Spin the Bottle

by T L Osborn

  “Why don’t you join us?” she offers.

  “I don’t want to impose, you look like you’re already mid-conversation.”

  She shakes her head. “Nonsense. Riley and Mel, you don’t mind right?”

  The other two women nod at me enthusiastically.

  Taking a seat, I place the number upon the table to await my coffee.

  “I’m Mel,” the woman to my right says with a smile.

  “I’m Riley,” the one sitting opposite me says.

  “Sasha,” I reply as my coffee is brought over.

  “Sasha here used to be Toby’s girlfriend when we were back in high school, though they were friends long before they started dating. Toby finally asked her to be his girlfriend on her birthday, then unfortunately, Sasha moved cities,” Aria tells the other two, giving them some background.

  “Oh that sucks. How did you meet Toby?” Riley asks.

  “Actually, it’s a funny story and I’m not sure Aria knows the truth. I was staying with my friend when I was thirteen and we snuck out of her house to an older boy’s birthday party. Not Toby’s, but his friend I believe. Well, my friend liked the birthday boy and when a game of spin the bottle was struck up, I ended up kissing Toby. Let’s just say it was my first kiss and we were inseparable from there on.”

  “That’s so romantic,” Riley gushes before pulling out a pen and piece of paper.

  “Riley, I’m not sure Sasha will want you putting it into a book.”

  “I’m not, but I did get another idea.” She gives Aria a sly grin.

  “You’re an author?” I ask, picking up my drink and taking a sip.

  “I am a writer of all things romance. Here’s my business card.” She hands me a magnet and as I look through the places I can follow her on social media, I realise that I already am.

  “You’re Eva R. Fields? Wow! I love your books; they’re amazing and I’ve just read the latest one.”

  She blushes. “Thank you.”

  “I’m going to re-read the entire series. It’s one of my favourites, though my fiancé doesn’t really like me reading what he likes to call porn. He thinks I could be reading better things but I don’t care, at least I’m reading.”

  “How did you meet him?” Aria asks.

  “Cliché really. He saw me across the dancefloor at a bar when he was with his friends and I was with mine. He walked up to me, we danced together and I thought he was a great guy. He sent me flowers the next day, telling me he had a great time and he’d love to see me again. That was it.”

  “How long have you been together?” she asks.

  “Six months…engaged for three. I know it seems fast and it probably is but–” I’m cut off when my phone buzzes in my handbag.

  Pulling it out, I see Kyle has messaged me.

  Ky: Where are you?

  Me: At the café across from the train station.

  “So have you seen Toby since last week?” Aria asks curiously. It’s not what I was expecting, I was thinking they’d ask to see the ring.

  “No I haven’t,” I reply, not really wanting to discuss him.

  “What happened between you two? What did he say?”

  “We had an argument over something so silly. He accused me of being the first to stop writing and loving him. But I didn’t stop, even though he claims he never got any of my letters. I know I wrote and sent them. I never got any of his either; the ones he claims were ‘return to sender’, but I mean, I don’t see how they would have been returned. I didn’t write it on them. I loved getting them. Then he told me my promise ring had been sent back to him. I was crushed. All this time I thought I’d lost it,” I say, hearing the sadness in my tone.

  Aria sits and I can almost see the wheels in her head turning. “I know he wrote to you. He’d usually sit at the dining room table for hours writing.”

  “I don’t know what to believe anymore. I’d like to move past this with him and see him again. It was nice spending time with him but I–” I’m cut off as I see Kyle striding past the windows of the café and walking inside. “Oh shit, it’s Kyle my fiancé! No more talk of Toby,” I stress as he crosses the room.

  “Sweetie, come home. I’m so sorry we argued this morning and I didn’t mean what I said,” he begs as he approaches me.

  “Sorry Ky, but I haven’t finished my drink or talking to my new friends.”

  He arches an eyebrow at me as if to say ‘what friends’? He turns and though he flashes them his charming smile, he can’t hide the fact that he doesn’t think they’re good enough to be my friends.

