“Hello?” Elly’s happy voice is a little too loud for me.
“Shhh, don’t shout please, I have a terrible headache.”
“Are you okay, Ashley?” Elly seems a little concerned by my hoarse voice.
“Yeah, I mean no… what happened last night?”
“You got drunk. You don’t remember, do you?” Elly has begun to sound a little patronising again. I’m too run down this morning to even complain about it to her.
“Ah,” I comment laconically. Yeah, I figured that’s what happened. “Look, can you let Jass know that I might be a little late this morning? I woke up late, I have a terrible headache.” I moan, while I rub my index against one of my temples.
“Yeah, I will do.” She giggles. “Did Jamie help you last night? God, he’s so handsome!”
“What are you on about?” I shout, worsening my headache. Damn!
“Hey, calm down! I was just joking. I took you home last night, Jamie took you to your room because the taxi driver was waiting for me outside your apartment. He told me that he would help you, so I went home certain that you were in good hands. You don’t remember anything at all?”
“No, I don’t. How did you even think that it was a good idea to leave me with Jamie?” Knowing that I was drunk while Jamie was in the apartment terrorises me, especially because I don’t remember anything.
“I didn’t abandon you, I took you home!” That’s fair enough, there’s not much more that she could have done for me. It’s my fault, I can’t blame anybody else. I’ll have to be careful with drinking next time.
“Why? Did anything interesting happen after I left?” Elly asks suddenly, she sounds curious. Wait, what happened last night? I can hardly recall anything from then. I remember that I went out with Elly and that we went to a beautiful place. I remember the cocktails, but then everything blurs into a confused bunch of scenes. There was a taxi, Elly was fiddling with my keys, the lift, Jamie in the apartment. Yes, I remember seeing Jamie in the apartment, but the rest must be all made up. I won’t even linger on those thoughts. Did I kiss Jamie? No, that’s definitely a false memory. I would never do that. More likely, I had a bad dream, which I kind of enjoyed after all. Did I just say the word ‘enjoy’? Forget it. I’m still hungover, that’s the only answer.
“No… nothing happened. I just… went to bed and passed out a moment later.” I hope that Elly won’t investigate any further on this matter. I don’t want to think about it more than is necessary.
“Okay. Anyway, I’ll let Jass know that you’re going to be late. Try not to take too long. I’ll see you soon, yeah?”
“Okay, thank you Elly.”
I hate not to be able to remember what happened last night. I sigh all my frustration out, while I try to pull myself together. I need to take a painkiller for my headache or I won’t be able to work today.
I waddle out of my room and walk slowly down the stairs towards the kitchen. This floor looks cleaner than usual today. It’s cloudy outside and there isn’t much sunshine, but I still struggle to focus on the furniture in the kitchen. Then I see Jamie behind the kitchen table. The curtains are closed, luckily.
“Good morning!” His penetrating voice forces me to turn my eyes towards him. I sit on one of the stools and lay my head on the counter.
“Not such a good morning…” I grumble in pain.
“You’re not used to hangovers, are you?” He chuckles. His insufferable attitude is the last thing I need to help me get to work this morning.
“That’s enough, my head’s about to implode.” His chuckling irritates me.
“Here, drink.” I struggle to look up at him again, then my eyes focus on a steaming mug of coffee. I clasp it with both hands, enjoying the warmth of the mug on my cold fingers, then I sip at the coffee.
“Thanks.” That’s the first time that I’ve been polite to him. Thanking Jamie doesn’t feel like one of the most satisfying activities in my life, but it’s not like me to be rude.
“Maybe alcohol isn’t so bad for you after all – it makes you more polite. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.” Here we go, the same old annoying Jamie is back. Being kind and polite with arrogant, self-centred people is never a good idea.
“I’m always polite, but only to those who deserve it.” I grumble. In the meantime, I try to ignore the headache that our conversation seems to have worsened. He carries on chuckling, he seems to find my hungover state funny. Here’s another lesson that I’ll keep in mind for the future: never let the enemy see you in a vulnerable state. I’m about to get off the stool and head to my room, when he catches my arm and prevents me. I try to ignore the emotions that his hand on my arm gives me, I look at him in an effort to understand what he has in mind.
