“Of course,” the waiter replied before dutifully filling Elodie’s Champagne glass. Elodie took her eyes off Aaron for just a moment as the waiter topped up her glass and in that instant he disappeared into the crowd. Elodie stood there, dumbstruck; she was vaguely aware of the waiter bidding her farewell but the exact words he uttered would never be known to her. All she could do was stare. The freshly- filled glass suddenly seemed very heavy. She lifted it to her lips, her fingers trembling as Aaron’s words echoed in her head. She had been in shock, unable to think properly, but now the dust that clouded her mind’s eye began to settle and shock gave way to utter disbelief.
“Penny for them,” a familiar voice slurred into her ear. Elodie wiped at the nape of her neck as the perpetrator’s hot breath lingered there. She turned around and was unsurprised to see Chase standing there.
“You can keep your money,” Elodie said flatly, picking up her Champagne and taking a deep drink. She felt very much as though occupying her mouth was the best course of action; it would prevent her from saying something she might later regret.
“Oh come on, El, I’m only joking with you. So, what did Cinderella in a suit want? Cleaning tips?” Chase said, chuckling mirthlessly.
Elodie rolled her eyes. Comparing Aaron to Cinderella wasn’t funny; it was cruel.
“Aaron is ten times the man you are,” Elodie said, her temper beginning to flare. “If it wasn’t for you lying…”
“Hey! Can I help it if that’s what I thought at the time? And let’s be honest, you didn’t take much convincing. The way I see it is that you wanted a real man and you still do.” Chase inhaled deeply. “By the way, you look really good tonight, you know.” He leaned in towards her and added, “And you smell sensational,” before fixing her with a look that she knew far too well. There was a time when she would have seen desire in his eyes, but now they just seemed predatory and shallow.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” Elodie began.
She turned herself away from him, intent on leaving the conversation there and then. She didn’t think she could stand to hear anything else come from his mouth. She began to walk away but Chase grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back to him.
“Don’t be rude now, I only want a friendly chat, to see how you are,” he paused for a second and leaned in closer. Elodie could smell pungent alcohol on his breath. “You know, there are lots of dark corners in a place like this; I wonder if there’s an unused store cupboard kicking about?”
Elodie twisted her wrist from him and felt the flesh where he had made contact burn.
“Chase, we’re not friends and that’s not happening. Where’s Jess? Nipped to the loo, so you thought you’d kill five minutes?”
Chase wrinkled his nose as if he had suddenly smelt something rather unpleasant.
“She’s gone, too immature, she can’t handle being with someone like me.”
Elodie felt a strange sense of happiness at his words; Jessica appeared to have seen the light after all.
“Well, you’d better call one of your other women because I’m not interested,” Elodie quipped, thinking back to the phone calls she had overheard back on the jet. She saw a fleeting look of embarrassment sweep across Chase’s dark features and knew in that instant that there were no other women. “Oh, I get it. Exhausted all your options, have you?”
“Not at all,” Chase said recovering quickly. “El, I’ve missed you and need to be honest with you, I know I played you terribly but honestly, it’s you that I want. Things were just so much better when you were by my side, come on, what do you say?” his voice dropping.
He now looked at nothing but his hands, which he wrung nervously. Elodie surveyed him closely and sipped at her Champagne thoughtfully. She gave Chase a sweet, saccharine smile and watched as his demeanour changed in an instant. He transmogrified from shy schoolboy to the cat that got the cream in less than a nano- second.
“You’ve made the right choice,” he said reaching out for her again eagerly.
“Chase. I wouldn’t go near you if you were the last man on earth,” she said, snapping her hand backwards and almost spilling her drink as she did so. “Do you really think that recycling the same, old, tired lines will work on me?” Elodie said in a commanding voice that made Chase take a step backwards. He stammered something about not knowing what she meant, which made Elodie smile,
’He knows exactly what I mean,’ she thought to herself.
“Well, let me educate you then. I have heard you use those lines before, not something similar, not in the same vein, but those exact words… to Tara and then to Jess. I was there that day, on the plane. The day you phoned every single woman that had ever given you the time of day to try and get them back into bed with you.”
Elodie finished, noting with something akin to pride that Chase looked taken aback. He recovered quickly and cleared his throat.
“So you’ve been spying on me?” he said, raising one eyebrow in mock- horror. “Can’t keep away eh?”
“You’re pathetic, you know that?” Elodie said, unable to believe the sheer nerve of the man.
“I thought you were supposed to be nice to me, any more nastiness and that picture might see the light of day…”
“Do what you want Chase, you will anyway,” Elodie said, cutting him off. She gave him one last look, unable to believe he had taken her in, or that he could stoop so low, before spinning on her heel and leaving him behind and feeling his eyes boring into her as she went.
Elodie found Carla leaning casually against the bar. The gentlemen she had been with had gone and she was just stood there drinking in her surroundings with a half- cocked smile on her face.
“So how did it go with Aaron?” she asked.
“Oh, fine,” Elodie managed. “I need a drink.”
