“I’m so sorry,” Is all I can say, I don’t know what else there was to say, I made a mistake, and I don’t know how to fix it. I look up at my dad and see that he’s looking at me as if he doesn’t know me anymore.
“Do you know what you’ve done? You’ve ruined everything we’ve worked so hard for.” Mom screams at me, “You stupid slut.”
I start crying, why are they being so mean? I didn’t plan on this happening. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” I feel a hand take mine, and I look to my left and see my little sister standing beside me and my heart fills with love for her, she doesn’t really understand what’s going on, but she’s trying to make me feel better.
“Addison, get away from her now! Go to your room.” Mom is still screaming, this time it’s Addi that takes the brunt of it. Addi, scurries away, not once looking behind her.
“Skye,” Dad says but shakes his head and walks to the drinks cabinet.
“Dad, I’m so sorry.” I stand up and go after him, but mom steps in my way. “Mom, I never meant to cause any trouble.”
She stares at me almost as if she hates me; I don’t see it coming so I don’t have time to prepare myself. My head is thrown to the side as I stare at her in shock; the sound of the slap resonates around the room. My cheek stings from it and I look at her with tears falling down my face, this is my mom, why is she doing this? “Pack your bags and get the hell out of my house.” She walks away leaving me staring after her. “I mean it Skye; I want you gone, right now.”
“Dad?” I’m pleading right now, this can’t be right. They can’t kick me out, where the hell am I meant to go?
He shakes his head and walks away, “I can’t even look at you right now.” As they both disappear from sight, I’m wondering what the hell I’m meant to do.
I'm awakened by the captain's voice telling us to prepare for landing. I stretch and yawn, I must admit I feel rejuvenated. Something I haven't felt in a while, I glance over at Addison and see that she’s fast asleep still. I quickly get up from my seat and wake her up. “Addison, we’re landing, put your seatbelt on.”
She does as I say, with a smile on her face. “Today has been the best day ever Skye. I can’t believe that I get to go to London and not only that, I got to see my sister again.” She's giddy especially when we start to descend.
We disembark, and the cold British air hits us, and I'm grateful that I bought a jacket with me and had put it on before we got out of our seats. “Where are you staying?” I’m staying in Knightsbridge, according to Oscar, it’s very upscale. Something I hate, and he knows it.
“I’m staying with Gloria; she lives in a flat in Tooting, wherever the hell that is. I’ve been doing a lot of research as to what's around there, and it seems okay. It’s a bit of a train journey to the V&A. Where are you staying?”
“Um, I'm booked into some hotel in Knightsbridge.” We walk through the Airport heading towards security.
“Really. That's fantastic. That's where the V&A is. So how long are you in London for?” She asks as we stand in the queue waiting for them to check our passports.
“Only five days as it’s just for work, but I’ve been thinking of staying a bit longer, you know to see the sights and all that. I need a break and London seems to be the perfect place.” I already feel calm and collected; I’m hoping that I can gather my thoughts here and make a plan.
“Great, we should definitely meet up while we are both here. With your hotel so close to the Museum, we could do lunch, maybe dinner?” The hopeful tone makes me look towards her; she looks scared in case I reject her. “That’s if you want too.”
“I want too. We’ll do both. I’m sure you’ll be sick of me by the time I leave.” We make it out of the airport and see the line of taxis. I’m actually thinking of taking the train, I want to get used to it, so I may as well start right now. It took us over an hour to get out of the airport after our plane landed, it’s just after seven in the morning which is two our time, and I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.
“I’m starved. You want to grab breakfast before you leave?” I ask her, hoping for just a little more time with her before we must part ways.
“Hell, yes and I’m pretty sure I spotted a Mickey D’s in the airport.” I actually hear her stomach rumble.
We walk back into the airport, and she’s right, McDonald's is here. “Do you think it’ll be the same food as we have back home?”
