by Shel Stone
The truth was that he had no plans at all. He’d more or less achieved what he’d set out to do, and now he was bored and uneasy. After working through his entire routine, he kept going until Corey walked in with a couple of bottles of water to stash in the small fridge.
“Ricky, how’s it?”
Things were a bit shit, actually. “Alright,” he replied. Corey had his girl. They were probably going to head back to Australia at some point. “How long are you planning on staying in Marbella?”
Corey turned and shrugged. “Honestly, probably until Trish says she wants to go home. I’m good either way, but I suspect Trish will have had enough at some point. She’s growing tired of her job, so she’ll want to make some changes. Whether that means staying or leaving, I don’t know. Why?”
His question was surprisingly hard to answer. “You know Solraya’s pregnant?”
“Trish mentioned something like it. She’ll make a cool mum.”
Ricky tried to picture her as a mum, but he struggled. The only mums he knew were the lippy cows from the council estate, bored and bitter barely out of their teenage years. That defeated inevitability was the reason he’d left London to start with.
“She’s a few years older than the girls, so maybe it’s just that stage. Could be we’re there in a couple of years,” Corey continued.
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“No, why would it?”
Did nothing phase Corey? The fucking Aussies were laid back about everything. Too much sun, Ricky reckoned. Knocking up Trish and retreating to mundane suburban life wasn’t defeat in his book. It was just the next step. “What do you lot fucking do there down in Australia?”
Then again, Corey wasn’t a guy with driving ambition. He was happy with a job that couldn’t pay all that well, but gave plenty of gym time, his girl and friends, and that was it. Not that Ricky’s driving ambition had gotten him much other than the pride of achieving it. It hadn’t made him particularly happy, like he’d expected it to. He was the same guy he always had been.
What did one do after achieving one’s ambition? He hadn’t figured that out yet. Although the only thing he’d wanted was the coolest girl he’d ever met, who was off to fucking Australia to have a baby.
Corey was staring at him. Maybe he was having a mini melt down going on. “How are things with Felix’s sister?”
“We broke up. She hooked up with that Inns guy behind my back.”
“They had a thing some while back, I think.”
“Apparently they still do.”
“That’s shit. Sorry mate.”
“Well it says something if you aren’t bothered, doesn’t it?” Ricky admitted.
“Something’s not right if you don’t care your girl’s cheating on you.”
“To be honest, I was probably more interested in Solraya.”
“Solraya?” Corey said as if it was a surprise. In a way, it was encouraging that they weren’t talking about him behind his back. Corey wasn’t really one to gossip. More of a live and let live kind of guy. “She’s alright. The guy she was with isn’t really in the picture.”
“But you know, she’s having a kid and moving to Australia.”
With his hand, he stroked along his chin. “I see what you’re saying. I suppose that would be a big move for you.”
“Somewhat.”
“Well, you’re either in it or you’re not. It’s that simple, really.”
Fuck Aussies and their logic. But it was true though. What was the point of sitting here and lamenting how hard things were? It was either all in or all out. Except he didn’t really know her well enough to make that decision. That could change, though. It was worth exploring, because his gut was definitely telling him there was something in that direction.
It could be he ended up in fucking Australia.
Chapter 36
BECAUSE ADELAIDE WAS BACK, they got invited to the kind of parties people like them didn’t normally get invited to. Fortunately Solraya had a dress or two packed for the sole circumstance of having all of her wardrobe with her. Being in Paris, one couldn’t help collecting a nice piece or two. Paris had a kind of snobbery you just had to get on board with.
It was at some house up in the hills. A girl named Clara, who Adelaide apparently knew. Although to what degree Adelaide knew these girls was uncertain. From what Solraya had seen, Adelaide didn’t hang out with them in any meaningful way. She was here because Quentin was here, and by some means, the invitation had extended to Adelaide’s friends.
It was a gorgeous house that shone in the darkness of the night around them. Every light in the house had to be turned on. And the front of it was built for entertaining just like this. There were guys with clothes more expensive than her entire wardrobe. Yes, she’d met with guys like this, had even hung out with them a few times before she’d learnt her lesson.
And in the crowd, she saw Felix standing with a possessive hand on a dark-haired girl that didn’t belong here. That was something Solraya had never anticipated seeing.
“Who’s the girl with Felix?” she asked Adelaide.
“I don’t really know her, but she was a dancer at Shine for a while. American. Shania, I think her name is.”
“I heard mention something about him having a girl. That is not his style.”
Trish snorted as she joined them. “His style changed completely when he met her. Now he has a style called Shania. She’s an unapologetic bitch. You should have seen him before. Utter mess. Or maybe that was because of her. Anyway, she doesn’t take any shit, or prisoners.”
“Cool,” Solraya said. “He’s a dick, so if she can handle him, more power to her.” Talking about Felix was growing boring. “How was life in Indonesia?”
“It was good. Hot. It was a big project. We travelled around the region a bit.”
“So you’re not going back?”
“No, the project’s done, so not unless there’s another one, which could happen. Ouentin is keeping his eyes out for the next thing.”
