He wasn't sure he could handle the rejection.
But if he didn't make the call, he would never know the answer.
Would that be the better alternative?
“Oh, for Christ's sake, man, just do it,” he told himself, loudly.
Picking up his phone again, he located Caro's number in the contacts list and called it. It rang and rang without going to answer phone and just as he was about to give up, she answered.
“God, sorry, Alik, I couldn't find the phone. Lost it in the bottom on my handbag.” She sounded slightly out of breath.
“Um, hey, no worries.” He paused. “Look, it's been a while since I've seen you,” he said, “and I was wondering whether...” There was another chasm of silence. “Well, if you maybe wanted to go out sometime. Just us.”
She didn't answer immediately. What if he'd read the signals wrong?
“If you don't want to, it's fine. But after everything...” He hoped he didn't sound desperate.
“No,” she said. “I would love to. It's about time, after all. When?”
Alik thought that asking her out that evening would be too keen, too teenage. And she would probably be working anyway. “Would Nic let you out tomorrow night?” Then he mentally kicked himself for making it sound as if she needed someone else's permission to go out.
Caro laughed; that low, throaty laugh that ultimately turned him on. “I'm sure I can arrange to be free. What did you have in mind?”
Alik racked his brain. Most of their working lives revolved around clubs and music. It needed to be different. “How about The Reading Room?” he suggested.
“Sure, sounds good. I'll meet you there at eight?”
“Great, looking forward to it.”
As he ended the call, he found himself punching the air in excitement. Oh God, now it was really getting teenage.
Chapter Forty-Five
Alik was the first to arrive the next evening.
The Reading Room was one of North Ridge's most prestigious restaurants. As the name suggested, it was situated in a building that had previously been used as a library. A beautiful, high-ceilinged room that had ornately-decorated, carved wooden bookshelves and pillars. It was tucked around the corner from North Ridge's train station and because of it's proximity, the bar area was usually frequented by commuters grabbing a quick drink before their journey or workers from the nearby office buildings taking time out before heading home. It was usually pretty busy and that night was no exception.
Alik found an empty table at one side of the bar and ordered a bottle of Argentinian Malbec and two glasses and proceeded to wait.
And wait.
He was about three quarters of the way through the bottle when Caro appeared. Standing up, he kissed her politely on both cheeks as she struggled out of her coat.
“Sorry I'm late,” she said. “Problems at work.”
She didn't elaborate and Alik didn't want to push it. After all, tonight was meant to be about them and not the band or the club.
“You look lovely,” he said, casting an eye over her outfit of tight black leather trousers, a simple black top, and a gold two-tone sequin bomber jacket layered over the top.
“Thank you, so do you.”
The waiter appeared and poured Caro a generous glass of the wine, finishing the bottle. “You want another?” he asked in heavily-accented English. “And some menus?”
Alik looked at Caro. “What do you think?”
She shrugged in return. “I don't mind, how about you? Are you okay with red?”
“I will bring you another bottle and the menus,” the waiter said. “If you drink and eat and enjoy yourselves, that's good, and if you don't, you still pay.”
It broke the tension and Alik and Caro both laughed. After everything that had happened between them, it still felt a bit odd being alone, just the two of them. On a real date.
The waiter brought their menus and showed them to their table. A few heads turned as they walked into the main restaurant. Alik knew the type of diner that usually frequented The Reading Room was someone who was in a certain salary bracket, wore a certain type of clothing and spoke a certain way. He and Caro certainly didn’t fit that mould. He wasn’t surprised when a couple of people nudged each other as they recognised the couple.
They sat down, staring at the menus and taking in the muzak that was playing in the background. Alik felt himself being stared at, and he started to feel a little uneasy about his choice of venue. After a few moments he set down his menu. “I was trying to do something different here, stepping out of our comfort zone, but...”
“I think I know what you're saying,” Caro replied. “I'm not sure I want to find out what snail porridge tastes like.” She pulled a face.
“What do you think? Shall we do a runner?”
They looked around to see if the waiter was anywhere in sight and agreed to leave. Caro went first, pretending she was going to the ladies. After a couple of beats, Alik followed her. Once outside, they burst out laughing.
“God, I'm so sorry,” Alik said. “It wasn't meant to be like that. I wanted us to have a good time, but it's not really our scene is it?”
Caro shook her head in agreement. “I know where we can go.”
* * *
Across the other side of town, the less salubrious side, was Pink Ginger. Unlike its hipper cousins, The Indigo Lounge and The Vegas, Pink Ginger catered for campness and cheese, with an underlying measure of gay. When Alik and Caro walked in there was again a definite sense of excitement in their arrival. Standing on the bar was a flamboyantly dressed guy, with spiked bleached-blond hair dressed in skin-tight black and white trousers, teamed with clumpy biker boots and a bright purple Kiss t-shirt. He was pouring tequila down the throat of an equally-blond guy, dressed in a muscle t-shirt and cycling shorts and being cheered on by the surrounding crowd. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the pair and grabbed a microphone.
