Run

by Anna White

  “I’m fine thank you,” I replied, my voice full of sarcasm. I took my seat on the fountain and rubbed my hands together as the wind swirled around us. It was growing colder, the sun set sooner and I frowned. “I’m just cold and deep in thought.” I finally finished as Nance took her seat next to me.

  “It is pretty cold? Good Ol’ England eh?” She cocked her eyebrow up and looked towards the busy gates where our tiny Soph was making her way through crowds of people just to get to us. I giggled at her death stare towards the taller girls who were trying to push her out of the way and watched as she pushed the one blonde back and sent her books flying. We both watched as she darted towards us grinning widely and throwing us a thumbs up. I laughed louder to myself and high fived her. My little fire bucket.

  “Well that showed that bitch?” I stifled my laugh and looked up towards Nancy who was scratching her head.

  “My brain hurts…” I smiled to myself and placed my arm on her back in an effort to cheer her up.

  “Come on, let's go back to yours for a little bit? Or let’s head to the studio?” They both nodded and I smiled, I was now dragging my best friends towards the studio in my little silver Corsa.

  Chapter Two

  Vens - Wednesday

  We flew out that night, we finally found him, a little roughed up but fine. He’s not budging on talking about what happened but I had the feeling that he ruffled the wrong person's feathers.

  I paced the hallway of the house and knocked on Chloe’s door. There was no answer. I placed my fist against her door and I knocked again. In one swift movement she opened her door and stood in her white underwear. I held back rolling my eyes.

  “Good morning to you too.” My voice was icey. She smiled sweetly and flashed her perfect white teeth at me. I was reminded that this was no laughing matter. Where had he gone again? “Where’s your brother?” Her shoulders slumped as she leant against her door frame.

  “I don’t know Haz. He left late like last night? I don’t know where he went. Have you tried his Emails?” I sniggered. Does she think I’m completely stupid?

  “Yes Chloe Conway I checked his Emails now we need to find him…” I glanced down at her tits and smirked before she smacked the middle of my chest with some force.

  “Stop being a fucking dick Haz. You know if Missy catches you she’ll be screwing.” I laughed and bit my lip. I knew she’d go mad but I didn’t care. We were just shagging, she knew that.

  “Yeah we all know what she’s like when she’s screwing don’t we Miss Conway?” I watched as her face grew brighter in colour, her tanned complexion turning more and more red by the second. The thought of her and Missy in between sheets is laughable but I know who I’d rather have. She growled at me before she slammed the door.

  The numb feeling in my chest was returning and I made my way back down the stairs. Alfie was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He smiled and placed his arms around my back before tapping it. “Don’t suppose you know where that girl goes regularly do you?” He tilted his head and gave me a look that was all too familiar. It was his signature ‘don’t go there look’. “Oh c’mon Alfie, I’ve gotta see her again. She's the hottest thing I’ve seen on two legs.”

  “And she’s not yours to mess with is she Haz? Have a bit of respect.” He was right and although his words rang true, I didn’t really care and I was pretty sure he knew that too. “She’s a really nice girl dude…” Flashbacks of her beautiful innocent face kept plaguing my mind, and have done since I bumped into her in the doorway of the gym. The way she sang made my chest hurt and the memory of our dance at the wedding was now at the forefront of my mind. This isn’t you Haz get a grip! I tossed my soppy thoughts to one side and grabbed my coat. I was sure I’d find him at the gym. As I turned to leave I heard Missy calling my name.

  “I’ve got to find Jay. I’ll be back later.” Without turning to look at the expression she had on her face, I turned and made my exit.

  There he was. Thank God. For a straight guy, the worry he caused me was starting to concern me. He glanced up and I noticed his cuts and bruises.

  “Where the fuck have you been?” I cut him the eyes and he continued to punch the bag in front of him. Despite him being bruised he looked good.

  “Nothing that concerns you.” He hissed. I raised my brow as I made my way over toward him.

