by Holly Martin
Libby sighed. She knew he was right. George was a grown man; he would have to stand on his own two feet eventually.
‘Look, it’s been a pleasure playing with you gents,’ she said, standing up and eyeing the big pile of matches smugly, ‘but for now I’m off to bed.’
Nick grumbled and Matt shook his head in a mixture of admiration and annoyance.
She turned for the door and watched as Judith marched through it and straight to the bar. She clearly meant business. Seb and Amy paled guiltily. This wasn’t good at all.
* * *
Finally the bill came and, remembering the advice that Libby had given him, George put his card on the bill to cover it.
Cerys noted this gesture but just smiled.
When Kamal came back with the receipt he also gave a small tray with the traditional two white chocolates and one dark chocolate.
‘White chocolate is my favourite thing in the world,’ he said.
‘I quite like white chocolate too,’ she said, popping one of the pieces in her mouth and offering him the other white piece. He took it, begrudgingly. She quite liked white chocolate? Quite liked it? He had just said it was his favourite thing in the world and she had taken a piece because she quite liked it. But it was just a bit of chocolate. He wasn’t going to spoil his date because of a piece of chocolate.
When they stood up though, she smiled almost as if she was amused by something, which was an encouraging sign.
She giggled. ‘I never realised how short you are before.’
He frowned as he looked down. ‘Cerys, you’re wearing six-inch heels.’
‘But I always wear heels, George; it looks silly that you’re shorter than me.’
‘Looks silly to who?’
‘Other people.’
‘I’m sure “other people” have better things to worry about than whether I look shorter than you. Besides, I’m not actually shorter than you, am I, I’m five foot nine. How tall are you?’
‘The same, but in my heels I obviously look taller. You could wear heels too.’
‘What, stilettos?’ he laughed.
‘No, boots or shoes with a heel. There are many actors who wear heeled boots. It looks good on a man.’
‘You could wear flats,’ he suggested.
‘George, I’m not wearing flats. I look good in heels, don’t I?’
He looked down at her legs. Her legs did look fantastic in heels. Libby never wore heels, well not stilettos like these. He had to admit Cerys did look very sexy wearing them.
‘Yes, you do.’
‘Well then,’ she said, as if the case was closed.
‘Cerys, I’m not wearing heels.’
She sighed. ‘How about if I bought some for you, some nice fashionable ones, would you wear them?’
‘No.’
‘George, will you at least think about it? I think we look silly, that’s all, I don’t want people to laugh at us, do you?’
He couldn’t imagine people standing and laughing at them just because he was now a few inches shorter than she was, and if they did he didn’t really care. ‘No, but…’
‘Just think about it.’ She suddenly kissed him, running her hands round the back of his neck, and all thoughts of wearing heels or arguing with her about it went from his head. He was standing in a restaurant being kissed by a beautiful woman. This date was suddenly looking up.
She pulled away. ‘You really do kiss well. So you’ll think about it?’
He opened his mouth to protest but changed his mind. ‘I’ll think about it.’
She smiled, smugly.
‘Let’s go back to yours,’ she whispered in his ear in such a way that left no room for misunderstanding. Though if there was any doubt in his mind about what she meant, that was quickly dispelled when she grabbed him through his trousers, and stuck her tongue down his throat.
This was not good, he hadn’t had time to read the stuff that Libby had given him. He didn’t want this at all. But the longer he kept putting it off, the worse it would get. If he didn’t sleep with Cerys now, if he went and hid under his bed like he wanted to, the next time he was with a woman, he would be even more scared.
He nodded reluctantly, his heart hammering with fear as they stepped outside and the wind whipped over the cliff tops.
* * *
Seb closed the office door behind him and faced Judith. And for a while, no one spoke. But here was the opportunity he wanted, to tell her he had fallen in love again. He just hadn’t figured out which words to use yet. Words jumbled through his mind as he tried different variations.
In the end Judith helped him out.
‘Do you love her?’
He stepped forward away from the door, and reached out to take her hand. ‘Yes, I do. This isn’t just some little fling, I love her.’
Judith snatched her hand from his. ‘You lied to me. I asked you if you loved her and you said no.’
‘I know. I didn’t want to hurt you. I promised you there would never be anyone else after Marie and…’
She frowned. ‘When did you promise me that?’
‘About ten minutes after Marie had died. You made me promise that I would never love anyone else.’
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Seb, is that what’s been holding you back, some silly promise I made you make minutes after my daughter had died?’
‘Well, there have been many reasons why I’ve been holding back: being scared of falling in love again, of losing Amy, fear of hurting you. I kept thinking about the heart attack. I couldn’t bear the thought of that happening again…’ He trailed off. What if Judith had another heart attack now? Not only was he in love with someone else, but it was Amy of all people. Judith looked OK – angry certainly, and hurt, but she didn’t look like she was about to keel over.
‘That had nothing to do with you, I told you that – that I’d been feeling ill for a few days, that the doctors said it was high blood pressure, that I needed to sort out my diet, take more exercise. It wasn’t anything to do with you going out on a date.’
‘But you were so angry about it.’
