“Stacey, I’m sorry for the way I treated you last night. It was wrong of me to ignore you. I should have been a better boyfriend. Please accept my apology?” he says.
My eyes are wide, and my mouth has dropped open. I must look shell-shocked. I open and close my mouth like a fish for a few seconds before I can find any words to reply to him.
“Okay,” I say slowly as I feel my eyes narrowing with suspicion. “What’s up, Charles? Something is wrong for you to come and find me and apologise. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very nice to hear an apology, but it’s just not the norm. Help me out here because I’m a little confused.”
I can see he is struggling to respond, but I need to know what has gotten into him. I lean back in my chair and fold my arms across my chest, waiting for him to answer.
“I just feel that I should treat you a bit better, that’s all.” He has a guilty look on his face. Charles doesn’t do guilt, so this is a whole new experience for me.
“And that’s it? You just feel that you should treat me better?” I am not convinced in the slightest that this is the reason he has come to find me, and he knows it. I see his breathing begin to quicken and he looks so uncomfortable that it is making me uncomfortable. He starts to squirm in his seat.
“Stacey, you know that I love you, don’t you?” He looks into my eyes and I realise that I’m not sure I care enough to hear what he has to say. Maybe I need to make more of an effort too? I don’t fail to notice that his declaration of love does nothing for me. There’s not even a spark of emotion igniting within. This is also the first declaration of love that I have had from him in months.
My suspicions are heightening by the minute. I need to see where he is going with this.
“Okay, Charles. If that is all that is really bothering you, then we can go home and talk things out.” I decide to play along for now. I will eventually find out what the real issue is here. Charles will crack under my interrogation; I am sure of it.
“I would like that. As long as I don’t distract you from your writing. Why don’t you come home in a couple of hours and I can cook us a nice lunch, and we can talk then?” he suggests. Wow, he is really pulling out all the stops.
“Okay. Sounds good.” I force a smile on my face as he leans over and kisses me on the cheek before leaving the coffee shop. I still feel perplexed by the way he is acting.
I sit with my third cup of coffee and go over the conversation Charles and I just had. Whilst he was here I noticed some signs that he was nervous, but due to my shock, I guess I didn’t process them at the time. But now that I replay it, he was very fidgety and perspiring ever so slightly.
Something is wrong. This doesn’t feel right, and it doesn’t sit well with me.
Shit, what if he chucks me out? I will have nowhere to live and no income. Oh my God, that has to be it. He’s being nice to throw me off the scent. There is no way it can be anything else.
I quickly shut down my laptop and leave the money for what I have consumed on the table before saying a rushed goodbye to Bonnie. I need to go and speak to Lydia. Maybe she can help me figure out what Charles is up to?
After gathering up my things I walk to the front door, only to collide with someone.
“Shit,” I say as I feel my laptop slip from my grasp. Lucky for me the person that I have collided with manages to catch my laptop before it hits the ground. I let out a sigh of relief and divert my gaze away from the laptop.
Oh God, of all the people I could have bumped into, it had to be him. Jake Waters. My heart does a little flutter and I stare at him, flabbergasted.
What the hell is he doing here?
I seem to have lost the ability to speak and I just stare at him like some lust filled teenager, trying to calm the hormones that are raging through my body. I suddenly feel very self-conscious of my plain appearance.
“In a rush, Miss Paris?” Jake’s smooth tones make my knees weak.
“Uh, yeah,” I say breathlessly. Pull yourself together, woman, he’s just a guy. An extremely hot guy that you happen to be attracted to, but still just a guy none the less. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you. I guess I should pay more attention in future.” I avert my gaze from his as I struggle to get my breathing under control.
“Well I have to say, of all the people who could have bumped into me, I am pleased that it was you.” Oh, Christ, does he have to be so charming? I giggle like a school girl. “So, I guess you don’t have time to get a cup of coffee with me?”
Jake looks at me with those smouldering eyes and all I want to do is give in and spend some time in his presence, but my brain decides to wake up and reminds me that I have to go and see Lydia.
“I’m afraid not, I need to be somewhere. Maybe another time?” I instantly regret the words as soon as I say them. Another time? What am I thinking? I can’t be within five feet of the guy without my brain going into meltdown.
“Shame. But I will hold you to that ‘another time,’ Miss Paris.” Jake flashes his megawatt smile at me, and it takes all of my willpower not to change my mind.
“Nice to see you, Jake,” I say as I step around him and start to walk away.
“You too,” I hear Jake say behind me.
I resist the urge to turn around, but I know that he is watching me. I can feel it in every fibre of my being. It isn’t until I get around the corner that I let out the breath that I have been holding.
Chapter Seven
I rush to Lydia’s flat which is about a five-minute walk away from Danish. It’s good that she lives so close.
I fly up the stairs, knock on her door and wait for her to answer. I tap my foot impatiently whilst I wait. Lydia answers the door a minute later looking like she had a very good night indeed, judging by the sight of her.
Her long, auburn hair is all in disarray and her clothes look like they have just been thrown on her body in a hurry. I can’t fail to notice the great big grin across her face and the twinkle in her emerald green eyes. I’m guessing her boyfriend Donnie has given her a night to remember.
