My heart starts to beat a little faster. I could certainly think of worse things to be stuck with, that’s for sure.
“I’ll make it up to you later,” I answer as I lick my lips. He lets out a low growl and squeezes my ass with both of his hands.
“I look forward to it, Miss Paris,” he says as he lets go of me, turns and walks down the hallway.
Jake
I stalk into the kitchen and survey the mess that I have offered to clean up.
Fucking brilliant.
This is not how I thought that I would be spending the day.
My original plans were to keep Stacey holed up in my bedroom all day long. I know that we can’t have sex right now, but I imagined us spending our time cuddled in bed, watching shitty movies, and making out like a couple of teenagers. Instead, I am clearing up a flat that looks like an absolute shit tip.
I go through the cupboards until I find some black bags, and I start to throw the rubbish in there. Lydia really needs to sort out whatever fucked up shit is going on with her. Stacey needs to get herself better, but instead she has to put up with her best friend bringing home random men and getting as high as a kite on whatever substance is sitting on the bedside table.
I sigh and continue to throw empty beer cans into the rubbish bag. Once all of the rubbish has been cleared, I find a brush and sweep up the mess of the broken crockery on the floor.
Fucking animals.
I open the kitchen window and inhale the fresh air. If I hadn’t seen the mess caused from just one night, then I never would have believed that it was this bad.
After clearing the floor, I spray the shit out of the sides with bleach and wipe them all down. I tie the bag of rubbish and put it by the front door, ready to take out to the rubbish bins later.
I go back to Lydia’s bedroom to see how Stacey is getting on. The musty smell has started to subside from the room and the bedside table has been cleared of whatever drug was on offer last night. Lydia still lies in a heap on the bed. I look at her in disgust.
What a state to get into.
There is no sign of Stacey in here, so I go to the bathroom, but she isn’t in there either.
Where did she go? She’s not in the lounge as I would have seen her walk in there.
It isn’t until I am passing by her bedroom door, that I see it is slightly ajar. I peer in the crack of the door and I see Stacey sat on her bed, her head in her hands. I push the door open and walk in.
“Stace?” She looks up and I see that she has been crying. I go to her and kneel in front of her. “Don’t cry, babe. Lydia is going to be fine.”
“It’s not about that,” she chokes out in-between sobs. I stare at her puzzled. If it’s not about Lydia, then what else could it be?
Stacey looks at me and her eyes look pained. Her hand goes to the side of her and picks up a small black box that I hadn’t noticed before. I look at the box which is open, but there is nothing in there. “My parents wedding rings have been taken. It’s all I had left of them.”
“What?” I say, a little louder than intended. That scumbag that was in here. It must have been him. I feel anger rise within me and it takes all of my control not to go and find the fucker. Stacey sniffles and then throws the box back on the bed.
“What kind of person does that?” She looks at me hopelessly and I feel my heart pang for her.
“A low-life asshole, that’s who. I’m so sorry, babe.”
“It’s not your fault.” She shrugs, and I pull her into my arms. She hugs me tight, so I just hold her and make a promise to myself that I will find those rings and get them back for her. We stay like this until we hear the sound of Lydia throwing up in her bedroom. Stacey releases her grip on me and I move so that she can stand up. She rushes out of the room and I follow her. Lydia is on her side and she is being sick all over the bed and herself. The smell hits me and my stomach churns in protest. Stacey is beside Lydia, moving her hair back so that it doesn’t get tangled up in the sick.
“She needs a doctor, Jake. We have to get her to hospital.”
“I’m on it,” I say as I pull my phone out of my pocket and make a call.
Stacey
Lydia continues to throw up as I hopelessly try and keep her hair out of the way. Seeing her like this is awful. Jake has disappeared, and I hope that he is phoning for an ambulance.
After a few long, painful minutes, Lydia’s heaves start to subside. She is gasping for breath as she recovers from her vomiting episode. I talk to her quietly, so she knows that I am here. Her eyes are streaming, and my heart goes out to her.
“Stace?” she croaks, her throat sounding harsh.
“Yeah, I’m here, Lyd. You’re going to be okay.”
“I need water.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” I leave her and go to the kitchen to get a glass of water for her. Jake must have gone into the corridor outside as the front door is slightly ajar. I don’t have time to see what he is doing, I have to look after Lydia.
I go back to her bedroom and help her to sip the water. The smell of vomit is making me want to be sick myself. I try not to breath in too deeply, but the putrid scent still wafts up my nostrils. Lydia gulps the water hungrily until she has finished the whole glass.
“Thanks,” she says, and I place the glass on her bedside table.
“Lyd, you need to move so that you can get cleaned up.”
“I can’t,” she groans. “I feel awful.”
“No shit, Sherlock!” I can’t help the slight sarcasm in my tone. “You can’t lie in this bed, in your own vomit.” I watch as Lydia flops to the other side of the bed. “Uh, that isn’t really what I had in mind, Lyd.” I wait for her to answer, but her eyes are closed again. I sigh and start to strip the pillows that Lydia has just rolled off of. I chuck them in a pile on the floor, but the actual pillow is saturated as well. I throw that onto the pile deciding that the whole lot will need to be chucked out.
