Danny - Make sure you send her the picture! Xxx
Me - ha ha x
Straight away, I reopened Kat’s chat. Now the idea was in my head, I really wanted to go and see Danny.
Me - Hey, hun, don’t fancy Brighton tonight, do you? x
I wondered if I would have even considered it if I hadn’t had a glass of wine. She replied pretty much straight away. I was slightly miffed her boss had obviously left and she hadn’t messaged me already.
Kat - Oh. I thought we’d decided Eastbourne
No kiss. Already hostile. This was a no-go, but I had to at least try.
Me - I know, but we’ve been offered free drinks! x
Kat - From who? x
Me - Danny. At his bar. He misses us xx
A double kiss to emphasise. Kisses in an IM were very important.
Kat - Oh
That was a pissed-off oh. I had read it many times before. Kat didn’t do well with plans changing, especially when it jeopardised the other arrangements she had made with herself.
Kat - When did you see Danny? x
Me - I didn’t. He msgd me x
Small white lie.
Me - He didn’t even know about me and Max x
Subject change. Good move.
Kat - Shut the front door! How did he not know? x
Danny messaged.
Danny - What did she say?
I continued with Kat.
Me - I know! That’s what I said. Crazy.
- He wants an answer
Kat - erm… well, I’ve already arranged with Ben about meeting
Surprise surprise.
Kat - And one of Ted’s friends is DJing in V-bar tonight. I really wanted to see him.
I sighed. I didn’t know why I was bothered. I hadn’t even spoken to Danny for months.
Me - ok. I will tell him no then x
Kat - tell him another time xx
Two kisses. She was feeling guilty.
Me - ok cool x
I clicked back on Danny’s chat.
Me - Sorry, no go x
Danny - Oh, man. No way fair! I was looking forward to seeing you xx
My stomach flipped. He actually wanted to see me. ‘Oh my God, Casey,’ I spoke to myself. ‘Calm down. He just means as friends.’
Me - Me too! Offer still open for another night? x
Danny - Only if you promise it will be soon xx
Me - Promise xxx
Chapter Sixteen
The music was on loud, the drinks were flowing, and Kat and I were in full party mode. Dresses, tops, and skirts were strewn across my living room. Eyeshadow, mascara, and make-up brushes collected on the coffee table. My full-length mirror from the bedroom was propped up against the back of my sofa, with a huge pile of cast-aside heels sitting in front, to prevent it from slipping.
After trying on at least ten different outfits, I had settled on my trusty little black dress. Kat was acting weird. She kept going on about looking our best tonight, but I figured it was because we were meeting up with Ben.
Two bottles of wine later, the taxi picked us up and took us to the hustle and bustle that was town. Walking into V-bar, I felt like an elderly woman walking into a playpark. The average age of the place was eighteen – and a young eighteen at that. The lower level was crammed with groups of girls and guys vying to get the bartenders’, and each other’s, attention. Standing at the back surveying the scene in front of me, I looked around and caught some infant looking me up and down.
‘Hey,’ he said, slow-nodding his head as he spoke. I half expected him to finish it with Joey’s famous phrase from Friends. Then it dawned on me, this person was probably too young to know what Friends was. Not to be rude, I said hi back and turned my head away, looking out for the rest of the girls we were meeting.
‘So,’ he carried on, ‘you want my number?’
I looked back, frowning, ‘Erm, no thanks.’ I looked away again.
‘Oh, well then, can I have yours?’
I was grateful that Kat heard her name being called from the stairs and grabbed my hand and pulled me away.
‘Oh God! Did you hear that guy?’
Kat laughed. ‘You owe me one for saving you.’
Upstairs was even smaller than downstairs. With the DJ decks set up and our two tables. there was only place for a couple of others. As I took my seat. I saw Kat point in her ever-so-obvious way, as if to say, ‘this is her’. Oh crap. I was being set up with the DJ. I glared at Kat, eyes wide, as she shrugged saying ‘what?’ all innocently.
She was saved by the bell, as Tracey turned up with a tray of shots. ‘Sassy bitches all round, ladies.’
‘Mmm.’ I grabbed one. ‘My fave.’