‘Of course I was. I was still grieving. I guess I always will grieve over Marie, miss her. I can’t expect that from you.’
Seb’s heart leapt angrily, and he had to swallow down the anger from his voice. He was not going to get into another row with her. ‘That’s not fair. I will always love Marie, that will never go away for me. But do you not think it’s possible to love two people at the same time? I’m not going to suddenly forget her just because I’ve found someone else.’
Judith sighed wearily and she leaned against the edge of his desk. He quickly moved to her side; she looked so old all of a sudden. He took her hand again, and this time she let him.
‘I know you loved Marie,’ she said. ‘I know you still do, but… I guess I find it hard to watch you carry on with your life when she can’t.’
Seb looked away. It wasn’t fair, none of this was. He moved to his cupboard and grabbed a bottle of whisky and poured himself a glass.
‘You can pour one for me too,’ she said behind him. He felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but he did as he was told and turned back to hand her the glass. She took a big gulp.
‘Marie would have wanted you to be happy again, and so do I.’
He found himself taking a big swig of the whisky now. ‘You’re saying you’re OK with it, but… you hate Amy.’
‘I hated you when Marie first brought you home. I didn’t want her to go out with you, but I changed my mind. I love you now like a son. I don’t think I’ll ever love Amy, but… I don’t hate her. Not any more.’
He hardly believed this was happening. ‘What about marriage and children, what happens if… when it gets that far?’
‘Then I’ll buy a big hat.’ Judith smiled, sadly. ‘I want a happy future for you, Seb. Our lives shouldn’t stand still just because of what happened. Marie wanted to travel, to see the world. After her father died, we spoke about d
oing that together, but we never got round to it. Life is short and precious and I want to do what we spoke about before it gets too late for me. I want to see every little tiny pocket of the world, so I may not be around to see the wedding anyway. It’ll probably be a good thing if I’m not around for a while, if I’m not lurking over your shoulder.’
‘You don’t have to go away; this doesn’t change anything between us.’
She smiled and reached up to touch his cheek. ‘I know that. We’ll always be a part of each other’s lives, but I think you need some space now, some time to enjoy your new relationship. She loves you, you know.’
‘I know.’
‘Then why are you still in here talking to me and not out there taking her in your arms and kissing her?’
Seb smiled but still didn’t move. He’d just declared his love for Amy to Judith, something which he never thought he could do. He wasn’t sure if he could declare it to the whole pub yet.
‘Come on.’ Judith put her glass down and moved to the door. He followed her, his heart pounding.
She stood back and let him open it, which he did, and his eyes sought out Amy straight away. She was clearing tables of glasses and as the door opened she looked up at him, her eyes filled with worry. Judith gave him a little nudge from behind. He smiled at Amy, and the rest of the pub faded. The woman he loved was standing just a few metres away from him, and there was no reason to hide from it any more, he could finally shout it from the rooftops. He loved her and he didn’t care who knew it.
He took two large steps forward and took her face in his hands and kissed her. The tray she was carrying clattered to the floor as her hands moved round his neck. The pub went silent and someone somewhere gasped, but he didn’t care.
* * *
Amy’s head was spinning as she kissed Seb, wanting to touch him all over, to hold him tight and never let him go. Was this it, were they really going to spend the rest of their lives together? Could they? Her heart pounding in her ears, she pulled away. He smiled at her, his eyes filled with love.
Someone cheered, probably Nick. Someone else clapped and then suddenly everyone was clapping and cheering. Seb kissed her fondly on the head and she gently pulled out of his arms, trying to find Judith in the sea of clapping faces. But Amy couldn’t see her – had she gone? Had he told her he was going to be with Amy and he didn’t care what she thought? Had she walked off in disgust? Amy suddenly felt panic-filled, she didn’t want to hurt her.
But then she saw her and Judith was smiling.
‘Thank you,’ Amy said.
‘Take care of him,’ Judith said and Amy smiled as she kissed Seb again.
* * *
George pulled up outside his flat later. The drive back had been silent, the tension between them hanging heavy in the air like a thick smoke. His mind was racing wildly, his heart pounding, his stomach churning so violently he thought he was going to throw up. But as soon as they got back into his flat, Cerys pounced, sticking her tongue down the back of his throat and rubbing herself up against him like a dog on heat. She started pulling him towards the bedroom. So this was it, no backing out now.
But as they approached the bedroom door, his heart leapt at what he saw over Cerys’ shoulder. Libby was lying on his bed, curled up like a black cat in her pyjamas, fast asleep.
Chapter Sixteen
‘Argh!’ was all he could manage as he pulled back from Cerys in shock.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘I… I’m a bit nervous. It’s been a while since I’ve been with a woman – do you mind if we…watch a film for a bit, maybe… calm myself down.’
‘George, I’ll be very gentle,’ she whispered, nipping at his ear, as she started to inch back into the bedroom. Something told George that the way Cerys would have sex would be a million miles away from gentle.
He let out a hollow laugh, and resisted as she tried to pull him into the bedroom with her. His heart was beating so loudly now, he was sure it would actually wake Libby up.
‘Come on, I’ve got some great films. What’s your favourite, I bet I have it.’ His strength won out and he dragged her, unwillingly, back into the lounge.