I pull the quilt off of the bed and add that to the pile as well. I will just have to go and buy Lydia a new set of bedding. The sheet is my next problem as Lydia is still led on one half of it. I pull the sheet down as best as I can, and I go around to the other side of the bed. I am about to try and lift the top half of Lydia’s body, so I can shimmy the sheet down beneath her, when Jake comes storming into the room.
“Don’t even fucking think about it.” I look at him in shock. “You are not jeopardising your own recovery by lifting her. I’ll do it.” He moves me out of the way and I watch him as he lifts Lydia with ease, sliding the sheet beneath her. “There. All done.” Jake looks to me, seeming pleased with himself as I stand there with my arms folded. “What?”
“I’m not an invalid, Jake. I can still do stuff.”
“Not lifting you can’t. Don’t argue with me on this one, Stacey. You won’t win.” I blow out a puff of air as I bundle the soiled sheet up and I add it to the pile of bedding to be chucked out. “The doctor will be here shortly,” he says.
“As in, here? In the flat?”
“Yeah. It’s my private doctor. I figured that trying to get Lydia to hospital would be too much for her.”
“Oh.” He really does think of everything. I walk over to him and place a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”
He just keeps continuing to surprise me with what he is able to do.
“No problem. I’ll go and wait out the front for him to arrive.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Stacey
I start to tackle the mess in the lounge as I wait for the doctor to arrive. I have cleared all of the empty beer cans and I am emptying the make shift ash tray when I hear the front door opening. I go to the lounge doorway as Jake is leading the doctor towards Lydia’s room. I decide to leave them to it for the moment and I carry on with the cleaning.
Jake comes into the room as I am disinfecting the coffee table. He inspects the chair and then flops down into it. He gestures for me to sit on his lap and I happily oblige.
>
“I’m sorry for all of this, Jake.” I feel guilty that he has spent most of the day helping me tidy up and look after Lydia.
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not, but I do appreciate everything that you have done.” If it wasn’t for him, I don’t quite know how I would have handled this situation. I lean on his chest and his arms come around me. I close my eyes and just enjoy a few minutes’ peace with him. He makes me feel as if I can get through anything when he is with me. I can’t imagine my life without him.
“Shall I go and make us a drink?” I ask him.
“Sure. I could do with a strong coffee.” I get up off of his lap and go to the kitchen, putting the kettle on to boil and rewashing the cups in the cupboard, just to be certain that they are clean. Jake comes in as I am washing the last cup and he takes a seat at the kitchen table.
“What do you say we get a take-away when we leave here and spend the rest of the day in bed?” Jake says.
“I would love nothing more than to do that, but I can’t go back to yours, Jake. I need to stay here and look after Lydia.” I dry up two cups to keep myself distracted from his gaze that I can feel burning into my back.
“There is no way that you are staying here.”
“I have to. I can’t leave her.”
“Then she can come to mine as well.” I whirl around and look at him. His jaw is clenched, and I know that he isn’t joking around.
“I can’t put you out like that, Jake. You have done enough to help as it is.”
“It’s not putting me out. I want you with me, and you want to look after Lydia. It’s a perfect solution to a shitty situation.”
“But––” I am cut off by the doctor walking into the kitchen. “How is she?” I ask before he can speak.
“Lydia is going to be fine. I’ve done a thorough check of her and whatever she has taken seems to be wearing off.” I breathe a sigh of relief at his words. “She’s lucky though. Whatever it was that she took, in my opinion, was impure. She needs to rest, but she should be feeling better within the next forty-eight hours.”
“Thank you, doctor,” I say.
“It’s no problem.” He smiles at me before turning to Jake. “Good to see you, Jake. Although, let’s hope that I don’t have to do another home visit like this one again.”
“I appreciate it, Harley.” Jake stands up and shakes his hand before walking him out of the flat whilst I go to see Lydia, who is still asleep. I haven’t been able to go out and get new covers for her bed yet, so I go and get the quilt off of my bed so that I can cover her over. Once I have done that, I sit by the side of her on the bed.
“I’m going to help you, Lyd. Whatever the problem is, I will help you figure it out.” I know that she is asleep, but a part of me hopes that she can hear what I am saying.
Jake comes into the bedroom and perches next to me, on the end of the bed.
“Please come and stay at mine, Stace. You will be safe at my place. That guy Lydia had in here could come back at any time, and he could bring God knows who with him.”
Shit, I never even thought of that.
I take hold of his hand and I give it a gentle squeeze.
“Okay.” Jake smiles at my answer and I can see some of the tension leave his body. “Let’s go and have that cup of coffee and then I will pack some of Lydia’s things.” Jake follows me to the kitchen and he sits back at the table. I make the drinks and take them over, sitting opposite him, sipping my coffee.
“Listen, Stace, I need to tell you something.” Jake shifts and looks uncomfortable.
“Oh God, what now?” I ask as a feeling of dread settles in my stomach.
Surely nothing else could possibly go wrong?