Ugh, Donnie. He makes my skin crawl, but he seems to make Lydia happy, so I keep my opinions to myself. The last thing I want to do is fall out with Lydia over my feelings of her choice of boyfriend.
“Hey, babes,” she says cheerfully. “Come on in and make me a coffee. You can have one yourself if you like.” Yep, typical Lydia, she makes me feel at home instantly, always so welcoming and full of life. That’s why I love her so much.
We have been best friends for the last five years after meeting at The Den. She is the one who hired me, and she is still running the place now, which hardly surprises me as she is great at her job.
I go through to her little kitchen, put my laptop and handbag down, and click the kettle on. I presume Lydia went back to her bedroom as there is no sign of her. I shout out, “I presume Donnie wants a cup as well?”
“Yes please, Stace,” Donnie’s voice says, making me jump. My back was to the doorway of the kitchen and I didn’t hear him approach.
I turn and see that he is leant against the door frame, wearing only a pair of jogging bottoms which are hung loosely on his hips.
“Christ, you scared the shit out of me. Go and make yourself guest appropriate, would you?” He just laughs at me and ignores my request as per usual.
Donnie has no qualms about letting visitors see him in half of his clothes. Actually, if it was up to him, he would probably walk around naked, but I think Lydia puts a stop to that when there is company present.
“You mean you want me to hide my body and deprive you of the privilege of seeing this?” Donnie says as he points towards his body.
I roll my eyes and try not to be sick as I make the drinks. I hand Donnie his mug and he saunters away like a slithering snake. I shudder, pick up mine and Lydia’s drinks and make my way through to the lounge to wait for her. I’m surprised Lydia can put up with Donnie’s massive ego.
Donnie doesn’t come back and join me in the loun
ge which is a relief. However, just in case he changes his mind and comes in, I choose to sit in the armchair rather than on the sofa, that way he won’t be able to sit by me.
He may look relatively good with his olive skin, shaved head, brown eyes and muscly physique, but he really is a slime-ball and Lydia just can’t see it. He must be fucking awesome in bed for her to stay with him.
Lydia waltzes in a few minutes later looking a little less dishevelled.
“Good night then, huh?” I ask her.
“Fucking fabulous, babes,” she says as she takes her seat opposite me on the sofa and picks up her cup of coffee. “So, what’s up?”
“Why would anything be up?”
“Because you look a little pale and I can just sense these things you know. Call it best friends’ intuition.” Damn her. She’s right. She always knows when something is wrong with me. I sigh and fill her in on what happened with Charles last night and this morning.
“Oh dear, that doesn’t sound too good. Very out of character for him, isn’t it? Or maybe he really has just realised that he’s got a good thing with you? It may have taken him three years to finally see this, but hey, miracles do happen,” Lydia ponders sarcastically.
I raise one eyebrow at her and she rolls her eyes. “Don’t look at me like that, missy. He treats you like shit and you know it.” I sigh at her, but she continues to speak. “Look, I know I’m not his biggest fan, but come on, babes, you are gorgeous and have a great personality to match. He would be a fool to lose you.”
“I don’t know, Lyd. I think something has happened and he’s going to chuck me out of the house. Maybe it’s because I snapped at his mother at the event last night? Or maybe it’s because he actually did see me dancing with Jake? Or maybe––” I am cut off abruptly by Lydia.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa… wait just a minute. Who is Jake?” Lydia enquires.
“Oh, um, you remember the guy I went home with from The Den, the night before I moved in with Charles?”
“Oh, good grief, how could I ever forget him? What a gorgeous hunk of man he was.”
“Yeah, him, that’s Jake.” I then proceed to fill her in on what happened at the Bowden Hall and about what happened afterwards in the limo. I relay all of the information to her quickly so that she can’t interrupt me whilst I am in full flow.
“Well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic, Stace,” she screeches at me when I have finished speaking. “But I don’t understand why you pushed Jake off of you?”
Her reaction is what I was expecting. Lydia does not believe that Charles is who I am meant to be with for the rest of my life.
“Because, Lydia, I don’t want to be known as a cheat. Not only that, but I gave up my job and my independence to live with Charles as I thought that he was going to be my happy ending. It hurts that the more I stay with him, the more I realise that isn’t the case. I just need to focus on writing my book and I need to forget about Jake,” I reply.
She looks at me with a little sadness in her eyes and I just shrug my shoulders. I may not love Charles anymore, but it still stings that things haven’t worked out the way I hoped that they would.
“Actually, the first thing I need to do is go home and see what Charles has to say.” I stand and go to the kitchen to get my handbag and laptop.
“Good luck, babes,” Lydia calls out to me. “And you know that if you need to you are always welcome to stay here.”
“Thanks, Lyd,” I say, as I poke my head back around the lounge doorway. “I’ll call you later.”
I leave her flat and decide not to shout bye to Donnie as I go as he usually tries to hug me when I leave which makes me cringe. I wish Lydia would see sense as she’s far too good for him.