  “Come on, sweetie. I’ll make you a coffee when we’re home and leave you to work on cleaning out the spare room so you can turn it into an office for yourself.”

  “Sasha, here, take my phone number. Text me some time; and you can join us girls at our book club or rather, wine drinking club one night. Kyle here might be willing to drop you off.” Aria hands me a card and on it is her cell phone number.

  “Thanks for letting me sit with you,” I say as Kyle grabs my hand tightly—too tightly—and pulls me away.

  Once out of eye shot of the café, he snatches Aria’s card from my hand and tosses it into the bin.

  “You can do better than have friends like that. We have a work function coming up soon and my colleagues’ wives will be there. I’m sure you’ll find you have much more in common with them. Now, when we get home, I expect you to tidy that spare room up; it looks like a pig sty. Then, I expect you to come downstairs and prepare the snacks for this afternoon for when my friends arrive.”

  “But what about turning the spare room into an office?”

  He snorts. “I only said that to those women so I looked good. You don’t need an office, Sasha, now get in your car and I’ll see you at home.”

  When I do get home, I don’t bother talking to him. I’m determined not to cry or show him he’s hurt me. My chest hurts, my stomach heaves and my heart is pounding hard. The ring on my left hand is starting to feel like a ball and chain rather than a happily-ever-after.

  Kyle doesn’t mean everything he says, he’s just in a bad mood from this morning’s fight.

  We’ll sort this out.

  I hope.

  Toby

  I’m playing around with Henry and his new favourite cat toy when my front door opens. Looking up I see its Aria bringing in my dry-cleaned uniform.

  “Thanks sis,” I say, standing up and taking them from her. Clean uniform for tomorrow though I’ll probably wear my suit instead.

  “No worries.”

  “Did you want a coffee while you’re here?” I ask.

  “Sure, why not. Simon’s taken Charlotte to see Suzanne so I’m free for a bit.” She moves around to the couch and sits down while I take my stuff into my room. “Tob, when did you and Jake get a cat?”

  “Oh, about a week or so ago.”

  “He’s cute.”

  I enter the lounge heading for the kitchen where I make both of us a coffee. After I finish, I carry our drinks over to the table where I find Henry curled up on Aria’s lap.

  “Where’s Jake?” she asks, picking up her mug.

  I shrug. “Dunno, haven’t seen him all day to be honest. I don’t see him a lot but that’s because I’m back on night shift. Why?”

  “Just making sure we won’t be interrupted.” I arch an eyebrow at her, unsure what she means. “So I came here to see you about this thing with Sasha.”

  Hearing her name makes my heart skip a beat.

  Have I still got the chance to keep her in my life?

  “Go on.”

  “Honestly, I’m worried. She sat with Mel, Riley and I to have a coffee this morning and she seemed sad. Sad over the stuff you two talked about, but then happy when she did talk about you. Her fiancé was umm…something else. Charming smile, but deep down I believe he’s controlling. Toby, he threw my card for Sasha in the bin. He demanded she leave even though she hadn’t finished her coffee.”

  “And you’ve
come here because I’m a policeman and you think I can help.”

  I want to help her but I can’t.

  She shakes her head. “No, I know you can’t, but I’m hoping you’d be willing to make the first move to apologise for being a jerk. She needs a friend right now, and although we were friends, we weren’t as close as you guys. I want to know what happened between you two; where did last week go wrong?”

  “You know, if it were anyone but you coming here to talk to me about this, they’d get told to fuck off.”

  She smiles. “That’s why you and I have a great relationship.”

  “Okay, so we had a coffee and it started out great, reminiscing about the past. That’s until I fucked it up by accusing her of not writing back, then stopping loving me and sending back the ring. I could read it in her face that I was wrong but I stupidly let my anger get the best of me.”

  She stares at me as horror washes over her face. “You didn’t.”