  “You’ve been to see Rava haven’t you?” He shook his head and I paused. Ahh he’s been to see him. I had a feeling that now would be a good time to change the subject. “So… Avaya?” He tilted his head in my direction and stopped hitting the bag almost instantly. It was almost as if saying her name changed something in him.

  “You’ve seen her?” His eyes now looked sad and I shrugged.

  “Kinda… Briefly.” I waited for him to say something… Anything, but he didn’t. “She’s hot.” He snorted and cut me a look. Fuck me if looks could kill. His muddy brown eyes narrowed.

  “Leave her alone.” He quickly returned to punching the bag but now it was with force. I got the feeling that he didn’t want me messing with her, which was strange. He would have never minded sharing the others and there’d been plenty of them… I caught a glimpse of him in the corner of my eyes as I began to pull my t-shirt over my head. He was really pounding the bag. I held back the question burning on my lips. Why her?

  “Meeting at 3? Remember yeah?” He glanced towards me and I nodded.

  “Yeah. I’ll head back and prepare.” He didn’t even acknowledge me from there on out. He had his moods but I’d never seen him this hung up over a girl before. Has he fucked her? Her reaction from him standing her up was not one of heartbreak. I closed my eyes and the image of her soft plump bottom lip between mine was now vivid in my head. I could almost feel the sensation even though I’d never experienced it. I could only imagine what it would feel like to be inside her. I shivered at the thought and headed back home quickly before I lost my cool.

  I walked in the meeting and I felt refreshed, well sort of. My earlier encounter with Missy stopped my thoughts of Avaya for a while but they seemed to be creeping back. Right here. Right now. Right in the middle of a fucking meeting with board members of the law firm. My frown deepened and I realised it had been a while since I’d geared up. Jay looked across the table at me. He was relaxed, his dark suit matched his dark hair and he was leaning back in the leather chair smirking at me. He must have known what I was thinking. He must have known that I was feeling envious of him. Being with her. They droned on and on about plans for the next few months, the new office move, the expansion into Australia. The list went on and on, I felt like this slow torture would never end and I’d never get free again. Jay stood suddenly, glancing down at his watch.

  “Well lads, it’s been informative but if you wouldn’t mind Haz and I better be going. We have another meeting in an hour.” He said it with such assurance that if I didn’t know any better I’d have believed him. I stood, shaking hands of idiots dressed in suits and slowly made my way from the building with Jay. We stood in the lift for a while, neither of us spoke for a good few floors.

  “She is hot.” He blurted out and my hands instantly became clammy. My hands had been on her waist. I pushed the image out of my head and I couldn’t help but imagine the two of them together.

  “She is.” My words were quiet and I watched as he cocked his head to one side.

  “Man what’s wrong with you today?” His question was a viable one. I didn’t really know what was wrong with me. I didn’t know if it was the come down or the ridiculously long meeting I’d just endured. I shrugged at him and turned to look at him.

  “I could ask you the same question? You’ve kept her close? You never do that? Dude you practically stalked her?” He cut me a cool glare as we walked together from the lift and he smirked as his narrow lips came to a point.

  “Wouldn’t you want to?” If only you knew what I wanted to do to her…

  “Have you fucked her?” I cringed as I asked it an
d noticed that since the first time we were teenagers he blushed. He fucking blushed. So he hasn’t! A sense of relief flowed through me as he shook his head.

  “No. I haven’t.” I almost felt triumphant as I left the building. Good. My mind was dancing.

  “Well. You’ve lost your touch mate. I’m going shopping. I’ll see you at home.” He stared at me as I left him standing outside the office building.I got the feeling he knew there was something going on with her.

  Holt - Thursday

  The week seemed to fly by. I barely had any time to eat, let alone think but then that’s all I’d done. Think. Think about him. I folded my arms as I pushed thoughts of his big blue’s staring at me and glanced down at my phone to see a text message:

  Conway: I didn’t mean to stand you up sweet cheeks.

  I frowned and huffed as my fingers typed a reply.

