A Complicated Summer of Love (Complicated Love Series #3)

by Midgley, D M

  “She was out of line saying that.”

  “It’s cool. I’m not bothered what she says, and I’m certainly not bothered who Brandon screws.” She laughs and I snap my head around to look at her. “What is so funny?”

  She stops laughing and smirks.

  “You. Saying you’re not bothered who Brandon sleeps with. I know that isn’t true just by looking at you. I know you like him, I’m not stupid. Brandon sleeping with Maddison has upset you more than you like to show, but I can see it in your eyes that you’re in pain.” She’s still smirking.

  “I really don’t want to talk about this.” I stop at the steps leading toward the beach. “Please just leave it.”

  She nods her head and gives me another hug. She sure likes hugging me.

  “Okay, if that’s what you want. I’m going to go and find Karl and Tracy and tell them about our plans tonight. Joshua has gone to the coffee shop just across the beach, apparently they have Wi-Fi so he wants to catch up on things back home.” She rolls her eyes. “Anyway see you later.”

  I wave a very girly wave before stepping down the steps and onto the beach. I start walking and I’m hoping that a walk will clear my head. I hate feeling like I do and it sucks that he has broken down a few of the walls around my heart. I detest that I feel like this, and I know I’ve got no right especially when I’ve been so hot and cold with him. If I'm being honest, it’s because I’m not sure what I want. I like Brandon, but I’m not sure I want a relationship right now. It’s not something I’ve thought about and I’ve never pictured myself as the relationship sort.

  I spot Brandon further down the beach. He’s sitting on the sand with his head hanging down. I don’t really feel like talking to him now, he seems to be deep in thought so I head off toward the market. Annabelle has told me lots about the market and she has gone quite a few times this week. I’m sure it will take my mind off everything going on with Brandon. Hopefully, I can stop feeling the way that I do, because we only have one day left before we’re heading home and then I won’t have to see Maddison or Brandon for a while.

  The coffee shop is quiet this morning so I don’t have to wait for one of the computers to be free. There are only four at the back of the room, so I’m lucky it’s not busy. I’m sitting, checking over all my e-mails and my God, there are a lot of them. It does make sense since Maddison and I are here, but I have to get used to this for a while because when we get home, I’m going to persuade Maddison to find a position elsewhere. I have no grounds to fire her, and that will look strange to Annabelle especially since they are friends, so it has to be the next best thing. I’m hoping she won’t make it too difficult and I can get out of this predicament without Annabelle finding out. I know I should just tell her and hope that she listens to me.

  If I explain it to her, then maybe it won’t sound so bad? I shake my head at that stupid thought. Of course, it’s going to sound bad however I say it. I was kissed by one of her friends and it took me a while to pull back. That’s going to look bad any way I say it. Then I find Maddison in my office, naked on my desk. Yeah, that’s not going to sound good either. No way am I letting that bitch wreck my marriage. I keep checking my e-mails and it’s taking quite a while. I look at my watch and it’s hitting 12:00 p.m. I’ll have to head back in a minute and see what Annabelle is up to. She was seeking everyone out this morning to tell them about our meal together tonight. I’m so glad that this holiday is over tomorrow. I’m just happy to be going home.

  “Hey, baby.”

  I look to my right and there’s Maddison, sitting on the seat beside me.

  Oh, fuck! She just turns up when she likes.

  “What are you doing here, Maddison?”

  She bats her eyelashes and does that really annoying giggle of hers. “I was speaking to Annabelle earlier about this little meal we’re all having tonight, and she mentioned you were here, checking in with the real world.” She tries to cozy up to me, but I move my chair away so she’s not too close. “So I thought I would come and keep you company.”

  “I don’t need your company. Why don’t you head back and do something else besides annoy me.” I continue checking through my e-mails, but she doesn’t seem to be getting the hint.

  “Oh come on, baby. We could go and have some lunch like we used to and then spend some time together. I feel like I haven’t seen you at all.”