  “I’m afraid I did and now I’m not sure where we stand. I wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to see me again. Now, you’re telling me about her so-called fiancé? It makes me wish I’d kept my mouth shut even more but I couldn’t let the past go. I still can’t; I’ve got all the letters and ring too.”

  “I know and you definitely should’ve thought it through, but I also understand you’re entitled to answers. It just wasn’t the way to go about getting them.”

  “Now you tell me.” I smirk.

  “Tobias, I’m serious. Is there any way you can make it up to her? Maybe show her the box of stuff you kept.”

  “I’m an idiot for keeping it right?”

  She shakes her head. “No you’re not. It makes me think you didn’t stop loving her. That sort of love doesn’t go away overnight. Have you thought about the fact that you should’ve let her speak? How do you know she didn’t have more to say? You can still be friends with her.”

  “All the while watch her marry someone else? No, thank you.”

  She rolls her eyes. “Then you have your answer. Make things right between you two.”

  We’re interrupted as the front door opens and in walks Jake.

  Aria and I say no more on the matter and spend the rest of the time playing with Henry. She’s given me some food for thought though. I did jump to conclusions, let my anger get the best of me, and I practically interrogated Sasha. Taking a leap into the unknown without gathering the facts, that’s not me. I should have thought it through but it seems when it comes to Sasha, all rational thought processes go out the window. Right then, I make a solemn vow that the next time I see her, I’ll invite her to talk with me, take the box of letters with me and hope for the best.

  I’d be a fool not to try.

  Chapter Eight

  Toby

  It’s been a few weeks since I last saw Sasha and I’m kicking myself for how our last meeting ended. I regret not getting her phone number to contact her and now I fear I’ve probably lost the chance entirely to apologise.

  Picking up my beer, I take a sip as I glance around the bar waiting for Jake to join me. We’re having dinner, then we’re off to play some pool for a bit. He’s late, though it’s not unusual; he’s probably got carried away at the gym.

  The door to the restaurant opens and I see a couple walk through. I can hardly believe my luck as I see Sasha and a man. I crane my neck to get a better look as she removes her jacket. She’s smoking hot tonight, wearing an off-the-shoulder red dress that hugs all her curves in the right places, making my mouth water with desperation to taste her. I shouldn’t be thinking about her like this but I can’t help it.

  Watching them cross the room to a large group of people, I pick up my beer and take another sip, this time placing the glass down and keeping hold of it.

  I watch as he pulls a chair out then seats himself down before turning to Sasha and saying something through gritted teeth. Pompous prick! He could’ve at least pulled her chair out for her. He must be the fiancé she spoke of and if so, she can do much better. Hell, if I had her on my arm, I’d parade around like a male peacock trying to impress a female because I’d be one lucky man to have someone as gorgeous as her on my arm.

  I order a second beer and continue to observe them. I watch as he snatches the menu out of Sasha’s hands and speaks to the waitress.

  Is he ordering for her?

  I grip my glass and can’t believe my eyes. Sure enough, I watch Sasha’s face break into sadness as he turns his attention to the others in their group. My heart aches. I sure as shit wouldn’t ignore her no matter how many people we were with.

  Suddenly I’m broken out of staring at them by a slap to my left shoulder. Turning my head, Jake is taking a seat beside me.

  “About time you showed up, I’m almost finished my beer.” I chuckle.

  “You weren’t totally bored though, were you?” He nods Sasha’s direction.

  Caught out.

  “What kept you?” I ask.

  “Oh, I was just giving Steph a hand.”

  I throw him a grin. “A hand, huh?”

  “Not like that. She needed me to lift some rolls of fabric that are heavy.”

  “Uh-huh. You can fool our sister, little brother, but you can’t fool me. There’s something going on between you two.”

  He shakes his head. “No, there isn’t. She’s seeing someone. She’s just using me as a model for some tuxedos for her business and Riley is doing the photography so Steph can build her profile. I think she’s going to ask you to model too.”