I loved the one-pound shots at V-bar. We clinked the plastic shot glasses, licked the whipped cream off the top, and downed the fruity strawberry liquor. As I set my glass down, DJ guy raised his eyebrows at me. I went from being mildly annoyed at being set-up, to downright insulted. It got worse later, when I found myself conveniently left on my own during his break. Kat was very insistent I had to stay to look after the drinks, and he came over to talk to me.
‘Hi gorgeous, do you come here often? Ha, I’m only joking. How totally cringe, eh? Chat-up lines are the worst. Well, this is rather awks. Don’t you just hate being set-up?’
No, I thought in my head. What I hate is being set-up with fat, balding, middle-aged DJs who actually use the word awks in a sentence. But instead, I smiled and just said, ‘Yeah.’
‘Well, I must say it’s nice to meet you. Ted said you were a cracker and I gotta say, he was deffo right.’
Ted, a work friend of Ben’s, had met me once at Kat and Ben’s engagement party. Ted had no right to describe me as a Christmas table ornament. Out of politeness, I tried to make conversation with the guy.
‘So, have you known Kat long?’
‘No, actually until tonight I’d never met her.’
Great. So, she actually hadn’t even met the guy she had agreed to set me up with. ‘Oh,’ was all I could say. I was giving up free drinks in Brighton for this.
‘The name’s DJ Dexx.’ He held out his hand to shake mine, his ‘FREE HUGS’ T-shirt becoming glaringly obvious.
‘DJ Dexx?’ Really? Was he actually using his DJ name to introduce himself to a potential date?
‘Dexter when I’m at home.’
‘Oh right.’ I gestured to myself. ‘Casey.’
‘I know. Does Casey wear lacey?’ He belly-laughed. ‘Maybe I will get to find out later?’ He winked.
I sent Kat a text under the table. GET BACK HERE NOW!!!
‘So, Casey, what do you do?’
I swallowed an extra-large mouthful of my drink and bluntly replied, ‘Nothing. I’m between jobs at the moment.’
‘Oh, cool. Well, I do a boring 9-5 job as an accountant, but on the weekends I like to spin the decks, the decks of steel.’
I couldn’t take this any more.
‘Sorry, Dexter, er, DJ Dexx, little girls’ room calls. You don’t mind watching the drinks, do you?’
‘Oh, not at all, glad to be of service.’
I grabbed my bag and walked out the door, bolting downstairs to the exit instead of upstairs to the Ladies. Kat was standing in the corner smoking and talking to a group of guys out on a stag night. She caught my eye as I stormed over, and she knew instantly she was in trouble. ‘It was Ben’s idea.’ She hid behind Stacey.
‘I’m going.’
‘He can’t be that bad!’,
‘Spinning the decks of steel,’ I quoted.
‘Oh God. Let’s go.’
After a few more bars and blagging free entry to Cameo nightclub, we joined the queue at the kebab shop. I needed greasy food. Talking to every person I saw as if they were long-lost friends, the wait flew by. ‘Add me on Facebook,’ I called out to a gaggle of girls as they left with their cheesy chips.
‘Donna kebab wrap with salad and garlic mayo, please.’ In other words, my usual.
/>
‘Make that two,’ called Kat.
‘Good choice.’ I grinned. ‘I think I’m a little bit drunkard,’ I said, as we took our seats up the stairs to wait.
‘That makes three of you.’ We laughed. ‘No, seriously, Case, I can see three of you.’
Our food arrived, and we tucked in like savage animals.
‘A kebab just isn’t a kebab unless you get grease dripping down your chin,’ Kat said with a mouthful.
I swallowed mine and scoffed, ‘Better than something else dripping down your chin.’
‘Urgh! You’re always lowering the tone.’ She threw a napkin at me.
‘You love it,’ I joked. My internet data had run out on my phone, so I couldn’t upload all the pictures I’d taken. I didn’t know half of the people in them.
‘How many people did we meet tonight?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know. Do you remember that group of Polish guys?’
‘Sadly, yes I do.’
We finished our food and started heading towards the nearest taxi rank.
‘Kat, I thought we were meeting Ben.’
