Broken Chords

by Carrie Elks

  Broken Chords

  By

  Carrie Elks

  SUMMARY

  Lara knows she should feel lucky. Married to the man of her dreams, with a gorgeous new baby, she should be enjoying her happy-ever-after. But she never expected motherhood to be so difficult, or for her life to change so dramatically.

  Alex has it all: hot, tattooed looks, a beautiful wife, and a band that's finally getting noticed. A lucrative offer of a US tour should be the icing on the cake. But as he leaves the country, distance isn't the only thing that starts to pull their relationship apart.

  With half a world dividing them, Alex and Lara have to battle for a marriage they once took for granted.

  Broken Chords by Carrie Elks

  Copyright © 2015 Carrie Elks

  Published by Carrie Elks

  All rights reserved

  250215

  Cover Design: Okay Creations

  Interior Image: clipartof.com

  Editor: D. Beck

  Proofing: Emma Adams

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with others, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and you did not purchase it or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are fictitious products of the author’s imagination.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  EPILOGUE

  1

  “Lara? You awake?”

  “No.” My voice is croaky and sleep-thickened. I try to unglue my lips, running my tongue across the dry skin.

  “Max is crying.”

  Reluctantly, I open my eyes. “It's your turn.”

  Alex smiles, making the stud in his eyebrow rise up. He's a sexy bastard and he knows it, even at four o’clock in the morning.

  “I've been up three times, but he won't settle. I don't have the right equipment.” Alex is still smirking when he glances at my chest then looks down at his own. I follow his gaze to his taut, muscled skin, and the vibrant ink etched upon it. I know every line, every colour. I’ve kissed my way across them so many times.

  Slowly, I sit up and swing my legs to the side of the bed. My head starts to swim at the suddenness of my movement, and I have to brace myself on the mattress.

  “Whoa there, dizzy girl.” He reaches out to steady me, his hands warm and strong, the pads of his fingers rough on my body. “You okay, babe?”

  “Yeah, give me a minute.” I'm not sure if I'm talking to Alex or Max now. Not that it matters since Alex lies back down and closes his eyes, while Max decides to up the ante by screaming louder. I lift him out of his cot, cradling his soft, warm body, but he won't be comforted. His face is vermillion red, his eyes squeezed shut, his mouth so wide I can see his tiny tonsils. They vibrate with the screeches he makes.

  “Shh.” I press my lips to his forehead. The fine hair covering his scalp tickles my face. Beneath it his skin is overheated, smelling of burning baby shampoo.

  As soon as I pull him to me, Max starts to root, turning his face into my chest while his screams turn into sobs. I carry him back to the bed, climbing in and leaning against the headboard, unbuttoning my top and opening my bra.

  When he latches on there's a moment of blessed silence. The ringing in my ears dulls to a faint buzz, and I let my head fall back and my eyes close. Then, he starts snuffling and grunting—sounding more of a pig than a baby—and I resign myself to another sleepless night.

  I've never known exhaustion like this. It's as if I'm walking around in a constant haze; everything seems slowed down, deeper, heavier. Each movement requires an effort I'm not sure I possess. I don't own anything anymore. My time, my body—they all belong to this tiny bundle of flesh curled up in my arms. It's the side effect of childbirth they don't warn you about at prenatal class. You find the love of your life and lose yourself in the process.

  Max finally falls back to sleep at six, after a nappy change followed by an hour of gurgled kicks on the mat. Moments such as these make it all worth it: his smiling eyes, his rosebud mouth, the way he looks at me as though I'm his personal angel. I lift him up to kiss his lips, and he sighs contentedly, his breath warm and milky.

  One of my favourite smells.

  Alex gets up at an hour later and is annoyingly chipper, considering our broken night. He showers then walks naked into our bedroom, and though I pretend to be asleep, I crack an eyelid open to watch his movements.

  While childbirth has made me feel leaden and doughy, it's only made Alex more attractive. It's so annoying how that happens. All he has to do is take Max for a walk in the park and he's got a gaggle of admirers staring at him. I, on the other hand, find myself tucking my stomach into my jeans, along with whatever baby-drool decorated T-shirt I choose to wear that day.

  “I can feel you staring.” Alex turns round. Although this frontal isn't full, it still takes my breath away. His stomach is pale, ribbed, with a line of dark hair from his navel to waistband. The coloured edge of a tattoo peeks out; though I can't see it, I know it's the point of a star, the rest covered by his shorts.

  I never found tattoos attractive until I met Alex. Back then, I tended to date clean-skinned, suited types; the sort of boys I grew up with back home. We shared the same kind of upbringing, backgrounds, cultural experiences, and the whole thing was downright boring.

  Alex was a blinding light cutting through the darkest of nights. He unravelled me, thread by thread, until the old Lara was somebody I hardly recognised. Within the space of two years I was married, retrained and working in a drug clinic, counselling addicts and helping them get clean.