‘Do you have any porn?’ she pouted as she threw herself down on the sofa.
He turned to look at her incredulously. He didn’t really go in for porn. He and Josie used to watch it together sometimes, but he always ended up feeling very inadequate afterwards, in comparison to the great godly male specimens that starred in them. That’s just what he didn’t need right now, another reason to feel bad about himself.
‘How about a comedy, His Girl Friday, now that’s a classic.’ He quickly grabbed the DVD, loaded it, then pressed play. ‘Here, you watch it, I’ll grab us some wine.’
He hurried over to the kitchen, stopping en-route to the bedroom. He watched Libby sleeping peacefully in the middle of his bed. Cerys would not take kindly to finding another woman in his bedroom. He looked back into the lounge. Cerys was already looking decidedly bored, but she hadn’t noticed anything was amiss.
Not really knowing what to do about the Libby situation, he quickly closed the bedroom door. Like an ostrich with its head in the sand, he thought if he ignored the problem it might just go away. Maybe once the film got underway, Cerys might actually enjoy it, or she might be so bored she might fall asleep. Either way might buy him a few more hours to think of something he could do about the Libby situation.
‘George? You OK?’ asked Cerys, eyeing him leaning against the bedroom door.
‘Yeah… yes I’m fine, so… red wine or white?’
‘White.’ She turned her gaze back to the TV.
He opened up a bottle of wine and slugged back a glass. He didn’t normally drink wine. Wine always got him stupidly drunk and really quickly too. He looked at the wine bottle, thought about Libby on his bed and refilled his glass, then took both the bottle and two glasses through to the lounge.
He finished his glass, refilled it and sat down. Cerys immediately cuddled into his arms, which reminded him of how Libby cuddled him when they watched a scary film. Thinking of her, he took another big mouthful of wine.
Cerys cuddled him tighter, running her hand round his waist.
‘George, do you go to a gym?’
He looked down at his belly distractedly and shook his head.
‘You should, it’s good fun. I always feel so much better, so energised after I’ve been to the gym, and you’ll notice the difference after just a few short weeks. You should go. I bet you’d love it.’
He nodded as he looked over to the door of his bedroom. He’d heard something, he was sure of it, but the door stayed closed.
The film continued, but he couldn’t concentrate. Every minute that ticked by was another minute closer to the time when Libby would wake up and come out into the lounge. There was no way he was going to get through the whole film without her waking up. He just wasn’t that lucky. And even if he was, what was he going to do afterwards? He finished his third glass of wine and poured himself a fourth.
Sure enough, about halfway through the film, he heard a loud yawn come from the other room. This was it. He finished his wine, waiting for the big confrontation. Cerys had not heard the yawn, but it was now only a matter of seconds before Libby appeared looking dishevelled and sleepy and gorgeous. He started tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair, as the long seconds stretched on.
The bedroom door opened, and George closed his eyes. He heard Libby gasp and then the bedroom door slammed again.
‘What was that?’ Cerys asked.
He shrugged, pretending he hadn’t heard it.
‘Your bedroom door opened and closed again.’
‘Did it? Oh, the window’s open, it probably got caught in a draught or something.’ He shrugged again, trying to pull off an air of nonchalance.
Cerys sat up and looked towards the bedroom door and then back at him.
‘George, is there someone in there?’
‘No, of c
ourse not,’ he said, his voice high with anxiety.
Detecting the note of anxiety, she got up and walked towards the bedroom and he quickly followed. What was he going to say, how could he explain it? Maybe he could say he had a flatmate, or… a live-in maid or a… There really was nothing he could say that would justify a woman in his bedroom, in her pyjamas.
Cerys opened the door and his empty bedroom stared back at them, the window pushed open, the curtains blowing in the wind.
‘You see, no women lurking in my room. Did you want to check my wardrobes as well?’
‘No, sorry, George, I just… I was sure I heard someone gasp.’
He laughed. ‘I might just shut the window, it’s started to rain.’
He went to the window and saw Libby outside in her pyjamas, already soaked to the skin. He laughed nervously and she put her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter as well. She motioned with her hand that she was going round to the front. He nodded as he closed the window and turned back to Cerys, grinning, he thought, in a very inane way.
He sat back down on the sofa with Cerys and she took her place in his arms again. He bit his lip as he heard the faint sound of the buzzer in Giselle’s flat above him. Libby was trying to gain access to the building. But he knew that Giselle was out; her lights had been off when they’d got home. George knew Libby would be trying Rosie and Alex next, but he also knew that they had gone away for the weekend. He laughed to himself as he poured himself another glass of wine. He would have to let Libby in, but how could he explain to Cerys why he was suddenly going to the front door, or why he was buzzing someone in who hadn’t actually rang his buzzer?
Cerys looked at George in confusion, wondering why he was laughing. This made him laugh even more.
He needed an excuse, a reason to go outside. He patted his pockets.
‘I think I might have left my wallet in my car, I’ll just go and get it.’
‘Get it later.’
He drummed his fingers nervously.
‘George, are you OK? You seem really… highly strung all of a sudden.’