“Every time you feel uncomfortable, you run away. You always do this, and it’s annoying.” He seems upset, but I don’t understand why. What does he want from me?
“I’m not running away, I just want to pull myself together in peace but you’re not helping right now.” I reply wearily.
“Stay here. You used to love that sofa – get some rest there. Let me give you some painkillers for your headache.”
I love that sofa, that’s true, but I’ve never really enjoyed it since the argument with my father. Now that Jamie is around, I wouldn’t be able to relax.
“Listen, I’m going to my room. The lights are too bright here.” I move away from him. Jamie walks to the opposite side of the kitchen and turns the main kitchen lights off, leaving only the lights over the counter on. This is a lot more bearable for my eyes. He smiles, then points assertively to the sofa, it doesn’t look like he wants to give up this time.
“Okay, okay.” I surrender. I’m not in the mood for yet another argument with him. Lying on that sofa after a hangover sounds like a good idea, after all. This soft sofa has magical powers and Jamie’s presence doesn’t irritate me that much when I lie on it. While I’m almost falling asleep, Jamie lays a soft blanket over me. Then I hear the clinking of a glass behind me.
“Here’s the painkiller,” Jamie says. Then he walks away so swiftly that I struggle to hear his footsteps.
“Thanks.” Yes, I’ve definitely been too polite this morning.
*
“Good god, here you are, finally!” Elly’s happy voice reassures me that Jasper isn’t mad at me for being so late today.
“I made it!” I greet her, then I take my seat next to her, behind the counter.
“You look great!” Elly comments and smiles at me with a hint of pride.
“I’m alright now, but I’m never going to drink heavily again.”
“I should be the one saying that! Taking you home was a mission and a half! It took me ages to find the right keys to let you in. You’re a disaster when you’re drunk!”
“I apologise, it’s due to lack of experience in drinking.” Elly laughs loudly. Two of the customers turn towards her, amused. She glances back at them shamelessly, then turns back to me, giggling.
“So did anything happen with Jamie? He looked a little worried when he saw you that drunk yesterday evening.”
“Jamie worried about me? I don’t believe that! He doesn’t care about me!” I reply. In the meantime, my brain chooses to replay the dream where I kissed him. It all feels a bit too realistic to be a dream, but it can’t be reality. I would never kiss Jamie, not even if I were completely drunk.
“I’m telling you, he was worried about you yesterday. I’m surprised that he didn’t mention how drunk you were this morning.”
“No, he didn’t say much. He wouldn’t have said anything even if he wanted to. I was too run down to listen to one of his lectures. He invited me to rest on the sofa for a while and walked away in silence.” As I say this, I reflect on how kind of him it was to do that. He turned off the lights, he laid a blanket over me, and he woke me up before lunch time to make sure that I could still get to work. He was a little different this morning. Or maybe he has an ulterior motive. Yes, that’s
likely. Somebody like him always has an ulterior motive. No doubt.
“Well, thanks goodness you’re here. I wouldn’t have survived an afternoon here all by myself. I’m going to have to think about the practicalities behind Martin’s arrival, apparently. He’s going to have to give a lot of autographs, so we have to be very well organised. We’ll have to get hold of a bigger table and stuff like that. I might ask Drew and Evan to take care of it.”
“So you haven’t stopped thinking about Martin for a second, have you?”
“Well, I had to call him this morning to ask for a list of his prospective guests, who will also be here on the night. You know, I have to know how many seats to reserve for him. I want to prepare badges and all the stuff people find at conferences.” She blushes for a second, then lowers her eyes. She has fallen in love with Mr Goodwin!
“So you feel like he’s your friend now?” I giggle as I speak. I like to make fun of Elly, when I can.
“Hey, leave me alone. I’m not exactly like you – I don’t have to think a hundred times before deciding if I fancy somebody or not. I follow my guts. Did you ever try that?”