“What about you? Are you going to just follow him wherever he goes?” The question sounded harsher than Solraya had intended and Adelaide looked uncomfortable.
“I’m studying at the moment, so I guess we’ll see after I get my degree.”
Solraya felt like a dick putting her on the spot like that. “That’s cool. No need to decide until you know what you want, or your mind is made up for you, like in my case.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Go home at some point, I suppose. Putting it off a bit because my mum would be is such a fuzz about it.”
“You haven’t told her yet?” Trish asked.
Another thing she’d been putting off. “Not sure I’m ready for the screaming down the phone. It’s not like it’s going to happen tomorrow.” To some degree, it still didn’t feel real to her. She wasn’t showing, and it was so bizarre thinking there was a baby growing inside her. It felt wrong for her mother to be excited about it before she was.
“What about that guy you were seeing?” Adelaide asked.
“What guy?”
“Ricky,” Trish filled in.
“Oh, no, we just had a couple of drinks. He won’t be back. Didn’t even fuck him in the end.”
“Yeah, maybe best not to mess with some guy when there’s such a big change happening in your life.” It was hard to hear other people stress just how big a change it was.
“Bugger me, when did you turn up again?” a guy said and Solraya looked over to see Felix. She quelled the groan that was the natural reaction to running into him.
“Just passing through.”
Felix was looking at her as if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find words. “Good to see you. Where have you been?”
“Paris.”
“Hey, Trish. Adelaide. The awesome Aussies are in attendance this evening.”
“How are you?” Trish asked.
“Good. Keeping my shit together, I suppose.” He
turned his attention to Solraya. “How long are you sticking around?”
Solraya shrugged. “Not sure. Heading back home.”
“Shame. Town’s more fun with girls like you in it.” Somehow, she didn’t think he was being derogatory as he said it. Kind of sounded like it, though.
“Really? You used to hate girls like us,” Trish said.
He smiled. “I’ve only really ever hated Shania,” he said and looked around the crowd to spot where his girl was. They seemed to lose him for a bit. This was a different guy from the one she’d known. “Anyway, you should stick around.”
“Can’t. Got to go home. Knocked up.”
Surprise raised his eyebrows. “No shit? Congrats. Who’s the guy?”
“Lost him somewhere.”
“Then probably too dumb to bother with.”
“Something like that.”
Felix stared at her for a moment. “Things are changing, aren’t they?”
Was she sharing a moment with Felix? What the hell was wrong with the world? “Always does. Are you getting clucky?”
“What? Fuck off,” Felix said defensively.
“Yeah, well, you’d have to get past Shania on that one,” Trish said. “Good luck.”
“See, that’s why I hate you. You bitches are too brutal for my innocent ears. I’ll have you know that I wear the pants in my relationship. Mostly they’re Shania’s pants. Or would be if I could fit them.”
Trish rolled her eyes. “Nothing has changed with you. I have no idea how she could put up with you.”
“Mostly because I give her no choice. See pants.”
Solraya’s phone beeped and to her surprise she looked down to see Ricky’s name. Had she not made the situation clear? What the hell did he want? Was this some attempt to soothe her, or rather his conscience, about not disappearing the moment she told him she was pregnant.
“Fine, I’m going,” Felix said as Trish pushed him. Solraya had missed part of the conversation. “Welcome back, Solraya. Just admit you never hated us as much as you pretended to.”
“Why? That would be lying.”
Felix smiled before disappearing into the crowd.
“He really does have a thing for bitches, doesn’t he?” Adelaide said.
“Are you calling me a bitch?” Trish said.
“Have you slept with him?” Adelaide asked with a gasp.
“Only once,” Trish said, looking slightly bashful.
“Have you?” Adelaide asked, turning her attention to Solraya.
“There might have been a drunken fumble or two.” In fact, there had been a time when Felix had worked hard to get into her pants. He’d charmed and cajoled, and she’d bought it for a second, before seeing what an utter snob and dick he was. Then again, she’d never actually thought he’d end up with someone other than the prissy rich girls he claimed to belong to. “You really think it’s serious between him and that American?”
“Hell, yes. He was an utter mess when she left him. Even I felt sorry for him,” Trish stated.
“Huh,” Solraya said. Never had she expected that guy would change his spots, but then maybe she hadn’t looked deep enough. Hardly surprising as he’d been so unpleasant, why would anyone want to?
And what the fuck did Ricky want? Putting her phone away, she decided to ignore him.
Chapter 37
“MORNING,” ANNABEL SAID brightly. “What are we doing today?”
Inns had no idea where he was for a moment. In the room he’d fucked Esme more times than he could count. Now Annabel was there and it felt jarringly awkward.
“Come on. Get up. I thought we could go for a walk.”
“Sorry? What?” Walk? Since when did they go for walks? Annabel wore her yoga gear, and she was almost bouncing with energy. “Uhhh,” he groaned and pressed the pillow over his head. What the hell was she doing? How did they go from: I’ve cheated on you and you should leave, to now going for early morning couples walks?
