‘I’m driving so I’ll just have a Diet Coke please,’ I say.
‘Can’t you leave the car here and pick it up tomorrow?’ Nicky asks. The way her hands are flopping as she speaks, I’d say she’s had a glass or three of wine already. I’ve noticed the more she drinks, the more animated her hand gestures become. Once her hands start going like a conductor leading a particularly enthusiastic piece of music, it’s time to call it a night and get her home.
‘I’d rather keep a clear head,’ I tell her. I haven’t managed to speak to Caleb yet as I was treated to another voicemail message when I rang before heading into the pub. When – and if – I do manage to reach him, I want to be completely sober to give myself a fighting chance.
Mags heads off to the bar and Nicky is forced to plonk her bag on the vacated chair as there are three attempts to swipe it within minutes. We’re subjected to glares left, right and centre but whereas I’d give in and surrender the seat, Nicky stands her ground, glaring right back.
‘So what happened between you and Neal last night?’ I ask as Nicky delivers a death glare to the latest person trying to swipe Mags’s chair. ‘Did you make your move?’
‘Yes.’ From the tone of Nicky’s voice, it did not go well. She pushes her lips into a pout. ‘He’d been flirting with me all night, so I leaned in for a kiss and he pushed me away. Literally pushed me away.’ She holds her palms up and moves them swiftly away from her body to demonstrate. ‘He pulled this face and asked what the hell was I doing.’ Nicky moves her head back, scrunching up her nose and mouth. ‘As though I was a total minger. I’m not a total minger, am I?’
‘You know you’re not.’
‘Right?’ Nicky gives her hair a flick, but ruins the over-confident act by slumping in her seat. ‘He just doesn’t fancy me. Which is fair enough. It sucks, obviously, but what are you gonna do?’ She sighs and drains her glass, already craning her neck to search for Mags and her fresh drink in the crowd. ‘I need to pull. It’s the only thing that will make me feel less like Jabba the Hutt’s ugly sister.’ Forgetting the drink, her eyes start to roam the entire pub, looking for, I suspect, anybody even remotely datable.
‘You need to relax and have fun with your mates,’ I tell her. ‘Neal isn’t the only bloke on the planet. He isn’t the only bloke in Woodgate.’
‘I know but he’s got under my skin.’ The corners of Nicky’s mouth droop. ‘I’ve never wanted to settle down with anybody, but whenever I see Neal, I start picturing our future.’ A smile creeps onto her face. ‘Our future involves a lot of nakedness, FYI.’
‘Way too much information,’ I warn.
‘Sorry,’ Nicky says, but from the grin on her face, she isn’t the teeniest bit sorry. ‘It’s just he’s so gorgeous. And funny. And kind. And everything I want in a boyfriend.’ The grin fades and her shoulders slump once more.
‘Look, Mags is here with more drinks,’ I say to try to cheer her up.
Mags jostles her way to us with Owen now in tow and places the round of drinks on the table. Nicky removes her bag from the chair and Mags sits down quickly before it’s whipped. Owen doesn’t bother to search for a chair of his own as it’s pretty clear they’re as rare as rocking horse poop tonight.
‘This doesn’t look like the happiest table,’ Mags says. Owen has positioned himself behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder, his thumb tracing an absent-minded pattern. ‘What are we chatting about?’
‘Failed relationships,’ Nicky says, reaching for her drink. ‘Or rather, failed non-relationships.’
Mags turns to me with low eyebrows. ‘So you haven’t sorted it with Caleb then?’
‘Caleb?’ Nicky sits up straight. ‘What’s happened with Caleb?’
I explain about the phone call and my over-reaction and then discovering it wasn’t actually Dad Caleb was talking about but Gerry. And quite justifiably.
‘And now I can’t get hold of him,’ I tell them.
‘You don’t need to.’ Nicky points across the pub, where Caleb is scanning the room. ‘He’s here. And so is Neal.’
Chapter Forty-One
I invited Caleb along tonight, but I didn’t expect him to turn up after my ill-informed tantrum, so it’s a bit of a shock to see him threading his way through the crowd towards our table. I instantly feel myself getting sweaty, which isn’t ideal when I want to win the guy around. He’s hardly going to scoop me up and whisk me off into the sunset if I smell like one of my T-shirts after a heavy I’ve-eaten-far-too-much-cake-today run. I wipe my palms down the sides of jeans, but there’s little I can do about my armpits right now, other than hope to all that is good that they aren’t whiffy.