That’s my thoughts exactly; I’ve heard that the British have nice food as long as it’s their own. “Hmm, I wonder if there is any other food, I’d rather have something British.” Might as well start off as I mean to go on. This is a once in a lifetime trip, and I’m going to make the most of it.
“Yes, you’re right. I can live on Mickey D’s for the entire month. So, let's go see what we can eat.” She’s looking at the Airport map, trying to see where we can eat. “Okay, so there’s somewhere we can get a full breakfast.”
We sit and eat a full English breakfast, which is actually really tasty. “They’re crazy about their tea, aren’t they?” I ask her as she drinks some. I mean practically everyone around us has a cup.
“Yeah, it’s weird. We’re more coffee lovers. Do you think they’ll be offended if I don’t finish it?” she has a grimace on her face as she looks at the cup of tea.
“No, I doubt it. I'm tired again. I'm going to try and check into the hotel and crash.” For some reason, I feel completely drained.
“Yes, let’s go. Gloria’s probably wondered if I’ve gotten lost.” She laughs at the thought, and I can just see her getting lost more than once while she’s here. “I’ve to get three trains to get to Tooting station, and then I have to find Church Lane. God knows how long it will take me, but I’m in London, and I’ll explore.” We leave the restaurant and walk out of the airport, having to stop we have no idea where we’re going.
“Okay, Google maps is the ultimate must-have while I’m here and I think I just have to get the one train.” I think it’s the blue line, but I’ll double check once I get to the station. I take out my cell and see we’re not that far from the station, we follow the map and walk toward the station.
“Yeah, just the one, I’ve checked it so many times, I think I know the whole map now.” She has a nervous laugh, trying to cover up her geekiness.
“Of course, you do, you haven’t changed much have you Addi? Always had to plan everything. You’re always so organized.” She’s almost OCD about her planning; she must know exactly where she’s going and the direct route - any other routes she may need to take also.
We finally make it to the train station and see how busy it is and wonder if we should have skipped breakfast. Oh well. “So Addi, what’s the first train you need to go on?” I’m looking at the train map and see that the blue line is what I need and I’m trying to find out what platform, but I’m out of my depth right now.
“I’m going on the Piccadilly line, as are you. Look at the map, you’ll be on for as long as I do, with one extra stop than me, so just get off on the stop after I do.” The confidence in her voice fills me with poise, and I know that I’m not as screwed as I thought. “You’ll be fine; you’ve got Google, just make sure you keep your cell charged at all times.”
“Yes, Mom.” I can’t hide the smile on my face, and I don't even try. I don’t think I’ve been this happy in such a long time.
“Come on; let's find the platform and go. I want to see Gloria.” She nearly pulls my arm from its socket as she grabs hold of me and pulls me along behind her.
The pang of jealousy that I feel when she says she wants to see Gloria knocks me hard. I’ve never had that feeling, I’ve always been the friend in the background. Never had a best friend, sure I have friends, but I’m not the one any of them call when they have a secret to tell.
It takes us ages to find the platform, but we get there and see that there is a three-minute wait for the next one. Thank God, I’m dead on my feet, I lo
ok over at Addi and the happiness on her face is so contagious that I have to smile. “So Addi, is this the first time you’ve been out of the States?”
“Yes, I can’t believe that my first time is to London!” She’s so loud that I see some guy staring at us. However, Addi doesn’t care. “Skye…” Whatever it was she was about to say is cut off from the sound of the train coming. Her eyes alight with so much happiness that it’s infectious.
Once we're onboard the train, we quickly find seats. It doesn't take us long to get to the stop Addi’s getting off at, she stands and hugs me, kissing my cheek as she does. “I'll call you later,” she tells me as she's getting off and sadness kicks in as I watch her wave goodbye as the train takes off, God, it was amazing to see her again. I really hope we stay in contact.