“Gentlemen and gentlemen, it seems we have a couple of interlopers from the other side,” he said, causing everyone in the bar to turn and look at them. “Blood Stone Riot's Alik Thorne and The Indigo Lounge's Caro Flynn. Let's hope Miss Flynn isn't on the lookout for new staff, otherwise you might lose me!”
There was a chorus of boos as they made their way to be served. Downing a couple of shots of tequila each, they found a table and watched the throbbing dance floor, men gyrating with men, women pirouetting with women and the occasional couple like themselves, standing on the sidelines. As the night wore on, and the place became more packed, the essence of lust began to permeate the air as things got dirtier. Bodies were crushed together and the temperature was rising. The music changed - Suede's ‘Animal Nitrate’ - and suddenly the whole bar was singing along.
“What does it take to turn you on?” Alik whispered in Caro's ear, his hand caressing her buttocks. His body was thrust up against hers and she could feel that he was already starting to get turned on.
They had waited so long for this.
The lingering looks, the snatched kisses, the moments where they'd been together but knew they couldn't take it any further, even though they both wanted to.
Now that time had arrived.
For several minutes, they just stared at each other, looking deep into each other's eyes. Alik leaned forward and met Caro's lips, his tongue gently probing into her mouth, as he reached round to the back of her neck and pulled him close to her. She kissed him back, hard. The kiss lasted for eons, both of them slightly out of breath as they broke off.
“Why are we wasting our time here?” said Caro. She grabbed Alik's hand and dragged him out of the club.
They practically ran across town to Caro's house, barely making it through the front door before they were tearing each other's clothes off, slamming against the wall, such was their urgency. They fell onto the sofa and Alik took a moment to appreciate Caro's body once again. She looked up at him, her eyes full of desire; there was nothing more she wanted. And she wanted
him now. She traced her fingernail around his nipple ring and he tensed in pleasure. He made her wait, holding his cock just outside of her, gently probing, but not fully entering her. Her nails raked down his back and she drew him into her, rocking against him as she climbed towards the peak.
Like their night in Mallorca, it didn't last long, but the intensity was almost paralysing.
It felt so right. The distractions of other people, of work, simply faded into the background as they enjoyed each other.
Caro pulled a throw over their naked bodies as they lay there afterwards, basking in the almost ethereal atmosphere of what had just happened.
“How was that, Nate?” she said with a giggle.
“Definitely better than it was with Olivia,” he replied, rewarding her with the tenderest kiss she had ever received.
They laughed, cosying up together under the throw, enjoying the silence of the house and revelling in the calm of their own little world.
A calmness that wouldn't last for long.
Chapter Forty-Six
“I've changed my mind about the dress,” said Poppy.
Caro and Poppy were at Montgomery Hall with Lucia, Poppy's wedding planner from the venue. Montgomery Hall was a nineteenth-century country mansion, with thirty-two acres of garden, elegant bedrooms, and conservatory dining. In the 1400s, it had been the home of the Seymour family, passed down through generations, witnessing lavish parties attended by various members of royalty, before the original house sadly burned down around 1840. Beautifully rebuilt and restored, it was set to be the setting of a new period drama, with both the BBC and ITV fighting it out to be the one that would turn it into the next Downton.
They had been there to go over the final plans for the day, checking on seating arrangements and flower displays with some of the other suppliers who were also there for the day. Lucia and Caro stared at each other in horror. After all the other mini dramas that Poppy had come up with over the past few days, this was just another one to add to the list.
“What do you mean you’ve changed your mind?” Caro asked.
“As if I'd want to accept a gift from that cheating whore!”
Lucia looked between the two of them. “And that would be?”
“Edie,” said Caro, sighing.
The after-effects of Edie and Billy being discovered in a compromising position were still creating ripples within the rest of Blood Stone Riot and their entourage. Poppy had flatly refused to be in the same room as Edie, which was causing some issues particularly with the premiere of the ‘Bleed Like Cyanide’ video coming up. Her loyalty to Alik and Caro was strong, but this was perhaps taking it a step too far. Her decision to change the dress at this late stage meant she would have to find something off-the-peg, as there wouldn’t be enough time to get something made-to-measure.
Lucia simply nodded. “I'm not sure I can help with the dress at this point, but how about we look at the seating instead?”
Poppy grabbed the plans from Lucia's hand, reaching for the red marker pen that was on the table. She scribbled out the whole of the top table and started again, putting just herself and Nate, Caro, and Alik on it and drawing another one as far away as possible that only had Billy and Edie on it. “There! They can sit in the other room as far as I'm concerned.”
“Poppy, you can't just add another table like that,” Lucia said. “For a start, we can't fit more than ten tables in the room.”
“Then perhaps they shouldn't come,” Poppy said, pouting.
Caro screwed up her eyes. In some ways, she agreed with Poppy, but she knew she wasn't totally blameless herself, although at least she and Alik hadn't got together properly until after he had split up from Edie.
“You can't just un-invite them, Poppy. Not least because the band are playing at the reception.”
“Maybe we should get married on a beach somewhere instead with just you and Alik as guests.”