  He pulls the covers from my body and crawls into the bed, nudging my legs apart with his knees. Putting his hands either side of my head, he hovers over me.

  “Lara.” He breathes my name out, lowering himself down until his body touches mine. I watch as the wiry muscles in his arms flex, then turn and kiss his forearm, tracing my name with hungry lips. His skin is warm, still damp from his shower, and I can smell the woody fragrance of his soap. When I finally turn my head to look at him, my chest clenches at his expression. He's hot and needy. I shiver as his fingers drag down my side, trailing from my chest to my waist, sinking into my hip, pulling me towards him. “Fucking beautiful.”

  That's how I feel when he holds me. In spite of the stretch marks that spider across my less-than-perfect stomach, and breasts that seem more milk factory than erogenous zone, Alex has this way of making me feel desirable. Wanted.

  It's not only me who feels this way. A few minutes with Alex is enough to have young girls and old women eating out of his hand. Unlike other men I've known, he's totally at home with females, happy to talk, flirt, and grin his way through any situation. I guess it's a side effect of being brought up by women; his divorce
d mum plus two sisters. He doesn't blink twice at buying tampons, isn’t squeamish about periods or leaking breasts or tears. I'd go as far to say he's at home with all bodily fluids. Positively encourages some of them.

  He presses his body to mine a final time; hard planes against my soft chest. “I'm going straight to the studio after work.”

  Since being laid off from his printing job, he's been picking up work at building sites. Spending his days carrying bricks and wood, layering plaster and laying floorboards, while his nights are spent recording music with his band. The manual labour has honed his already tight muscles until he's taut and lean. He’s a scrapper, a man ready to fight, the tattoos inked across his body only enhancing that effect. He's the sort of bad boy I'd spent my life avoiding.

  The only one who knows the real me.

  “Don't work too hard,” I say.

  “Never.” One last kiss to my shoulder and he pushes himself up, hovering for a moment before jumping off the bed. Then he's fastening his tight, faded jeans. Before he can do anymore, a loud cry cuts through the morning air, piercing the little bubble we've built around us. My focus is shattered, pulled to pieces by the tiny little human who has taken over my world.

  * * *

  When Max wakes up from his afternoon nap, I strap him into the buggy and take him for a walk. We don’t go anywhere in particular, simply meandering through the streets of Shoreditch, breathing in fresh air, inhaling the aromas wafting out of the restaurants. We pop into the local supermarket on the way back to our flat. Max has got it into his head that he doesn't enjoy his buggy and like a little dictator he groans and shuffles, his burbling turning into a full-on scream when he realises he isn't getting his own way. In the end, I lift him out of the pushchair and use it to store the carrier bags full of food. The Bugaboo is turning out to be the world's most expensive shopping trolley.

  Typically he coos as soon as he's in my arms, his wet cheeks plumping when he flashes a smile at the checkout lady. She reaches out and tickles him under the chin, coaxing out a giggle that comes perilously close to a burp.

  “He's gorgeous. How old is he?”

  “Nearly six months.” God, is it actually that long? I haven't had an unbroken night's sleep in almost half a year. Surely that must be some kind of record. Score another one for the tiny dictator.

  “Bless him, he's going to break some hearts when he gets older.”

  I don't tell her he breaks mine every night. Just one cry and I'm torn in two.

  With Max still in my arms, his tiny fists grabbing hold of my shirt, I manoeuvre the buggy out of the shop, one-handed, silently thanking the gods of sliding doors as we pass easily onto the pavement. I adjust him on my hip and we walk the two blocks to our flat, past the closed-down charity shop and boarded-up pub. Somehow, I manage to make it home without dropping anything.

  There are three stone steps leading up to the front door. Another thirteen to climb up once we are inside. This is where I long for an extra pair of arms, and start to calculate what to carry up first—the groceries, the buggy, or Max.

  In the end, I attempt to lift all three. Holding Max up with one arm, I pull the buggy with the other, bumping it up each step in turn. The plastic bags slide across the seat, contents spilling out, and a jar of pasta sauce rolls off and falls to the ground. I watch in horror as it lands on the second step, the glass splintering, and red sauce flying everywhere. It covers my legs and the concrete, making it look as though there’s been some kind of gore fest. For a moment, all I can do is stare, open-mouthed.

  Then I hear laughter coming from behind me. I don't know whether to be annoyed or to join in, though when I turn to look at the offender all thoughts of amusement fly right out of my head.

  The guy behind me is built. Tall, blonde and with freckles plastered across his skin. He has the type of face that has a smile permanently etched on it, laughter lines furrowing out from the corner of his eyes.

  “You okay?” He sounds Australian. That explains the blonde hair and deep tan. “That's all sauce, right? No blood or anything?”

  I look down. The sauce is now dripping onto the gravelled path. “I'm fine.” Completely embarrassed, but fine. I try to hold on to the buggy while rooting through my bag for my keys, but that only causes a tin of sweetcorn to fall out, rolling through the gore until surf-boy picks it up.