In all honesty, Inns had no idea what to do. Or maybe she wanted to talk away from the house, and anyone who might want to hear. Annabel was private that way. Alright, fine, he thought and got up, pulling his trousers on.
Annabel stared at him for a moment as he put his shirt on, and he wondered if it was hatred he saw hidden in her eyes. It had to be. A wave of shame washed over him. Obviously shame for what he’d done, but also shame that he didn’t have deeper feelings for her. And of late, he was starting to wonder if her feelings were for him or more for his title. “Right. Walk.”
It was as cool as it got in the mornings. Quite a few people were out for walks, taking advantage of the coolness of the morning before the sun really started scorching.
“What do you want to talk about?” he asked as they’d gotten away from the house.
“I think maybe we should throw a dinner party when we get back.”
Inns blinked. “A dinner party?” As in a party to announce they were breaking up?
“And we should invite Julius Mellington. He works in the foreign office.”
“I don’t want to work in the foreign office.”
“Oh, you have some idea of where you actually do want to work?” she said, looking over at him intently. “You know, it’s better to do something while you work out what you actually do want to do. You can’t sit around doing nothing.”
Was she starting to sound like his mother? When had this happened? Or had he simply never noticed. “I think we should break up.”
“Don’t be silly, Inns,” Annabel said sharply. “You’ve made a stupid mistake. But I am willing to forgive you.”
“You shouldn’t forgive me. I’m in love with someone else.”
Annabel stopped and gave him a dirty look. “Look if you must have your nasty slags on the side, then please yourself.”
“Please yourself?”
“Just be discreet, alright?”
Did she not care if he was loyal to her? Was that the kind of marriage she expected? Granted, they’d never actually spoken about marriage directly. It had just been implied. But now he was wondering what her intentions had been all along.
“Seriously, pull yourself together. Don’t be amazed that some gold digger wants to play with your willy. It’s what they do.”
“Esme isn’t a gold digger.”
Annabel snorted, and Inns had a serious case of deja vu. Hadn’t they had this exact conversation? “I don’t want to speak another word about it!” Annabel said harshly, with such finality it was clear she refused to broach the subject again. She started walking sharply. “Keep up, will you. You’ve already been a disappointment this week.”
So this was how it was going to be. She was going to badger him about this ‘misstep’, use it as the reason why she was so misused and harassed.
Inns wanted to crush something. “I’m going home,” he stated and turned back.
“You really are beyond the pale,” Annabel shouted back at him. “You’re so fucking weak, Inns.”
Refusing to listen, he walked back to the house. If this was her way of torturing him, it was a good strategy. He was in hell right now. In a way, she could be that devious that she was putting this all on to torture him, but he also had the feeling that she didn’t want to give up on the relationship, after having so much invested in it. He’d ruined her plans, or had tried to.
“You alright, Inns?” Aggie asked when he got back and he ignored her, walking out on the patio, because he couldn’t really go hide in his room, as that was the perfect place for Annabel to renew her attack. If it was merely an attack, he deserved it, but she was trying to browbeat him into not challenging her, probably on a continual basis. All he’d done was given her the excuse to set up the kind of relationship she wanted, where she had the upper hand, able to beat him up with his guilt whenever she didn’t get her way.
The Fellworths and his parents were all having breakfast on the patio, and Inns joined them. “Where’s Annabel?” his mother asked, having no idea of the
drama that had unfolded.
“She is taking a walk,” he said calmly. They could so easily go on this way, just fall back into what everyone expected of them.
Annabel smiled serenely when she walked over and took a seat. “I’m famished. I had a lovely walk. I have to say the mornings here are growing on me. I do struggle with the heat, I have to admit.”
“One gets used to the heat,” Cassandra said. “It takes a while, but it is so much better for my asthma.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you have asthma,” Annabel said with obvious concern.
“The reason we started coming here, and after a while, we just stayed. Haven’t looked back really. England does require a certain constitution.”
“It isn’t for the weak,” Annabel admitted, almost like a hidden dig. Who it was directed at exactly, he wasn’t sure. Annabel wasn’t exactly enamoured with Aggie, and Inns saw what his own reaction to his cousin had been in Annabel.
“You should come see the saffron I’m growing,” Cassandra said to Annabel. “I have a little patch. It’s down the hill. I grow limes too. Lemon trees are common here, but the limes take a little more care.”
“I’d love to.”
Inns ate through the entire conversation, feeling his input wasn’t required. He also didn’t know what kind of digs Annabel would have at him in front of his family. Wouldn’t put it passed her. She was very angry that he wasn’t coming to heel.
Eventually everyone finished and his parents joined Annabel and Cassandra as they went in search of the saffron patch.
“You have told her, right?” Aggie said.
Oh wonderful. Aggie knew. “Yes.”
“And you what—promised her it would never happen again?”
Inns bit his lips together, trying to determine what to do. Aggie had never been on his side, but he could use an opinion on it at the moment, even if Aggie was brutal in her judgements. “She refuses to leave.”
“You told her to leave?” Aggie asked with drawn eyebrows.