“What would that solve?” said Caro. “Just another reason for Edie to get away with what she's done without having to face up to the consequences? I’m sure we can come up with something that can keep the peace, right?” Taking the table plan, she quickly sketched out a new one on the back, that placed Billy and Edie a safe distance from the top table but still made them feel part of things. “Look, this might work.”
Poppy scanned the new scenario. “That might be okay.”
“Then let's see what else we can sort out. Lucia, do you have the final menus?”
* * *
A couple of hours later, Poppy and Caro were in Caro's office at The Indigo Lounge, sharing a bottle of wine.
“What do you want to do about the dress then?” Caro asked. “We can go to a few shops this afternoon if you want? Amy can hold the fort here. We're not open until later tonight anyway.”
Poppy took a sip of her wine. “I don't want to trek round places explaining why I need a dress so quickly. Do you think we can find something on the internet and then just go to one place?”
“I don't see why not. I bet Amy would be able to help out as well, let me give her a shout.”
Caro called Amy into the room and quickly explained the problem. They both fired up their laptops and started searching. Poppy moved between the pair, checking out pictures on sites, looking at prices, and making the odd phone call when she saw something she particularly liked. The White Room in Henlake seemed to have the best choices and was prepared to open especially for Poppy that afternoon; she would be the only bride in the shop. She hadn't explained fully why she needed a dress just a couple of weeks before her big day, but they had been fairly understanding.
“What will you do with the other dress?” asked Caro.
“Burn it?” replied Poppy. “I thought I could send it to Edie and ask her whether she would wear it when she married Billy, but that's probably a bit childish, right? I don't want to return it and have them refund her. She doesn't get away with it that easily. I don't know really. Do you want it?” Poppy was rambling, waving her half empty wineglass around, the remains of her drink threatening to splash out over Caro's laptop.
“Oh, God, no, it was hideous!” said Caro, far too quickly. “I mean, I know we all said it looked great and that, but in all honesty you looked like one of those toilet roll holders from the seventies. Plus I have no intention of getting married.”
“Yet,” said Poppy.
“Alik and I have only been on one date.”
“Mmmm.” Poppy nodded. “One date, but how many near misses before that?”
Caro rolled her eyes. “Too many to even count.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
After a couple of months in production, Josh O'Brien was finally happy with the results of the video for ‘Bleed Like Cyanide’ and deemed it ready for public consumption. To celebrate the premiere, he had hired out the cinema at Cerise - a boutique hotel in the centre of North Ridge bordering one of its parks - and invited the band, Parker Roberts, Griffen, and Olivia. It would be the first time that Alik and Edie would come face to face after he had discovered her with Billy, as well as the first time that he and Caro would be going out as a proper couple in the company of the rest of the group.
It had disaster written all over it.
* * *
Edie and Billy were curled up in bed.
“Do we really have to go tonight?” Edie reached under the covers for Billy's cock. “We could she stay here.”
Billy flipped her onto her back, leaning over her, his dark eyes teasing. “We could, but I've been summoned. Parker Roberts has spoken.” He bent down, his lips finding hers. “I need to shower.”
He slid out from underneath the duvet and Edie admired his muscled, tattooed, back as he walked naked to the bathroom. Since everything had come out, they had become a proper couple. Billy was happy to accompany Edie to her socialite events, something that Alik had never been comfortable with. The sex was as mind-blowing as ever, with Billy putting her into positions she had never dreamed of and bringing her da
rker fantasies to reality. He spent a lot of time at her flat, which was a lot nicer than his, but sometimes disappeared for hours on end, turning up eventually after seeking out Leo Kendrick.
Billy's phone vibrated with a text and Edie didn't hesitate in checking it. The message was from Leo, stating that he would be there in ten minutes with the goods Billy had asked for. It wasn't that she minded his drug-taking, after all it wasn't as if she were an angel in that department. Her concern was that it was getting more frequent.
“You didn't tell me Leo was coming over,” she said, waving the mobile at Billy as he came back into the room. He had a towel wrapped around his wet body. Drops of water glistened on his chest.
He swiped the phone from her hand. “Who said you were my secretary?”
“I thought it might about tonight,” she said. “You said you were going to cut back.”
“And I will. Once this evening is over.”
She hoped he was telling the truth.
* * *
Alik and Caro arrived first, with Nate and Poppy. Dev wasn't far behind them. Alik sometimes felt sorry for him as everyone else seemed to be paired up, but he always insisted he was fine and didn't need anyone. He assured them he was happy in his online relationship with a Latvian singer, but no-one had ever met her.
Poppy, so close to the wedding now, was super excited about everything and in an effervescent mood. She got chatting to everyone and anyone who would listen, most recently to the waiter who was milling around with trays containing glasses of champagne and nibbles.
Nate and Alik were chatting quietly about some of the new material Alik had been writing and how they could get into the studio to start recording it. Whether it was new Blood Stone Riot material or not remained unspoken. Caro was chatting with Josh, getting some inside information on how the video clip had turned out and enjoying the intellectual director's company.
Cocktails, Rock Tales & Betrayals Page 19