  Avaya:Sweet cheeks? :/ Please…

  I pressed send and half smiled. If I knew him he’d be pissed by my sharp mouth but at this specific moment in time I didn’t really care. I continued to type away at my laptop trying my hardest to complete my dissertation. I yawned and felt the buzz in my pocket.

  Conway: Yes sweet cheeks. Don’t be so angry I’ll make it up to you. Gig at Alfie’s on Friday night?

  I laughed to myself, he did come in handy for some things and I shrugged.

  Avaya:Fine. I’m doing it for Alfie not for you.

  Conway: You’ve been requested by a fair few people. See you tomorrow night.

  He really knew how to rub me the wrong way. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved to hear from him, at least now I knew that he was okay. Maybe the hunk found him. I smiled at the thought of him and glanced at my mum who was tapping away at her keyboard. I frowned and threw my remote in her direction. She looked up, her wrinkles became deeper as she cut me an evil look.

  “You’ve not been with it this week my love are you okay?” I loved how observant this woman was. I shrugged and closed my laptop.

  “I’m alright. I think I’ve got a crush and I don’t know him.” She laughed and nodded as though she understood where I was coming from.

  “Yeah there’s one like that in our office. Della swoons over him every time he walks in. I’m his PA.” I giggled and wrapped myself up in the blanket next to her.

  “How do you cope!?” I giggled as she ruffled my thick hair.

  “Professionalism Avaya. I have to behave. He’s very sharp.” I smiled and huffed.

  “I know somebody similar.” I watched as she cocked her head to one side and grinned.

  “They’re the best ones. At least you know where you stand.” I laughed to myself and flicked through the channels on the television. Nothing seemed remotely appealing.

  “I’m not taking advice from you.” I felt her rest her arm around me as she snuggled next to me. For the first time this week I felt relaxed and I placed my head on the pillow that was resting on her lap. I couldn’t tell Nancy or Soph. God they’d never let it go. Imagine trying to explain him? He’s tall, has muscles on muscles, his jaws sharp, his eyes are sky blue, his hair rough and he smells like summer. I giggled to myself before I tried to switch my brain to something else.

  “I have another gig tomorrow night. You wanna come?” She sighed and I knew that she was going to say no or that she had something important on that day but she surprised me.

  “I’d love to. I’ll see if my boss will let me go early.” I smiled and nodded.

  “Thanks mum.” She smiled down at me. Her face was soft and she ran her fingers through my hair as I closed my eyes. She worked too hard and when I meet her boss I’m going to kick him where it hurts the most. My mum was all I had and I loved her with every bone in my body. I watched as she flitted around the house and smelt her cooking. My stomach rumbled and I grinned before I made my way towards the kitchen where she stood cooking my favourite dinner.

  “I made it especially now I know you’re staying in. I thought I’d make it a girly night.” I nodded approving of her food and heard the front door open.

  “Fucking hell it’s freezing out there!” Soph slammed the door behind her and ran to cuddle my mum.

  “Lena! I feel like I haven’t seen you for years!” I watched as they cuddled for a while and Nance made her way in too. She was smiling widely at us all.

  “Is that cottage pie!?” She stuck her finger in the cooling pie and sucked the remnants off her finger and I smacked it away.

  “Yeah and it’s mine now piss off.” I watched as she grinned and shrugged.

  Vens - Friday

  The twilight sun splashed through the large windows of the dingey office building, my heart was pounding in my chest. This was my first day at a ‘normal’ job. Jay sat straightening out his suit and was typing away on his laptop. I rolled my eyes in response to his normal daily routine. Normality is something I had never had in my life, even when I was younger. My fondest memories were with my eldest brother Juve, the second he was deployed was the moment when I lost my head. I flinched at the memory and glanced at Jay. I slouched in my chair and cleared my throat.

  “Can I help you Haz?” He didn’t look up from his laptop and I swung around on my chair.

  “So this is what you do every day? Sit at a laptop?” He shrugged and answered his phone again

  “Conway.” His tone was sharp and there was a firm knock on our office door. A middle aged lady peered through the crack. She had short blonde hair that was tinged with the early signs of grey, it was cut into a shoulder length bob. I smiled fondly at her. Her eyes were warm hazel in colour and I knew that there was something so familiar about her.