“No, never.” I reply decisively. The last time that I thought that I might fancy somebody without really knowing them was Jamie. It was the time when my father introduced me to him one night at a dinner, after he had talked about him for days. He’s the example of how first impressions mislead you. Always.
“You should trust your guts a little more then.” Elly says, suddenly looking very serious, after a whole minute of silence.
“I can’t trust my own emotions.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake, Ashley. Jamie is so handsome, kind, and always there for you. And yet you don’t notice that! You want to avoid him like the plague.”
“I can’t stand him!”
“He has done nothing wrong. Your father may have, but definitely not him. Your father decided to leave the company to him despite knowing how hard you had worked to be a good manager. It was your father who wrote a will that forces you to share your apartment with him, Jamie didn’t do anything. It’s your father, Ashley. Jamie hasn’t done anything.” Elly sounds increasingly serious and assured, I don’t fully understand why she’s so interested in this matter. I stare at her in dismay and, when she realises that I’m confused by her attitude, she shrugs and smiles at me.
“I just want you to stop being proud and to realise what you really want in life.” Elly speaks with an unusually kind tone.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I grumble.
“You’ll understand it at the right time.” Elly’s cryptic attitude irritates me, but she seems to genuinely care about me. I wonder if she’s still thinking about her theory or whatever she nearly told me the other night.
We spend the rest of the afternoon helping customers and stocking shelves. The number of customers is increasing and I think the boss’s idea to open a book bar will be a great one now that this place is so famous.
“What time is it?” Elly asks, she looks exhausted.
I glance at my watch. “It’s twenty to eight!”
“Shall we start closing?” Elly asks hopefully.
Denise and Kristine, the two part-time members of staff, always finish at 7 p.m. and Jass has already left the office. There’s nobody who can stop us closing a little early today. Elly goes to lock the door but, before she can, someone walks by her waving. I squint, trying to focus on the belated customer’s face. It’s Alex!
“Hey!” I greet him, then I beckon him inside. Alex smiles, his teeth are perfectly straight and white.
“Hello, my dear!” He greets me as he walks towards me. He seems surprised to see me here.
“Hello!”
“Hey!” Elly interjects, and we turn our eyes towards her.
“Elly, meet Alex, we met at uni a few years ago. He’s one of my closest friends and it’s thanks to him that I’ve managed to pass most of my exams.” I explain, trying to ignore the fact that Elly seems more interested in how handsome Alex looks than how much he helped me at uni. She stares at him with her eyes wide open.
“Nice to meet you, Alex.” She says and stretches her hand towards him. “I’m Eleanor, everyone calls me Elly.”
“Good to meet you, Elly.”
Their handshake lasts a little too long because Elly won’t stop staring at him. Oh, god.
“Can I help you with anything, Alex?” I ask. I surprise myself by sounding so formal, while I think of days spent in the library trying to revise and the times where our muttering and giggling annoyed the other students in the silent study area. Ah, the good old days!
“I’m trying to find a book. I didn’t know you worked here!”
“Yeah, I’ve been here for two and a half years now, it’s not too bad, you know.”
“That’s a bit of a different career path from what you expected, right?” He asks. He seems unsure as to whether he should commiserate with me or congratulate me.
“I know, but I love this job and, if I’m honest with you, it’s a lot more fun than having to deal with numbers and calculations all the time.” I say, trying to help him through the awkward moment. He smiles nervously and scratches his head.
“That’s good to hear. I thought I’d said something wrong for a moment.” He says, then he smiles at me. His smile and his green eyes are definitely his strongest features and make him very attractive. I can only see him as a friend, though, nothing more. I bet Elly doesn’t think the same!
“What book are you after?” Elly asks – she’s always unusually kind and helpful with attractive male customers.
“‘Principles of Economic Theory’ by Reuel Normann. I know – don’t look at me like that. It’s a boring book, but I need it for work.” Alex comments, after reading Elly’s facial expression.