  Is she for real? Yeah, I used to shout her to lunch because she works for me, but now I’m beginning to think that was stupid. She seems to have the wrong idea about what I was doing.

  “Look Maddison, that was a work lunch, so no I’m not going to lunch with you now.” I finish looking at my e-mails and check my watch again to see it’s now 12.30 p.m. So I log out of my account. “I’m going to go back to the bungalows to see my wife. You know my wife? She’s supposed to be your friend?”

  She giggles and places her hand on my arm. “I am her friend silly. We can’t help that we love each other, but eventually baby, Annabelle is going to have to know about us.”

  I’m getting angry that she’s here, spouting all this crap at me. “No!” I stand up and she looks up at me all wide eyed. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but I don’t want you at all, okay?” I head off out the coffee shop before Maddison can say anything more. She’s driving me crazy and I can’t understand what sick game she’s trying to play.

  “Baby. Wait!”

  I turn around and she’s trying to run in her heels. It’s actually quite amusing to watch because she looks so ridiculous. I’ve even seen her wearing heels while walking on the beach. I’m not sure how she does it and to me, I think it’s absolutely stupid, but she’s always dressed like she’s ready to go out on the town.

  “Will you stop calling me, baby? I’m not your baby. I’m not anything to you, okay? I don’t want you and I never have. I’m not sure what’s going on here. I thought you were hung up on Brandon? It looked like it last night when you were all over him.”

  She’s standing a few feet away from me with a huge smirk on her face.

  “Aww baby, are you jealous? You must know that I don’t want him. I’m only doing it to make you jealous.” She closes the distance between us. “It makes me euphoric that you’re jealous of Brandon and me.”

  I sigh. “I’m not jealous.” I’m so tired of this game.

  “You don’t have to lie to me. He meant nothing…you know?”

  “I’m not bothered, Maddison, okay? Just leave me alone. I think I’ve made my feelings perfectly clear.”

  She huffs and folds her arms. “Fine whatever. You will be mine soon.” She storms off.

  I’m left stunned by her last comment. She sounds insane, and I’m not sure how I’m going to get her to leave the firm without firing her. This is going from bad to worse, and I don’t know what to do. I sigh and make my way along the beach, back to the bungalow to see what Annabelle is up to. I have the rest of the afternoon to spend with her before I need to put on a fake smile for this meal tonight.

  Annabelle seems to be happy, pottering around the kitchen. She is baking something. I’m not sure what’s wrong with her because she’s hardly relaxed since being here. She did for a bit on the first few days, but since then she’s been so busy doing all sorts of things. Organizing that drinks party, now this meal tonight, and she seems to be the one cooking most of the meals. She’s like a mother hen, trying to keep everyone in line. It’s very amusing to watch.

  “Hey, darling.” I wrap my arms around her from behind and give a peck on the cheek. “What are you doing?” She’s whisking eggs, flour and I think chocolate—I’m not entirely sure—in the bowl.

  “I’m making a chocolate cake.” She’s concentrating really hard on what she’s doing. “It’s for tonight.”

  “Tonight? I thought we were going for a meal at that Thai place you found?” She starts putting butter into a cake tin to grease it.

  “We are, but I asked if we could bring a cake for desert.”

&
nbsp; “Okay?” I’m not sure why we need to take our own desert to a restaurant. She stops what she’s doing and looks at me.

  “I just thought it would be nice, okay? It’s our last night here and I want it to be special. The owner was agreeable and she even said that we could have our drinks on the house! How awesome is that? She was really friendly.” She continues on with mixing her cake. “I’ve told everyone about tonight, so we’re all meeting there at 7:00 p.m. Karl and Tracy are so sickly loved up at the moment. I actually barged in on them earlier. They were still in bed at 11:00 a.m. They haven’t spent much time with anyone lately.” I laugh at the puppy dog look she has on her face. She just hates that Karl is occupying all of Tracy’s time. I think she’s missing her best friend.

  “Aww, darling. Maybe we should take a leaf out of their book and head to bed.” She spins around and slaps me on the chest.

