She’s alpha.
That’s the first thing I think when I meet Scarlett.
I don’t think I’ve ever thought before about the definition of an alpha person but when she stands in front of me, rubbing that baby bump, it is the only word in my mind and it shouts itself, loud.
Alpha.
Alpha.
Alpha.
Scarlett is not necessarily the loudest in the room, but she is the most comfortable in her own skin. Sitting back. Appraising the situation. Cringing, ever so slightly, when you say something she deems stupid before swooping in to put you right.
Tall but not the sort of tall that means older relatives suggest she wears flats to make men feel more at ease.
‘Good tall,’ people say, nodding approvingly.
The victim bit? Give me a break. It’s hard to swallow when you’ve seen the way Scarlett walks into a room, presuming all eyes are on her and very happy with that.
When Scarlett’s daughter was born and she went on maternity leave, she wanted to keep herself busy so instead of eating fifteen biscuits at a time in front of bad daytime TV, she started Cheshire Mama, a painfully smug parenting blog. She uses any window she can to shoehorn a mention of Cheshire Mama because her blog makes her feel special; a local celebrity. Scarlett likes that.
Even though there are thousands of parenting blogs already, millions, Cheshire Mama is successful. It would be; Scarlett’s kid’s cute and her mum will happily flog those pudgy legs and hair that looks like it was cut in a pixie for a free designer changing bag. Often her husband features too. Beautiful, over six foot and positioned with the kid next to a pumpkin, a Christmas tree, a baby lamb, a swimming pool; insert as appropriate for the season.
It’s unbearable.
Scarlett’s child has the coolest buggy, and her shoulder has the coolest bag, and her kitchen has the coolest coffee machine. It sits right there, see, on top of the coolest kitchen island. They plant vegetables together in their wellies, the Salloways, but only so they can pose for the picture, a snap for a thousand hashtags.
I see her smugness when I stand with Scarlett in her kitchen. As I watch her, she is barefoot, pink toenails, picking up the coffee cup and flicking on the radio.
I smile at her, tell her I love this song.
Scarlett is pretty. Slim. God, she even has this thick, glossy hair when everyone else’s is falling out like it does after you have a baby. If she’s casual – often, actually – it’s in a way that doesn’t apologise for itself. When it rains on her dark brown bob she shoves it in an up-do that looks good without a slide or even a mirror.
It’s not that she is the fanciest – that’s sort of the point. She’s just … well, alpha.
Scarlett moved round here a few years ago, relocating from central Manchester. When you need a restaurant recommendation in the city, Scarlett knows the only three places you should go this year. Watch out if you suggest somewhere else; that face she pulls will make you want to drown yourself in her turmeric bloody latte.
We all know that Scarlett thinks she’s better than people without even having to try, and that irks. It irritates. It enrages.