‘Who?’
‘Erm, your fiancé.’
Kat stopped in her tracks. ‘Shit!’ Her hands flew up to the top of her head. ‘I promised him I would meet him in TJ’s.’
‘What time?’
‘One.’
I looked at my phone; it was nearly three.
‘Hasn’t he rung you?’
She pulled a face. ‘My battery died. He’s going to kill me. He didn’t even want to come to town tonight.’
‘Gutted.’ I couldn’t help laughing.
‘He’s gonna go mad. He told me to make sure my battery was fully charged.’
‘So you didn’t?’
She shook her head.
I gave her my phone to ring him. She was right, he was furious. We met him around the corner at the taxi rank, where he ushered us straight into a cab. He didn’t say a word the whole way to mine, Kat and I sitting in the back like naughty schoolgirls. The driver pulled up outside my flat, and I whispered to Kat ‘good luck’ before getting out the car. Just before I slammed the door, I said ‘Bye, Benjamin’ in a singsong voice. He hated his full name.
Once in the flat, I kicked off my heels and got a glass of water from the kitchen. Turning around to turn on the TV, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. It gave me a fright. My signature red lipstick was smeared down my face, and my smokey eyes looked like black holes. As the home wi-fi kicked in, my phone erupted with sounds. Facebook notifications; friend requests; Messenger, WhatsApp; Snapchat.
I found an easy-to-watch American sitcom on the TV, then started working through the icons on the top of my phone screen. Kat had tagged me in a picture. I looked hideous. Mum had uploaded her holiday snaps and tagged me in them just to gloat. I had a few messages from Ben, asking where we were; the last one in capitals: TELL KAT TO RING ME NOW!
A message from DJ Dexx (also his Facebook name), saying sorry he’d seemed to have missed me.
7 friend requests; his was at the top and the first to be rejected. There was one more message, this one from Danny.
Danny - Hope you guys had a great night. Looking forward to seeing you soon xxx
I flopped onto the couch with my phone in my hand, and was out like a light.
Chapter Seventeen
I woke up with drool down my face, sticking me to the sofa cushion. Yuck. As I tried to roll over, my arse cheeks stuck to the leather where my dress had ridden up in the night. Urgh. I glanced at the clock. Seven-thirty. No, no, no. Why was it that in all the time I worked, I had needed three alarms to even get me up, but now I have nothing to do or nowhere to go, I am up before eight most mornings – even after a big night out. My mouth was dry, so I reached for my glass of water. The TV was still on. Some random programme highlighting what films were coming out in the upcoming months. Oooh, a new Johnny Depp one. I must tell Kat.
Kat! I remembered her and Ben. Oh no. My winding him up by calling him Benjamin as I got out of the taxi must have made the situation so much worse. I wondered if she’d text me. My phone! Where was my phone?
I looked under the cushions, searched down the back of the sofa. Did I even bring it home? Had I left it in the taxi? No, I’d seen the picture Kat tagged me in. I looked over to where my laptop lived, all neatly tucked away. I definitely wouldn’t have put it away properly if I had used it last night, so I must have used my phone.
I looked to the floor. There it was, screen-down, luckily on a discarded handbag I had thrown there whilst getting ready. I picked it up; the screen was perfect, but the battery was dead. Forcing myself up and into the kitchen, I simultaneously plugged in my phone and flicked the switch on the kettle. There, on the breakfast bar, was the pile of envelopes ready for delivering today. Could they wait? I decided to think about it later.
My phone started to turn on as I concentrated on making my cup of coffee. The familiar ping of a new Facebook message lured me away. It was Max.
Max - Hi Case, hope you’re ok. Sorry to msg u so early but I’m changing the curtains in the bedroom. Just fancied a change. Wondered if you wanted them back as I know Nan made them for us and u chose them. Let me know, no rush. M xx
Just fancied a change? Max! It was hard work getting him to change his underwear, let alone buy new curtains. This had Lisa written all over it. The message had been sent at 5am. I pondered the idea that they had been out until three then spent the next two hours arguing why he still had bits of me dotted about his house, our home.