  “Joshua! I’m far too busy getting ready.” I try pouting, but she just laughs and gives me a peck on the lips. She tries to pull away, but I grab her hips and pull her back to me for a more passionate kiss. She relaxes in my arms and I hear her little moans. I step back and see that her eyes are full of desire.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to head to bed…for a while?” I grin and she smiles before shaking her head.

  “I would love to, but I can’t.” She gives me another peck on the lips before spinning around and continuing on with her cake.

  “I’m going to head out and see what everyone else is doing. I might see how Brandon’s going, I saw him at the beach when I was walking back from the coffee shop. He was just sitting there, looking out at the sea.”

  “Yeah, he’s got a lot to think about, I think.”

  That has me intrigued. Obviously, Annabelle knows something.

  “What do you mean?” She finishes scooping the cake mixture into the tin before putting it in the oven. She turns to look at me.

  “I think he had an argument with Lily this morning, and I’m pretty sure it has something to with Brandon sleeping with Maddison last night. Why don’t you go and see if he’ll talk to you? He disappeared this morning so maybe he needs a friendly ear?” I smile and give her another passionate kiss before making my way out of the bungalow.

  I told him to be careful around Maddison. She’s poison, and I hate to think that she’s stopping anything from happening between Brandon and Lily just to make me jealous. I feel sick that she’s doing this, and I can’t say anything without telling Annabelle what happened. I see Brandon sitting down on the sand, staring out to sea. He looks really depressed and sad, but I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to help much.

  I take a seat down beside him and look out over the sparkling blue water. It’s so peaceful and I understand why Brandon has been sitting here for so long. It’s definitely a thinking place. I’m not sure what to say to him. I hate Maddison, and I know what she’s like, but I’m not sure Brandon would take me slagging her off. I’m not sure what he sees in her actually. Yeah, she has a really good figure, and when you first meet her she acts like the sweet and innocent girl, but after you get to know her it doesn’t take long before you really see the devil lurking beneath the surface. I’m not sure what’s happening with Lily. They seemed quite close at first, but now they don’t appear to be able to be in the same room as each other. It’s so complicated that even I can’t keep up with what’s happening in this love triangle they have created.

  “What’s up mate?” It takes a while for me to comprehend that he’s spoken.

  “I thought I’d come and see how you’re going.” He looked at me, but now he’s staring out to sea again.

  “I’m fine…just trying to clear my head. Every time I think I have it cleared, something else crosses my mind.” He looks around at me. “I slept with Maddison.” I look away from him as I knew we were going to speak about her sooner or later.

  “Yeah, I know, Annabelle kind of mentioned it. We saw you and Maddison last night.” He nods his head and there’s a few minutes of silence between us.

  “I’m so screwed in the head.” I look at him and he looks angry or maybe annoyed? I’m not really sure, but I can see the struggle in his eyes. “I like Maddison…I do. She’s so friendly, sweet, and we’ve spent a lot of time together and it’s been great.” I snort. “And there’s Lily, who’s so firmly entrenched in my head that I can’t stop thinking about her. She’s so annoying and grumpy half the time, but I want her so much. I have no idea what to do?” He puts his head in his hands and I feel kind of sorry for him, even though I think he’s stupid for getting himself involved with Maddison in the first place.

  “I can’t tell you what to do mate. If Lily is the one you can’t stop thinking about, maybe that’s telling you something?”

  “Yeah…maybe.” We fall silent again. This was a bad idea especially because of Maddison.

  “Listen mate. We only have tonight, so let’s have some fun at this meal and put all the drama behind us…for now.”

  “Lily knows I slept with Maddison. She was there when I left this morning.”

  Oh shit, that’s not good.

  “Oh…” He nods his head. “You’re not with Lily, so you haven’t done anything wrong. I think you really need to make up your mind, though.” He nods his head again. I look at my watch and see time is slipping by. “I’m going to go and check on Annabelle. She’s making a cake for tonight.” Getting up, I dust off my shorts. “See you tonight?”