‘We should be going,’ Owen says to Mags, kissing the top of her head.
‘Are you kidding?’ she asks. ‘The show’s about to begin. And I’m not talking about Victoria’s.’ She offers a small apologetic shrug as I turn my wide, fearful eyes on her. When I turn again, they’re practically on us. Caleb is leading, with Neal and his sister close behind. My stomach is in knots. I’m in fight or flight mode: fight for what could be an amazing relationship with Caleb, or protect my heart from any further potential damage and leg it as far away from Caleb and his beautiful face as I can.
‘Hi.’ Caleb half-raises his hand in the general direction of the table before he looks down at me. ‘Do you think we could talk?’
I think we should, but whether I’m physically able to is another matter as my mouth is suddenly void of all moisture while my tongue has seemingly swelled to fill the entire cavity. I nod, following Caleb as he sets off through the crowd once more. We zigzag our way past people and chunky handbags until we make it out into the beer garden at the back of the pub. We sit down at one of the wooden tables, choosing opposite benches and facing each other.
‘I tried to phone you,’ I manage to say, despite the dry mouth and extra-large tongue situation. ‘A few times. It went straight to voicemail?’ My voice rises into a question at the end, enquiring without actually asking whether Caleb has been rejecting my calls – and therefore me – each time.
‘My battery ran out while I was taking a photo of a rhino,’ Caleb says. ‘Cara had me taking photos of every animal we saw at the zoo, including the cheeky duck who was after our lunch in the picnic area. By the time we got to the rhinos, my phone had had enough and gave up. I haven’t even had the chance to put it on charge.’ He takes his phone out of his pocket, holding it out so I can see the blank screen for myself. ‘The traffic was crazy, so I only just had time to drop Cara off at Nan’s before I came here. I haven’t even changed, so sorry if I still smell like rhino.’
That’s not rhino, I think, giving my hands another swipe down my jeans, and it isn’t wafting from you. ‘I’m sorry about last night. I got the wrong end of the stick.’
‘You thought it was your dad I was talking about,’ Caleb says. ‘When I said Nan’s boyfriend was an arsehole and a miserable git.’
So Caleb didn’t have time to charge his phone, but he did have time to talk to Birdie about me making a prat of myself. Great. Just great.
‘Birdie told you.’
‘And I put two and two together.’
I swear, if Caleb laughs, I will end this right now.
‘I should have talked to you about it,’ I say. ‘Instead of jumping in like that. I’ve met Gerry – it was a fair assessment.’
‘I know,’ Caleb says. ‘Do you know, he charged my mum for a bag of spuds. She said not to bother bringing any again as they’re half the price in Asda. She didn’t even ask for any in the first place.’ Caleb’s lips spread into a reluctant smile. ‘I’d rather Nan was seeing your dad.’
‘Don’t.’ I groan and drop my face into my hands. ‘I’ve made such a fool of myself. It’s just they’ve been spending so much time together and then Dad said he was going on a date … I just assumed it was with Birdie.’
‘And you didn’t think it’d be a bit weird if my Nan was seeing your dad? That’d make us …’ Caleb
frowns as he works out the family connection.
I peek at Caleb through my fingers. ‘I’d be your step-aunty.’
‘Eww.’ Caleb scrunches up his nose. ‘Weren’t you weirded out by that?’
‘Of course I was.’
Caleb peels my fingers away from my face. ‘But you were willing to put the grossness aside because you fancy me so much?’
‘Don’t get cocky,’ I warn, but I’m smiling.
‘But it’s true?’
I shrug. ‘Perhaps.’
Caleb leans back and folds his arms across his chest. ‘I knew you were serious when you said you wanted to see me in my underwear.’
‘Hey! That was a miscommunication.’
‘You have a lot of those,’ Caleb says, his lips flicking up into a grin.
I groan. Why can’t life ever be simple? Why can’t you meet a boy, fall in love and live happily ever after without embarrassing hiccups getting in the way?
‘You’ll laugh about this one day,’ Caleb says.