Carla leaned over the bar and placed her order with a waitress who looked as though she would rather be anywhere else. Carla handed Elodie a short tumbler, filled with ice and housing barely an inch of amber liquid in the bottom.
“Whisky? Really?” Elodie asked, eyeing the glass suspiciously.
“Sure, why not. It’s expensive stuff, for free and besides, you look like you need a good nerve tonic.” Elodie took the glass and, looking Carla in the eye, knocked it back in one. The liquid slid down her throat far easier than she had expected and Elodie thought that maybe she could get used to it after all. She waited a moment anticipating the usual burn that came with whisky but found that it never appeared; instead, she felt a pleasant warming sensation, like gently licking flames dancing at the back of her throat.
“Another?” Carla asked, but Elodie shook her head.
“I think I’m going to get off,” she said glancing around the room. She couldn’t concentrate and wanted, more than anything, for a just little bit of quiet to think.
“Oh no, let’s stay longer!” Carla pleaded.
“You stay. I think I’m done for the night,” Elodie said tonelessly, the shock of Aaron’s offer still fresh.
Carla nodded and gave Elodie a kiss on the cheek.
“Only if you’re sure?” she checked.
“Totally, you stay. Have a good time. Go find that tall guy again, he looked very interested,” Elodie said grinning.
“He’s a model scout, gave me his card. This place is great; it’s like I’m wearing my CV,” Carla laughed.
Elodie bade her a fond farewell and made her way outside, suddenly feeling absolutely exhausted.
Chapter 21
Three days had passed since Alex Walker’s famous Gala. Carla had had a fabulous time; she had used her evening to network with industry professionals and had taken no fewer than six business cards home with her. Since then she had been updating her portfolio and working on her online presence, so that when she did eventually follow them up she would have the best shot of making the right impression. Elodie had
gone home in a daze and had spent the days since either in autopilot at work, or keeping to herself at home. She felt unable to articulate what had happened, not the run- in with Chase, nor the offer from Aaron – one far more important than the other.
‘I’m not one for holding back, for denying myself what feels right.’ Aaron’s words whirled around in her head, echoing each and every time she had a quiet moment. She had hidden herself away in her room feigning a headache. Carla had laughed at her for getting old and joked that a three- day hangover was only to be expected from people of a great age. Elodie had managed a weak smile before closing the door and settling herself down. She drew her old patchwork blanket over her head and shut her eyes, hoping that the answer would be easier to see in the dark.
Later that evening Elodie found herself traipsing up and down the flat, repeating the same steps over and over again. She ran her fingers through her hair and tugged at her sleeve as she mulled over the outcome to each and every scenario she could imagine. If she went with Aaron she would lose her job, leave her friends and there would just be so much pressure on them to become a thing. She would also be unable to pay Betty back as quickly as she had hoped. What if she discovered that their connection had been false, that they weren’t suited and that she didn’t want to be with him? If that happened it would mean she’d have left everything behind for nothing, she’d have to come home, tail between her legs and start from scratch. The other option was to stay, to let him leave, possibly never see him again and carry on working for Alpha Whiskey. She’d have to forget all about him, an idea that seemed to go hand in hand with a heaviness in her heart.
“Will you pack that in?” Carla said, looking up from her phone. “You’re wearing a hole in the floor.”
“Sorry,” Elodie said. “Carla, can I talk to you?”
“About bloody time! I’ve been waiting for this since we came home the other night,” she said, setting her phone down on the arm of the sofa and turning to her friend.
“You have?” Elodie asked with surprise.
“Of course, I can read you like a book. Now, sit down and tell me what’s going on in that little head of yours. Oh, and grab me a wine while you’re at it, I’m parched.”
Elodie poured two large glasses of wine, finishing the bottle off between the two.
“Here you go,” she said, sitting down opposite Carla and handing her the over- filled glass.
“Good job we never served wine at Betty’s,” Carla chortled, steadily relieving Elodie of one of the glasses. “So go on then. Not that I need to ask really, I saw you two together.” Elodie looked at Carla with one raised eyebrow, unsure exactly how Carla could be so intuitive. “Chase has somehow managed to say the right things or look at you in a certain way and now you’re all dithery because you want to go for it but you know we’ll all have kittens if you do?”
Elodie, who was taking a sip of wine, struggled not to spit it out through laughter.
“No, no, no,” she managed after she’d swallowed awkwardly, “it’s nothing to do with Chase. Yes I spoke to him, yes he did try it on with me, but no, I’m never going back there again – ever.”
“So what is it then?” Carla asked suspiciously.
“It’s Aaron,” Elodie began.
She explained the whole situation to Carla, who sat there patiently, only breaking her concentration to occasionally take a sip of wine. It took Elodie so long to relay the story, how she felt and to ask for advice that condensation from her own glass ran down the side and dripped onto her lap.
“You know what you need to do?” Carla said authoritatively.
“No, what?” Elodie said, taking a sip of her now lukewarm wine.
“You need to come with me. Drink up, we’re going out.” Elodie began to protest but the steely look on Carla’s face told her that any words of objection would fall on deaf ears. She drank her wine, placed the glass in the sink and without a word of hesitation followed Carla out the door.