“What do you do for a living?” Elly smiles at Alex again, leaning forward over the counter. Okay, I get it – I’m going to have to get that book for her. I head off to the economics section of our book shop. I’ve heard of that title recently, it must be one of our latest arrivals. I might have written it on the list I compiled a few day ago, it must be here somewhere. I run my fingers past some of the new titles and I finally find the book. It’s a huge! It’s not going to make for some enjoyable bed-time reading, that’s for sure. His job mustn’t be a lot of fun if he has to plough through boring books of that size.
“Here it is.” I interrupt the two of them, walking behind the counter with the book in my hand.
“Yeah, that’s the one! Thanks, Ashley.”
I smile at him and scan its barcode, then I put the book in a plastic bag.
“It was great to see you again, we should catch up sometime.”
“That sounds like a good idea – why don’t we go out for dinner one of these days? I’ll pick you up at yours – what do you think? I want to hear your latest life updates and it’ll be a good opportunity to reminisce over the old times.” he says. I don’t have many positive life updates to share with him, but it would be good to remember our university days.
“Okay, shall we meet up on Saturday?” I ask. I’m not sure why, but it feels good to be asked out by a man even if it’s not going to be a romantic date. It helps me to forget last night’s nightmare, it will be good to do something different for once.
“Yes, see you soon!” Alex smiles and then walks away.
“God, he’s so handsome.” Elly stares at the door almost nostalgically.
“Well, you managed to have a good chat with him.” I try to reassure her.
“Hello?” Elly waves her hand in front of me, trying to get my attention. “Did you realise that he’s just asked you out?”
“He’s just a friend, it’s not a date.”
“You’re so naïve.”
Elly doesn’t take long to decide whether a man is a potential partner for me, but I’m not the same. I draw a line between friends and potential partners, and Alex is definitely a friend. I’m almost certain that
it’s the same for him. He had a couple of girlfriends during the university years and neither of them resembled me in appearance or character. For a start, they were both blonde!
“I think he’s attracted to you.” I carry on talking, but Elly shakes her head.
“Yeah, sure.” She says sarcastically. She should try being more positive, sometimes. First impressions are not as important as she thinks, and I’m going to show her. I’m going to talk about Elly quite a lot when I see Alex, I’m certain that he will be interested in her. She might enjoy having a man by her side more than I do anyway and Alex seems perfect for her.
We finally close the shop at 8 p.m. – it’s getting a lot cooler these days in the evening. Winter is definitely round the corner. I hope it won’t snow too early this year.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Elly says. She has wrapped herself in her black coat. “Try not to be mean to Jamie tonight.”
“I’m always polite to him and you should be on my side anyway!” I grumble. Elly has only seen Jamie once and she definitely had the wrong impression of him.
“I’m always on your side, Ashley. I’m just saying that you should be kind to him, that’s all.”
“I’m always kind – I thanked him twice this morning.” I say proudly, hoping that she will realise that this is beyond exceptional for me, considering that I also had a headache. Ely giggles, my reaction to her nagging always amuses her. She waves at me and then heads towards the underground station. I would be dead scared of using the underground at this time of the day. It’s such a claustrophobic place, it’s a bit like being buried for a while. It must be a weird phobia, but I can’t help it: I’m afraid of the dark and damp, and I’m paranoid of fires underground, because it would be impossible to breathe for long enough to get out of there. Underground transportation is not for me, I’d much rather take the bus.
When I get to my beloved apartment, a pleasant scent welcomes me home. It smells like delicious food and I can’t help but rush to the kitchen after taking my coat off to find out what it is. There, I find Jamie fiddling with the oven. I should have guessed it. Who else could it be? Yet for a moment I thought that this was my perfect home with a perfect family. I’m starving and I wish Jamie wasn’t in the kitchen, so that I could eat everything in peace… but he cooked it after all. I’m pretty sure that he didn’t cook any of this tasty food for me and it would be shameful to let him realise that his cooking skills are excellent by my standards.
The Inheritance: A feisty, giggle-inducing romance Page 6