  “Yeah, see you then.” He doesn’t move, so I’m guessing he’s going to stay here a bit longer. I can’t believe he’s been here most of the day. He must be seriously screwed. I make my way back to the bungalow to see how Annabelle is getting on. I know I wasn’t any help with Brandon’s dilemma, and I don’t know how to give advice about anything that has to do with Maddison. He’s definitely better off without Maddison in his life, I just wish he could see that.

  That was the shittiest conversation ever, and he didn’t even give me any advice that I could actually use. I appreciate that he came to see if I was all right, but I would bet all my savings that Annabelle put him up to it. I know that Joshua doesn’t like Maddison, and I have actually asked him why he doesn’t like her, but he hasn’t given me any sort of logical answer. I thought she was supposed to be his PA? I’m so confused with everything that has happened since this bloody holiday started. I really like Maddison and we have fun together, but Lily is…I don’t know what she is, but she’s the one I can’t stop thinking about. She annoys me so much, and I hate this hot and cold thing she does to me all the time. On one hand, she can be angry and bitchy, but on the other she can be kind, funny, and so much fun to be with. I don’t understand her half the time and we’re complete opposites, but something is pulling me to her.

  Oh, fuck! My head is splitting with the thoughts spinning around in there. I wish I could stop thinking or feeling anything for just one day. In a way, I’m pleased that this holiday is coming to an end because I don’t think I can handle much more. No more moping on the beach. I have a dinner to get ready for, so I make my way back to my bungalow and hope and pray that tonight goes smoothly.

  “Karl will you stop!” I’m giggling so hard because he won’t stop tickling me. We’ve had a great few days together in this bungalow. Poor Brandon has been staying away even though there are two rooms, but I get why. It might be a bit awkward with my ex-boyfriend in the next room. I have no idea where he’s been sleeping, but I’m sure he’s been fine. I’m so annoyed for denying myself being with Karl. It’s like we’ve been on our honeymoon with the way we hardly leave the bungalow. Annabelle called in this morning, just to let us know about a meal she has planned for this evening. I can’t believe it’s our last night. I’m really sad because it’s been amazing, and I’m not sure I want to go back to reality. We still haven’t had a conversation about what happens now. Karl lives in Oxford and I live in Los Angeles. It’s so far away that I’m not sure a long distance relationship would work. I’m not sure I want to
even try, because I just want to be with him, always.

  “Beautiful? You spaced out for a minute. Are you okay?” I look at Karl and he looks concerned. We’ve spent all day in the bungalow and we’re lying on the couch. I’m flat on my back and Karl is laying on his side, beside me. He smiles.

  “Yeah, I’m…uh…fine.”

  He laughs. “Let’s try that again beautiful, because I’m not buying it.” He gives me a peck on the cheek and smiles that gorgeous smile of his.

  “Okay.” I take a deep breath and decided to just tell him how I’m feeling. “What happens when we leave here?”

  Wow! That was blunt and straight to the point.

  Karl isn’t saying anything so I carry on.

  “I mean…this is our last day here, and tomorrow we’re heading home. You live in Oxford and I live in Los Angeles. I’m just not sure how we’re going to work, living so far away from each other. I mean…I want it to work between us and if you want to do the whole long distance relationship then I will try…for us.” He hasn’t said anything and I’m beginning to get nervous. Is he having second thoughts about us? Was this just a holiday romance for him and now he’s bored once he got what he wanted? “If that’s what you want?”

  He shakes his head and smiles at me. “Beautiful, I love you…you know that don’t you?” I nod my head. “I’m not sure whether I can do the whole long distance relationship…”

  I knew it was coming and I can feel my heart breaking. “Okay.” What else can I say? I’m not sure what to say when I’m feeling like my world is coming crashing down, and I’m going to be left all alone with a broken heart again. My eyes start welling up and I hate myself for feeling like this. I see Karl’s reaction to my emotion.

  “Beautiful, what’s wrong?” He brushes my cheek with his fingers and a tear escapes and dribbles down my chin. “Why are you crying?” He looks really concerned. I swallow hard.