I give him a raised-eyebrow look. ‘I doubt it.’
Caleb takes my hands across the wooden table. ‘You will. When we’re old and wrinkly, we’ll be amusing the other residents of our nursing home with these tales. Granted, I don’t think there’s much in the way of entertainment in those places, so we shouldn’t put too much emphasis on their laughter. And if they piss themselves laughing, that may not have anything to do with us at all …’
‘So you think we’ll be together when we’re old and wrinkly?’
‘As long as I don’t call your dad anything untoward.’
I can see this teasing isn’t going to get old and wrinkly any time soon.
‘I may be a little sensitive,’ I concede.
‘I prefer to think of it as loyal. Which everybody knows is a vital attribute.’
‘I see you’re at the rose-tinted glasses stage of this relationship.’
Caleb’s grin fades as he turns serious. ‘So this is a relationship then?’
‘If I can control my flight instincts, then yes.’
Caleb gives my hands a squeeze. ‘How about I hold on extra tight so you can’t escape?’
‘This is sounding a bit creepy now,’ I tease.
Caleb lets go. ‘Sorry.’
‘I’m kidding.’ I grab hold of Caleb’s hands. ‘Keep holding on.’
Caleb and I stare mushily across the table as our fingers intertwine. If this was a movie, soft music would be playing as our lips inched closer and closer until we shared our first kiss.
But this isn’t a movie and the moment is broken by Victoria barrelling her way out into the beer garden.
‘She’s here!’ Victoria gasps before skidding to a halt in front of us. She covers her mouth with a hand. ‘Oops. Sorry. Didn’t realise I was interrupting. I’ll just …’ She starts to back away slowly towards the door.
‘Wait.’ I twist and lift my legs over the bench. ‘Is it Abigail?’
Victoria nods and places a hand over her stomach. ‘I don’t think I can do this. I feel sick.’
‘You can do this,’ I tell her. ‘This is what you’re supposed to do. It’s your dream. So go in there …’ I point towards the door ‘… and show Abigail how amazing you are.’
Victoria is sensational and any hint of nerves is lost as soon as she picks up the microphone. I’m so incredibly proud to not only know this super-talented girl, but to call her my friend as well. The whole pub comes alive as she sings, whether it’s a slightly wider smile, a tapping foot or, in the case of the energetic folk by the little stage, full-on dancing and singing along.
Mags and Owen had left by the time Caleb and I returned to the pub with a shaking-like-a-leaf Victoria, but the five of us more than make up for their absence with cheers and applause. Even Bea, who has never even met Victoria, whoops and cheers, and Nicky, who has been green-eyed-monstering at Victoria over the past few weeks, puts aside her issues and gets fully behind the cheerleading.
‘Has Neal mentioned last night?’ I whisper to Nicky when the tempo and volume lowers for a ballad and Neal sneaks off to buy a round.
Nicky shakes her head. ‘I think we’re both going to pretend it never happened.’
‘Maybe that’s for the best,’ I say. ‘If you want to stay mates.’
With Caleb and I officially in a relationship, Nicky and Neal are probably going to see each other regularly, which could get a little bit awkward if the rejected kiss remains an issue. Neal returns from the bar, pushing Nicky’s glass towards her along the table without making eye contact, which leads me to believe the rejected kiss isn’t quite as brushed under the carpet as Nicky would like.
Victoria’s set finishes to thunderous applause, particularly from our little corner of the pub. I’m about to rush over and tell her how amazing she was when I notice a tall blonde woman making her way over. Victoria chats with her, her grin widening by the nanosecond. As soon as the blonde leaves, Victoria rushes to our table, practically leaping over the other customers in her path like a hurdler.
‘Abigail loved it,’ she gushes. ‘She wants to see me tomorrow morning. I think she wants to sign me!’ Victoria clamps a hand over her mouth to smother a squeal. ‘Oh my God, I think she wants to sign me!’ She does a little jog on the spot before doing something entirely un-Victoria-like by jumping into Neal’s lap and throwing her arms around him. ‘This is all thanks to you. I owe you one. I owe you a million!’ She kisses his cheek noisily before giving him a rib-crushing squeeze.
‘Excuse me,’ Nicky murmurs as she squeezes past me.
‘Nicky, wait.’ I reach a hand out to her, but she shakes her head.