Chapter Two
Skye
I hear the ringing of my cell, and I turn over to see that it’s Ryder calling, hitting reject I see the time; 8pm. What the hell I slept for ten hours. God, I didn’t want to sleep that long, I doubt I’ll sleep again tonight. What the hell is wrong with me? I never sleep for that long. There’s no message or call from Addi, and I’m wondering if she made it to her friend’s house okay.
Sitting up in the bed I fire off a text message to her, hoping that she didn’t get lost. The phone ringing in my hands pulls me from the thoughts that she’s wandering around London lost. Looking at my cell, I see that yet again it’s Ryder calling me and once again I hit reject. Getting out of bed I go to the bathroom; I can hear my cell ringing from the bedroom and groan, God can’t Ryder get the message; I don’t want to talk to him. I took this job here, so I can have some space, be somewhere that he isn’t and that there aren’t constant reminders of him and his assholeness.
Ten minutes later and I’m dressed and just about ready to leave to go and get some dinner when my cell rings yet again. Angry that he won’t get the message I answer it, “Are you stupid? Me not answering and rejecting your calls means that I don’t want to talk to you! When the hell are you going to get that through your thick skull?” I all but shout.
“Oooh who peed in your Wheaties?” I hear the laughing tone of Addison, and I groan in embarrassment.
“Sorry Addi, I thought you were someone else. What’s up?” Asking her a question in hopes that she won’t ask who I thought I was talking to.
“Oh, I called to see if you wanted to go to dinner with Gloria and I and then have a few drinks at this bar she was telling me about?” she sounds excited. I can just imagine that she’s bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Ummm, I don't know. I was just going to have dinner and come back to my room.” I'm really not in the mood to socialize right now.
“You can’t do that Skye! You’re in London for Pete’s sake. Plus, I'm in the lobby so hurry your ass up; I’m hungry!”
What? What the hell is she doing here? I quickly make it down to the lobby to see both her and a young girl who I'm presuming is Gloria waiting for me.
“About time. Come on, let's go get some dinner.” She links her arm around mine, and we start walking toward her friend. “Skye, this is Gloria. Gloria, this is my sister Skye.”
I smile at her, one that she returns. “You don’t know how bloody good it is to meet you, love. Addison has been nonstop talking about you since she got to mine.” Oh my God, her accent is awesome, she sounds so dainty.
“It’s so nice to meet you.” I don’t know what else to say to her. Thankfully Addi’s here to lessen the awkwardness.
“Food!” She says as she half drags me from the hotel lobby. God, she’s like a bottomless pit, she’s constantly talking about food. Where the hell does she put it all?
I’m currently sitting in a bar in Soho, according to Gloria it’s the place to be, and by the way, this place is packed she’s right. We’re lucky to get these seats, Gloria edged her way to them, and when someone got up, she jumped into their seat and then we waited for the rest to leave. It didn’t take long for us all to get seats.
Addi has a thing for the bartender; I must admit that he is really hot and his accent. I didn’t realize how sexy the British accent really is, I smile at the bartender, and he saunters down to our end of the bar. He really knows how to earn tips as he flirts with everyone. “Alright love, what can I get ya?”
Oh wow, that voice it sends shivers down my spine. I turn to the Addi and Gloria and find Addi looking at the bartender and Gloria engrossed in a conversation with some guy who looks eastern European. “Addi, what do you and Gloria want to drink?”
Addi batters her eyelashes at him, “Can we please get three screaming orgasms.” That girl has no shame whatsoever.
“It would be my pleasure love.” He winks at her and proceeds to make our cocktails. Addi turns to me with a serious expression on her face. “So, I’ve let you stew in whatever the hell is going on, but enough is enough. What’s going on Skye and don’t say nothing.”
I sigh, “So I’ve been in love with my boss for years, we went to Vegas a few months ago for a job, and I woke up naked in bed next to him.” Just thinking back to that day, it’s breaking my heart all over again.
“That’s great isn’t it?” She looks confused, and it’s probably because I look miserable.
“No, he told me that it was a mistake. Not only that, we got married; I was so drunk, I don’t remember getting married, and I don’t remember us having sex.”