“Well, when I was waiting outside for the doctor, I got a phone call. It was D.C. Sykes calling to say that they have set a date for Caitlin’s sentencing. He said that he has left a message on your phone with the details.” I suck in a deep breath and gesture for him to continue. “It’s two weeks Monday at nine in the morning.”
“Right… Well… That’s a good thing.” I haven’t let myself think too much about it to be honest. It’s a part of my life that I would rather not think about. I’m just glad that I don’t have to endure the process of it going to trial to determine who is telling the truth. Her confession has made the whole situation less complicated.
“Do you want to be there when she’s sentenced?” Jake asks. I ponder his question for a few moments.
Do I?
Do I really want to see her face again?
Would it bring me any satisfaction by going?
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“You know what? I don’t think that I do.” Jake looks a little shocked at my answer and I feel that I should explain myself. “That woman ruined a part of my life. She took away a part of me for a short while. I know that I am okay now, but I think that seeing her again will bring back too many painful memories.”
“I understand.”
“Are you going to go?” I ask him.
“I’m not sure yet. Half of me wants to go and see her get her comeuppance, but the other half of me doesn’t want to be in the same room as her. She hurt you, Stace, and nothing is more important to me than you are.”
“In that case, don’t you think that it is best to stay away? I mean, she will probably be expecting to see us there. I think it may shock her more if neither of us go.” Jake sips his coffee and appears to be lost in thought.
“I don’t think that I will be able to make my mind up until the day.” I just nod at his answer and we sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes. Life really has been crazy lately. “Are you hungry at all?”
“Not really.”
“You need to eat.” Jake gives me a stern look and I know he thinks that I should be focussing on myself more than I am.
“I will later. I still need to finish cleaning the lounge.”
“Well, come on then,” Jake says as he finishes his cup of coffee. “Let’s do that, get Lydia’s things packed, and then we can go and pick up some food and go back home.”
“Home?” I say, not missing the meaning behind it. He just grins at me and walks out of the kitchen and into the lounge. I smile and shake my head.
He really is too good to be true.
Chapter Thirty
Stacey
Jake and I made quick work of cleaning the rest of the lounge, and then I packed some of Lydia’s things ready to go to Jake’s house. Jake and I are sat on the chair in the lounge, watching some television, when Lydia appears in the doorway. It’s only been a couple hours since the doctor left, and I’m surprised to see her up and about.
“Hey, Lyd,” I say, keeping my voice low. “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit,” she replies as she collapses onto the sofa. Good job I took the cover off there and put it in the wash, otherwise she would be sat in a patch of sick right now. She looks horrendous. Her face is pale, her eyes have lost their usual sparkle and have bags under them, and her hair is lank and greasy. She hasn’t gotten changed out of her clothes and the faint smell of sick reappears. “Why do I feel so bad?”
“Um… To cut a long story short, you got totally wasted, spent most of the day sleeping, threw up everywhere and now you have the hangover from hell.” It’s the only way that I can think to explain it to her. “I’m guessing that you don’t remember much?”
“Not really.” Her hands go to her head and she rubs her temples.
“Listen, Lyd,” I start as I go over to her and sit next to her on the sofa. “Jake has offered for us to both go and stay at his place for a few days. I’ve already packed you some stuff, so we can leave whenever you’re ready.” Her eyes focus on me and she looks confused at what I am saying.
“Why the hell would I go and stay at Jake’s?”
“I just don’t think that it’s safe for us to stay here right now.”
“Why not?”
“Do you have a
ny idea what’s been going on here? Do you even remember what state this place was left in? Do you even remember who the guy was that you brought back here last night?” I can feel rage boiling up inside me, but I need to keep a lid on it.
“Of course I remember the guy,” she answers, looking a little uncertain of her answer. “Stop being so bloody dramatic.”
I scoff at her words. “Dramatic? You think that this is dramatic? This flat was a complete fucking mess, Lydia. Beer cans, wine bottles, broken plates, and sick on the sofa are not a welcoming sight. Jake and I have spent all day cleaning the place up.”
“Oh, well, thanks so much.” Lydia’s tone is full of sarcasm which does nothing to help calm me down. She sits there, picking at her fingernails, clearly not giving a shit about what I am saying. I need to get through to her.
“I had to go to the hospital last night, Lydia. When I opened the front door to you and your guest, you knocked me over, resulting in my some of my stitches tearing.” I am hoping that this information will jolt her out of her self-absorbed state. She looks up to me momentarily, before turning her attention back to her fingernails. I look to Jake. He is sat there, watching me, his jaw clenched tight. I know that he wants to remove me from this situation.
I turn back to Lydia and sigh in exasperation. “Lydia, the guy you had in here last night went into my bedroom. My parents wedding rings are missing.” I feel the sadness grip me. The invasion of my privacy makes me feel too open.
“You probably just misplaced them somewhere.”
“You know as well as I do that I would never have just misplaced those rings.” I give her a stern look and she at least has the decency to look a little bit worried.
“What is it that you want from me? An apology?”
“No, I’m not asking you for an apology, but I would like a little bit of gratitude.”
“Gratitude? Since when did you become all high and mighty?” Lydia has clearly got over the tiny bit of worry that I spied in her moments ago.
The Complete Perfect Series Page 36