‘I just need a minute, okay?’
I watch as she edges her way around the crowd as quickly as she can, disappearing into the ladies’.
‘So you’re Neal’s baby sister,’ Victoria is saying to Bea in a tone that suggests Neal has spoken about her constantly. ‘I hear you took part in The Sweetest Kiss last night. How did it go?’
‘Good,’ Bea says with a nod. ‘Apart from having to date my brother.’
‘What?’ Victoria’s eyes are wide. ‘Eww.’
‘It’s a long story,’ Bea says with a wave of her hand. ‘But it was actually pretty funny. I could feel Neal’s eyes on me constantly while I was dating the other guys.’
Neal shrugs. ‘I had to make sure nobody was acting out of line.’
‘Well, they were all very nice. And I’ve arranged two more dates for next weekend.’
‘Two?’ Victoria asks. ‘Wow. I’d call that a success.’ She raises her glass and clinks it against Bea’s.
‘Two?’ Neal is less impressed by the news. ‘How did you find two matches from that bunch of muppets?’
Bea rolls her eyes. ‘They weren’t muppets. They were all very nice.’
‘So who were the matches?’ Victoria asks.
Bea sneaks a sideway glance at her brother.
‘Don’t worry,’ Neal says with a sigh. ‘I’m not going to hunt them down and maim them.’
Bea takes another moment to answer, still gauging her brother’s mood. ‘They’re with two lads called Krishna and Jordan.’
Victoria’s mouth drops open. ‘Not Little Jordan?’ She turns to me and I nod. ‘But he’s so …’ Victoria clamps her mouth shut so she doesn’t finish the sentence.
‘Dead meat?’ Neal suggests as a conclusion. ‘I’m going to kill the little piss-taking bastard.’
‘Hey, you said you wouldn’t be like this,’ Bea reminds her brother.
Neal’s mouth is set in a hard line. ‘That was before I knew it was him. Your new boyfriend is already seeing somebody.’
‘Is he?’ This is news to me. I don’t want anybody who is unavailable taking part in The Sweetest Kiss. ‘Who?’
Neal frowns at me. ‘Nicky.’ His frown deepens. ‘I thought she was your best friend.’
‘She is, and she’s single. She certainly isn’t seeing Little Jordan. Why would you think that?’<
br />
‘Because he told me. And it’s a bloody weird set-up if you ask me. I thought he was just doing you a favour by taking part in The Sweetest Kiss the other day, like I did, but then Nicky tried to kiss me in the pub after. I’m not always the most traditional of blokes, but I do have my standards.’
‘Wait, wait, wait.’ I wave my hand out in front of me to stop Neal. ‘Little Jordan told you he was Nicky’s boyfriend? When?’
‘A few weeks ago, at the trial run.’
Victoria sniggers. ‘The little shit. Nicky’s going to kill him.’
‘So he isn’t Nicky’s boyfriend?’ Neal asks.
‘No!’ Victoria and I cry.
‘Then why …?’
‘It sounds like he was marking his territory,’ Caleb says. I can tell he’s trying not to laugh, so I give him a light shove. This is my best friend’s happiness we’re dealing with here. ‘By keeping you out of the way, he’s increasing his own chances.’
‘It’d take more than getting Neal out of the way for Little J to have a chance with Nicky,’ Victoria points out. ‘And now she’s going to rip his balls off.’
‘Neal,’ I say, leaning towards him across the table, ‘is that the only reason you turned Nicky down last night?’
‘How are we going to prise them apart?’
It’s closing time and most of the customers have already filtered out of the pub. Victoria left an hour ago so she could try to get some sleep in preparation for her meeting with Abigail tomorrow and Bea has to work in the morning (I do too, but I’m trying to push that reminder from my mind) and she left shortly after, but the rest of us have remained until now. Not that Caleb and I have heard a peep from Nicky and Neal since they latched onto each other’s lips after the Little Jordan fiasco was resolved. Nicky hasn’t said much, apart from confirming that Little Jordan’s days are indeed numbered. It doesn’t look like Bea’s getting that second date with him after all.
‘Maybe we should just leave them here,’ I say, grabbing my jacket and pushing my arms through the sleeves.
The Little Teashop of Broken Hearts Page 28