I stroll back home slowly as I prepare myself for what I am going to walk into when I get there.
Chapter Eight
I walk in the front door and the house smells divine. The scent of roast lamb wafts down the hallway, and my stomach grumbles in appreciation.
I walk through the lounge to go to the dining room, and I hear Charles faffing about in the kitchen. Wow, he has really gone to town. The dining table is set, there is soft music playing, candles are lit on the table and the curtains are drawn. The silver ware is making an unexpected appearance, and a bottle of wine sits in a cooler at the end of the table.
I call out to Charles to let him know that I am back.
“Oh, okay. If you could sit in the dining room, darling, I will bring the food through. Help yourself to a glass of wine whilst you are waiting,” Charles replies.
What the fuck is wrong with him? This is not the actions of someone who is going to kick me out of the house, surely?
I put my laptop and handbag on a little table in the corner of the room, and I busy myself by pouring some wine for both of us before taking a seat and waiting to see how all of this plays out.
Charles enters the room a few moments later carrying a plate with roast lamb on it and my mouth starts to water. He then goes back to the kitchen and returns to the dining room with all the accompaniments that he has made to go with the lamb. After placing everything on the table, he sits opposite me.
“Would you like me to serve?” he asks.
“No, no, I can manage, thanks.” I sound confused. He must pick up on it as he just sits and stares at me.
This is so out of character for him.
I put some lamb on my plate, trying to ignore Charles’ fixed gaze, but it only takes me about thirty seconds before I decide that I cannot sit through a whole meal and deal with his weird behaviour.
“Charles, what the hell is going on? Forgive me for coming across as unappreciative, but you never do anything like this for me, and you certainly don’t spend your time staring at me over the dinner table. I don’t understand what is with the dramatic change in you?” I look at him and wait for a response.
Minutes of tension and silence passes by, and then all of a sudden, Charles starts to cry.
Oh shit, why is he crying? This must be serious.
The only other time I have seen him shed any tears was at his father’s funeral. I am unsure whether to comfort him or just stay where I am.
I opt for the latter.
“Charles, what the hell is the matter with you? What’s happened?” I sound panicky, and to be honest, I need him to talk to me as he is starting to make me feel nervous. My appetite quickly disappears, and I wait as Charles tries to calm himself down.
After a minute or so he takes a sip of wine and inhales a few deep breaths. The urge to tell him to hurry up and speak is so strong, but I manage to keep my mouth shut. All the while, my mind is racing as I try to figure out what the problem is.
“Stacey, I am so sorry… I need to tell you something,” he says in a shaky voice.
“Well, come on then, out with it.” I can’t help but show the impatience in my voice. He’s really panicking me now.
“You know I told you that I stayed at Mummy’s last night?” I just nod my head at him. I daren’t speak for fear that he will go all quiet on me again. “Well… I didn’t… I didn’t stay there. I’m so sorry, darling, I don’t know what came over me.” He starts blubbing again.
“Okay,” I say warily. “So, where did you stay?”
I start to feel very uncomfortable.
“I went home with Claire, the woman I was talking to. I was so drunk, and you had left, and I really don’t know what came over me,” he rambles quickly.
It takes me a few seconds to process his words. He spoke so fast that I am almost convinced that I misheard him.
As I stare at the lamb on my plate, which now looks very unappealing, I replay his words in my head. I haven’t misheard anything. His behaviour at Danish and the treating me better is just his way of trying to deal with his guilt.
“Please talk to me, darling. I need to know what you are thinking,” he pleads with me.
I lift my eyes from my plate of lamb and look at him. He looks panicked.
“The blond woman?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“So, you went home with this Claire woman and fucked her…. then you come home to me and cook a lovely dinner and break out the fancy plates, which is meant to achieve what exactly? Forgiveness?” My tone is flat in my reply.
“I just… I just thought that I would do something nice, so you would be able to see how sorry I am.” His reply is pathetic. He really is an ass. He would have been better off letting me live in ignorant bliss. I mean, we haven’t had sex for weeks now, so I really couldn’t give a toss that he slept with someone else. I would be a hypocrite to start shouting and bawling at him. Lucky for me he is unaware about my past dalliance.
The first thought that springs to mind is where the hell am I going to live? And what am I going to do for work seeing as I can no longer continue to live here now that he has dropped this bombshell.
Jeez, I’m not even fazed by the concept of not being with Charles.
Surely, I should feel some sort of jealousy or anger? I don’t though. All I feel at the moment is a mixture of panic and relief. Panic at having to find somewhere else to live with no money, and relief that it’s finally over. No longer will I have to play the part of the doting girlfriend. No longer will I have to listen to his mother’s snide remarks.
Maybe I can finally start to feel good about myself again?
Charles speaks, interrupting my thoughts. “You’re not going to leave me, are you? I don’t want this to break us, Stacey.”
I don’t mean to, but I actually laugh in his face. “Oh, come on, Charles, we have been on the rocks for a long time. These last few months especially have solidified just how different we both are.”
“But… But––” I cut him off before he can say anymore.
The Complete Perfect Series Page 5