I pressed the home button, taking the message out of my view. I was feeling annoyed. Did he think I was stupid? He must have known I would have figured this out. I moved back to my cup, and held it in my hands. I started drumming my nails on the side. I was feeling really agitated. Why had this annoyed me so much? I thought back to the day that Nan and I had gone to buy the curtains. He’d had brown velvet hanging when I first moved in. Vile. Disgusting. Brown. Velvet. They had to go. Nan asked if she could treat us as a housewarming gift.
One of my secret favourite places to go is the Old Loom Mill on the outskirts of Hailsham. We used to bike or walk there from Polegate in the summer when I was a child. Even at that age, I would spend ages looking at all the different fabrics. We would get an ice-cream or a cold drink before heading back.
Pulling up in the car, I had smiled at the sight of the place. It seemed so much smaller now. It was so quaint and tranquil. Nan got all excited. She’d been looking for a new project. I’d done all the measurements she’d asked for, and even brought one of the brown curtains with me just in case I’d got them wrong. I had! I chose a beautiful poppy print with a plain red for a band at the top.
Nan found all the stuff she needed for lining, and rings for the top. She was like a child in a sweet shop. ‘These are going to look beautiful,’ she said.
We finished off our trip with a cream tea in the sunshine and a small walk along the cuckoo trail, before heading back. She made the curtains within a week, and got her friend to drive her to mine to deliver them personally. They were the nicest curtains ever. Max had loved them, and couldn’t believe Nan was so talented. She’d given up her sewing box long before I met him.
Now, I looked over at my plain grey curtains thoughtfully. Why did I ever leave them there?
I went back to my phone and searched for Messenger. Once it was opened, my list of chats sprung up. Danny. I smiled as I remembered that he had messaged last night. I liked the fact that for some reason, at that time, he had been thinking of me. Putting that out of my mind, I clicked on Max’s name and quickly typed a rant as a reply.
Max, as I appreciate your new girlfriend may not like the fact that I chose the curtains for the bedroom. I wonder if she actually knows I also chose the décor for most of the fucking house, and helped you to choose 80% of your wardrobe! You don’t have to pretend it is your fucking idea. Yes, I would very much like MY curtains back that MY Nan put her hard work into. F
YI I’m fine and don’t particularly appreciate you msging so fucking early in the fucking morning!!!!!!!
I took a breath, held down my delete button until the message completely disappeared, then started again.
Hi Max, Thanks so much for thinking of me. I would love them back. I’m fine, thanks, and don’t worry, I was up anyway.
As I pressed send, I said out loud, ‘You fucking douche bag!’ As immature as it was, it made me feel better for wimping out of sending the first message. I locked my phone and placed it screen-down on the side. I was staring at it still. I started worrying. Maybe I shouldn’t get the curtains back. How was I meant to get them? Would I have to see Max? I had a vision of me walking up to his front door and her answering. Just the thought of it made me ill.
Why hadn’t I put up more of a fight for him? We had been so good together. I subconsciously held my hand over my scar. A flashback to the day in the hospital when the nurse boldly announced, ‘I’m sorry, Miss Turner, but your baby has died.’ He was so supportive, so kind, but also so angry at that nurse. Not for what she’d told us, just the way in which she had. Right there, in the waiting room, in front of all those women. All those pregnant women. He had tried to put in a complaint, but I wouldn’t let him. I just wanted to put it behind me.
The woman. There had been a woman in the waiting room with me. She kept rubbing her bump. Her husband was holding their scan picture in his hand. Max was rubbing my knee continuously. Rubbing, rubbing. A continuous circular motion. He was nervous. I just couldn’t stop staring at this woman. It had to be her twenty-week scan. Her hand linked through her husband’s arm. She was wearing two rings, so I assumed they were married. She was smiling, happy. She looked up at me, probably sensed somebody watching. Her smile widened, and my face tried to mirror her expression.
‘We just found out we are having a boy.’
Something had caught in my throat. I wanted a boy first. I would have been happy either way, but the idea of my daughters having a big brother appealed to me. To be honest, all we ever wanted was a healthy baby. A baby. I had been so nervous waiting for my results. To find out if I even had one of those any more.
Another Woman's Man Page 6
