped the lipgloss from his bottom lip when she pulled back. "Tell me you love me, one more time."

Alex chuckled and cupped her cheek in once hand, "I love you, Vienna. More than anyone."

Usually, he would feel abandoned when Vienna would endeavour upon a solo trip, or at least left behind. This time, Alex began the long drive home with opportunity in his sights. With Vienna's absence came his undivided attention and he intended to put it all into the girl he kissed outside of his parent's bookstore. He was determined to show her that she was more to him than a Bonnie on the side.

Kissing Vienna didn't feel the same anymore. Alex felt like he was being kissed by someone who was drunk, there was always something missing or something unwanted like he no longer wanted to kiss her the way he always had. At the root of it all was the unnerving feeling that with every kiss, Alex was betraying Maeve. He'd been avoiding sex with Vienna at all costs, not wanting to hurt her nor the thought of Maeve's heartbreak that lingered behind his eyes. As a man who'd always known he'd drop everything for the one woman he loved he now found himself stuck and in love with two.

  The drive home was tiresome and seemed to weave into the trip they'd made early that morning as if he'd never stopped driving. It wasn't practical for him to drive six hours to drop someone off at the airport but Vienna's insistence left him no real choice. He was one of many cars soaring up the M11, taking to the inner fast lane to avoid as much merging as possible, he wasn't impatient, he just wasn't in the mood for a leisurely drive home — he was aiming for twelve-thirty.

  Surrendering the bliss of music as his only passenger, Alex fiddled with the screen of his car's infotainment system and tapped the contact he'd been tapping all week. The car vibrated with every loud ring singing from its speakers, Alex kept his eyes on the road and the dull passing scenery. Field upon field, spotted with bushes and trees. He began to conjure up a storyline. A mystery, murder mystery, body found off the side of the motorway. No, that was too cliché, if he wanted to live up to his own plot expectations he needed to come up with something that strayed from all the manuscripts he'd edited. It seemed like everything had been done already.