  The second beer I ordered is delivered.

  “This must be mine.” Jake grabs the glass and I order another two.

  “I waited until you arrived to order. I was thinking I might get myself a pizza,” I suggest.

  “Pizza sounds great,” Jake says.

  “You can get your own. I’m not sharing mine.”

  “Wasn’t asking you to.” He picks up his beer, taking a sip while I steal a glance over at Sasha’s table only to see her getting out of her seat.

  This is my chance to get her alone and talk to her. Watching for a moment, I see her make her way down the back of the bar towards the restrooms.

  “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” Jake says as I get out of my seat.

  Too late. I’ve already made the decision to go over to her.

  Following her down the back of the bar, I find a seat and wait for her to exit the bathrooms.

  While I wait, I write my number, a time and the café on a piece of paper to give to Sasha. I don’t wait too long before she exits, and I get out of my seat to stand in front of her as she’s so focused upon the inside of her handbag.

  Grabbing her by the shoulders, she leaps beneath my hands and looks up at me, her hand flying to her chest. “Jesus! Don’t do that. You scared the shit out me.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “What are you doing here?” she asks.

  “Jake and I happen to be having a meal here too,” I reply. “I just want a moment of your time.”

  I steer her towards a booth and sit us down.

  “Toby, I–”

  “Please,” I beg. “I want the chance to apologise to you for how I treated you the other week over coffee and I have something I’d like to show you.”

  “What, right now?” she asks, looking around nervously.

  I shake my head. “No. Tomorrow. I want the chance to show you how much I care for you.” I slide to her the piece of paper with my number on it.

  She gulps as she looks down at it.

  “You want me to meet you at 11 am?”

  “If that suits you, but I can work around you. I just want the chance. If you decide tomorrow that you don’t want to talk to me again afterwards, that’s fine, but I realised that we never had the closure when we broke up and truthfully Sasha, I don’t think I ever got over loving you.”

  I search her face, waiting for some kind of a response. Her e
yes glisten.

  “I didn’t treat you very nicely the other day either. I could’ve been calmer about it.”

  I smile. “We’ll talk tomorrow. You’d better get back to your table or he’ll wonder where you’ve gone.”

  She shrugs. “I don’t think he’d care. He hasn’t spoken to me since we arrived. He even went so far as to tell me I’m not allowed a glass of wine and he ordered my meal for me.”

  So, I was right.

  “Well, if I had you by my side I sure as hell wouldn’t be ignoring you. That dress looks great on you,” I say.

  She gives me a wry smile. “Tobias, you flatterer.”

  “Not flattery, just the truth. Now go before you get into trouble with him and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Want me to bring anything?”

  “Nope, but the cupcakes and coffee are on me.”

  She licks her luscious red lips and it takes me back to the time when she gave me my first blow job. Jesus, that mouth was perfection and she knew exactly how to drive me wild with it. She enjoyed every minute of it too.

  “That sounds great.” She pushes out of the booth and walks away, stopping for a moment to stare back over her shoulder at me. I get the feeling she’d much rather join me and Jacob tonight for pizza than the dinner she’s at.

  Sasha

  “Where did you disappear off to earlier?” Kyle asks as we’re driving home from the boring dinner event we attended.

  I don’t even know why I was there; he ignored me all night.

  My thoughts turned to Toby and our inevitable meeting tomorrow. Even now, as I’m staring out the window, I wonder what it is that Toby has to show me.

  “Hmm?” I say, pretending that I didn’t hear the question.

  He sighs. “Don’t play dumb with me Sasha. When you went to the bathroom earlier, you were gone a long time.”

  “Oh, right. I bumped into an old friend and got to chatting. Sorry, I didn’t realise I’d taken so long.” I hadn’t taken that long and my chat with Toby had been brief, unlike tomorrow’s will be.

  “Sasha, I hope it wasn’t that woman from the café last week because I thought I made it clear how I felt about that.”