  “You must be Mr. Vens?” Though I detected nerves in her voice she reached for my hand to shake and Jay stood to place his arm around her.

  “This is Lena. She’s the office PA.” He grinned widely in my direction and I fought to keep a straight face as she pushed away from his grasp.

  “Thank you Jamie. I came to ask if I could leave early. My little girl has a show tonight and I would appreciate it if you let me go?” The colour in her face drained a little as his eyes narrowed. I nodded at her before he could open his mouth.

  “Sure go ahead we can cope from now on.” I answered for him, she was a genuine mother, the way she hesitated to ask made me feel uneasy. Jay shot me a look of disgust and I smiled at him.

  “Thank you.” Her head lowered as she turned to walk out of the room and I threw my hand after her.

  “What was that? You weren’t gonna let her go were you?” He shrugged and plonked himself down onto his large leather chair.

  “No I wasn’t because she has flights to book for board members which now we have to sit and do…” My eyes narrowed and I took my seat opposite him once more. Now this was something I’d have to get used to, being dictated to by him.

  We left the office later than 5 and Jay was in a rush to go home and get dressed. I frowned as he hopped in his brand new Audi A5. I smiled at him and leant against the car door.

  “Why you in such a rush?” His eyes narrowed as he held the bottom of the steering wheel and started the engine.

  “Avaya Holt is at Alfie’s tonight. Singing.” My gut twisted. I was hoping I could have gone to the gym but now all I wanted to do was go with him. The memory of her singing Hold Me While You Wait rushed back into my head and I smirked at him.

  “Jay you’ve gotta get over her. You know what he’ll do if we don’t bring her in.” The words from my mouth had clearly shocked him as his large hand cupped his peck.

  “Ouch Harry, that hurt my feelings.” A slight smile spread across the length of his face. “You’ve gotta hear her mate. You’ll change your mind.” I rolled my eyes and opened his door to hop in next to him. I had heard her. I had changed my mind. I desperately wanted to tell him that I’d accidentally on purpose already heard her sing but I didn’t. We practically flew home down the dual carriageways. He barely spoke another word, the loud music flying from the speakers. The base from t
he speakers made my chest boom. He shot me a look as we pulled through the gates of Alfie’s. I hopped out and made my way to my room. As I opened the door I spotted Chloe. She was laying spread on my bed, make up all over my sheets and I frowned.

  “What are you doing in here?” She shrugged and stood before she moved her bag of makeup from my bed.

  “Your room has the best light… Honey, this face takes time and good lighting.” She chuckled as I leant to kiss her cheek. Her hand cupped the side of my face as I did and I felt her smile against my jaw. “Has he told you where we’re going?” I smiled to myself and nodded before I moved away from her slightly.

  “We’re going Alfie’s, apparently there’s a gig there and somebody he’d like us to meet.” Her eyes narrowed and she folded her arms.

  “As in a girl!?” I held back my laughter as her face twisted with disgust. “I thought he was gay, I mean look at you two you share everything well,” she paused for a second “yeah including me but in different ways.” I glanced as she bit her bottom lip and felt her hand find its way to my chest, she was now smirking and I moved back again. I shook my head at her and watched as her face turned red. She has always been the woman who found her way back into my bed. But not right now. She frowned slightly and huffed before leaving my bedroom. I’m now officially in her bad books.

  Showering did me well, I felt fresh and ready. Of course my earlier hit is still flowing through my veins so I no longer have the ache to contend with. I placed my white shirt over my head and I glanced in the mirror. I examined my image for a little too long. Jay was catching up with me, he’d really been in the gym since he got back from Italy and I knew the reason why. It was because of her. Though he was slightly shorter than me and that made the difference. I tensed and sighed before placing my blue tighter fitted jeans on and tucked in my shirt. Jay was now making his way from his room in a dark navy shirt and grey jeans. His hair was impeccable and his stubble neat. I felt mine and frowned.