“You’re married?” She squeaks out in shock, and I can’t help but smile at her expression. “I’m so confused Skye,”
“He told me that he doesn’t want me, but he’s also told me that we won’t be getting an annulment or a divorce. So, I’m stuck married to a man who doesn’t want me, yet he doesn’t want me to be anyone else’s either.”
“Sounds to me love, that you married a complete arsehole.” The bartender says, and he doesn’t look in the least bit sorry for eavesdropping.
“Yep, so you’re married to your boss. What are you going to do now?” Addi says.
“Surely there’s something you can do? I mean you said you couldn’t remember. Tell you one thing love, when we have sex, you won’t be forgetting a thing.” He actually winks at me.
“When?” Addi squeaks looking a bit crestfallen.
“Yep, sorry love, duty calls. These are on me.” He winks at me again and walks off to the other end of the bar to serve the other customers.
“Skye, what are you going to do?” She seems worried, and it’s the first time in a long time that I feel as though someone is concerned for me.
“When I go home, I’m going to seek out an attorney. There’s no way this can be legally binding. I mean I was wasted.” I pick up the cocktail and take a sip; it’s very sweet but really good.
“That sounds like a clever idea; I can’t believe the audacity of the asshole. Just you wait until I get home, if I see him, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.” Addi fumes, I think it’s time to go; having the bartender rejecting her although she never made a pass at him has made her upset.
“You ready to go? I need to get back to the hotel; I have to meet the client’s tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah Skye, I’ve to go to the Museum tomorrow. Do you want to meet up for lunch?” Addi downs the rest of her drink and picks up mine and swiftly does the same.
“That would be great.” I take my cell out of my handbag and see that I have three missed calls and two text messages. Deciding that they can wait until I get back to the hotel to deal with, I put my jacket on and watch as Gloria and Addi have a discussion presumably about leaving. Gloria looks anything but happy as she says goodbye to the guy she spent the night talking too and I feel as though I have just cock-blocked her.
I make it back to the hotel after saying goodbye to Addi; Gloria was really angry and didn’t say a word to either Addi or me since we left the bar. I don’t really like the girl as she seems very self-absorbed and I feel bad for Addi, having to spend a full month with her. I
f I had to do that I think I would have killed her after a week.
I get undressed and get ready for bed; I set my alarm for seven and finally check my messages. The two missed calls were from Ryder, and I delete them from my call history. The messages are from Ryder and Oscar. It’s eleven PM here, so that makes it six PM New York time.
Ryder: Why did you run Skye? Don’t you think we should sort this out?
I don’t bother responding to Ryder’s message, I know it’s childish, but I delete his message too.
Oscar: Ryder is losing his ever-loving mind. The sooner you get back, the better, he’s a fucking nightmare.
Instead of texting Oscar back and giving him the bad news that way I decide that calling him would be better, I feel bad that I’m staying in London for a bit longer.
“Hey Skye, is everything okay?” he seems tired, and I have no doubt that’s down to Ryder and his assholeness.
“Yeah, I’ve just read your text.” I gently say I want to kind of ease him into the fact that I won’t be home when he thought.
“Why do you sound as though you’re giving me bad news?”
“Well, I am. I’ve decided to extend my stay. I’m going to add seven days onto my trip. Look, Oscar, I haven’t been feeling well, and I’ve seen my sister who also happens to be in London. I think staying here for a bit longer will help.” I try my best to get him to understand that I need this.
“You saw your sister?” Shock evident in his voice, they all know that I slept with my boss and each one of them knows what the aftermath was. Smithy was a great friend who listened and gave stupidly great advice, but he was also the biggest gossip of us all.
“Yes! We were on the same plane; she’s in London for a month; she’s working in the V&A museum.” I can’t contain my excitement, knowing that I have my sister back in my life again is everything I have ever wanted.
Deadly Encounter Page 2