The bell above the door of Betty’s Book Café rang softly as they entered. Sat at the table in the corner, the one by the large window, were Betty and Steph.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you guys in so long,” Steph said, getting up to hug each of them in turn. She sat back down and Carla and Elodie followed suit, sitting at the chairs designated by their trademark coffees. At Elodie’s place sat a milky latte and at Carla’s a shot of espresso; Steph was already halfway through her flat white and Betty had opted for a pot of tea, served in one of her floral vintage teapots.
“Go on then,” Steph said gently, “what’s the matter?”
Elodie gave them all a solemn look and relayed the story to them. Carla listened patiently, even though this was the second time in as many hours that she’d heard it. When Elodie had finished a long and arduous silence fell over them all.
“Brilliant,” Elodie said sarcastically. “Thanks for your help, guys.”
“Well, what do you want us to say?” Betty asked, “It’s mad, absolutely mad. Going off with a boy like that. He could be a murderer for all you know.”
“He’s not a murderer, Mum. He’s just jumping the gun a bit,” Steph placated.
“A bit?” Betty laughed cynically. “The only way he could jump the gun further would be if he’d proposed. Besides, even if you knew him really well it’s still so last- minute. People spend months planning this sort of thing, not days.” Betty crossed her arms in front of her heaving chest, her eyes narrowing and mouth upturned in a frown.
“I have been planning, and for more than a few months,” Elodie said defensively. “I’ve kept notes and pictures and bits of information in a book for years. I’ve got everywhere in there. I call it my personalised travel guide.”
“Even so, Elodie, it’s a big risk,” Betty replied.
“Well, I think it’s romantic,” Carla said effusively. “You should go for it El. Wish I hadn’t bloody brought you here now, what with Patty and Selma raining on your parade. I expected more from you two. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and let’s face it, Aaron’s hot,” Carla said. “I can’t see what the big deal is, personally.”
“It’s not once in a lifetime, the world isn’t going anywhere and it’s not like you don’t get to visit some lovely places anyway. If you want to go, go, but let it be on your own terms. Not when someone tells you you should.” Steph offered helpfully.
“Yes, listen to Steph. I knew I could trust you to talk sense,” Betty said animatedly, giving her daughter an approving look. “It doesn’t matter that he’s hot, he’s practically a stranger and hot won’t save you when he’s left you stranded or worse…” Betty trailed off, a look of genuine concern on her face. “I just think you should play it safe, love. Don’t do anything risky, you’re too precious.”
“It isn’t risky. If it all goes tits up, she comes home. Where’s the risk in that? Look, millions of people go travelling every year and hardly any of them die, do they?” Carla said hotly. Betty gave her a stern look and pursed her lips together tightly, as though she were trying her very best not to say what was on her mind.
“Guys, I appreciate your input,” Elodie said. Tempers were becoming fraught and she didn’t want anyone falling out on her account. “Look, I know the risks. I know it’s mad. I know I don’t know him well.” She paused and fidgeted with her coffee cup. Did none of them see the irony in telling her she shouldn’t just do what Aaron wanted but she should do what they wanted? “But I also know that I want to go. I mean, it’s Australia and it’s an amazing opportunity. Carla’s right: if it goes wrong, I come home. That’s not to say I’m definitely going to go, though. I don’t know what I’m going to do. All I do know is that I’m running out of time to make a decision,” Elodie said, unable to look at anyone, her eyes remaining fixed on her cup. She twisted her fingers together awkwardly and felt tears of frustration beginning to prickle in the corners of her ey
es.
‘Pull yourself together, for God’s sake. Crying over this! Don’t be an idiot and get a grip,’ she commanded herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. It was Betty, standing over her with a kind smile on her lips but concern in her eyes.
“I’m a lot older, and wiser, than the three of you. It’s not a good idea, love, but I can’t tell you how to live your life. You’ve got to do what will make you happy and what you think is the right thing to do. Don’t listen to any of us in particular; think about what we’ve all said and then make a decision that’s right for you. Promise me you’ll at least do that?” Betty said.
Elodie nodded and let out a sigh.
“First world problems, eh?” she said half- heartedly. She stood up in preparation to leave but found that Betty had caught her in a huge bear- like hug. It was a simple gesture that spoke volumes; Elodie folded her arms around Betty to return the gesture and squeezed her tightly. Elodie felt another pair of arms enter the mix and then another. The four women stood, in the middle of the book café, in an embrace that lasted for several long moments.
When they broke apart all four of them wore solemn looks. Elodie and Carla began to say their goodbyes but just as Elodie reached the door Betty called them back.
“I almost forgot,” she said. “I have news of my own.”
Betty went on to tell them that she was handing the reins over to Steph a little earlier than expected.
“Next week?” Elodie said, stunned. “But how? I thought the sale of the cottage wasn’t going through until…”
“I thought the same,” Carla interrupted.
“Sometimes things just go your way a little easier than you thought they would. Doesn’t happen often, but when it does you’ve got to make the most of it,” Betty said. “Besides, Steph knows what she’s doing and I’ll always be on hand to help.”
“So when’s the leaving do?” Carla asked.
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