  “Let me help you.” He bounds up the steps and steadies the buggy for me. With my free hand, I grab my key and slide it into the lock. He reaches out and touches Max on the cheek, and I pull back.

  “What is he, about six months?”

  I look up in surprise. “Yeah, around that,” I answer, suspiciously. “How do you know?”

  “I've got a one year old. Doesn't seem a minute ago she was this age.”

  When he catches my eye, we smile. It's stupid, because he could be lying through his teeth, but his admission somehow puts me at ease. Enough to let him help me get my stuff into the hallway.

  And he seems…nice. Friendly.

  “You're the first floor flat, right?” He asks.

  Immediately, my hackles rise again. This time when I look at him, it's through narrowed eyes. “What makes you think that?”

  He shrugs, nonplussed by my suspicious ways. “I'm on the ground floor, so I guessed you must be upstairs.”

  “You live here?”

  He starts to laugh. “Yes. Did you think I was some weirdo breaking into your house?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Then why did you let me in?” He's stopped laughing now. Looks more concerned than anything.

  “I was being polite.”

  He shakes his head. “Crazy English people. You're so bloody polite you'd probably thank me for chopping your head off.”

  “I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to speak if you chopped my head off.”

  Smiling, he reaches out a hand. “I'm David.”

  I take it with my free hand. “Lara. Pleased to meet you. Thank you for your help. And... ah... not chopping my head off.”

  “Any time.” He winks, and lifts the buggy easily, balancing the shopping before heading towards the stairs, making me wonder if I may have finally found a friend around here.

  2

  I wake up late on Sunday, a shaft of bright light invading the peacefulness of my dreams. That’s when my eyes spring open and I sit right up, panic rising inside me as bubbles in a bottle of soda.

  Where’s Max?

  I jump out of bed and run to his cot, half afraid to look, scared he may be lying there, lifeless and unmoving. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, one that keeps me awake at night, long after I can hear him snuffling in his sleep. Even during his daytime naps, I find myself checking up on him, touching his face to make sure it’s warm, and listening at the door so I can hear him breathe.

  His cot is empty. The blanket is crumpled at the bottom of the mattress, the sheet askew where he’s been turning in the night. For one crazy moment I actually wonder whether he climbed out himself.

  The kid can’t even crawl. How the hell is he going to climb?

  When I rush into our living room, rubbing my frantic eyes, I spot him in his bouncy chair, and relief floods though me. He’s there, having fun; his arms and legs kicking as he tries to hit the lurid plastic mobile Alex has placed above him. He spots me and smiles, a contented cooing sound rumbling from deep in his throat, and holds his arms out for me to pick him up.

  Smiles in the morning. The best gift of all.

  “Hey, what are you doing up?” Alex walks out of our tiny kitchen. “I was trying to give you a lie-in.”

  He’s still wearing lounge pants, the waistband low on his hips. The rest of his body is bare.

  “I woke up and he wasn’t there. I panicked.” Mentally, I’m kicking myself for not taking advantage of the sleep. How long have I been saying I’d kill for more than three hours at once?

  “You panicked?” Alex smiles, taking a step closer. His hair is still rumpled from where he’s sl
ept on it, and I can’t help but reach out to touch it.

  “I thought he might’ve escaped.”

  “He’s six months old, sweetheart. What did you think he was gonna do, hail a cab?” He laughs as he pulls me towards him, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I bury my face in his chest, breathing him in, loving the sensation of skin on skin. “You’re a fucking nutter, you know that?” Alex cups my cheek, the smirk still pulling at his lips. When he presses them on mine I can feel them curl.

  “I’m your nutter,” I whisper into his lips.

  “Bloody right you are.”

  We spend the morning in some kind of sleep-deprived haze. Alex practices on his guitar while I make a half-hearted attempt to clean the kitchen. After Max's nap, we play with him on the floor, laughing and clapping as he rolls over and again. It seems an awkward way of travelling, but it works for him, and he has this self-satisfied expression that fills my heart with love.

  Sunday afternoons are family time. As in Alex’s family. We get dressed, fill a bag up with supplies for Max, and make our way down the stairs. Alex carries all our stuff while I hold on to Max. When we pass the door to the downstairs flat, I suddenly remember the new tenant.

  “Did you know we had a new neighbour?” I ask. “Some guy called David. From Australia.”

  “What happened to Nancy?”

  Nancy was the previous tenant. Though she was well into her seventies, she dressed as though she was twenty, and had a glorious array of wigs.

  “No idea, I forgot to ask.”

  We’re outside and making our way to Shoreditch High Street station. I used to have a car—a rusted, beaten-up Mini I loved—but when Max came along we had to choose between nappies or car insurance, and the former won out. Today, though, it’s a pain. We have to take the Overground train to Whitechapel and change to the District Line. It would be enough of a palaver on our own, but with a baby, a buggy, and an enormous bag, it’s like going on a bloody trek.