Chapter Sixty
“Rose.” Paul said, gently shaking the sleeping girl lying next to him. “Rose.”
They’d decided to sleep in the same bed that night so they were in the same place when they needed to leave the next morning. They had Rose’s escape plan all worked out. Paul had figured that the state Mark was in the night before it’d be a miracle if he woke up in time for the interviews, if at all, so they’d be clear to get Rose over to his house and then to the train station. Rose had phoned the train information line while Paul found his jacket from the cloakroom (and put Mark’s right to the bottom at the back, just in case he did wake up) and had found out there was a train leaving London Paddington for Wycombe at half 10, which gave Paul just enough time to get back into the heart of London to do the interviews he planned to not talk all the way through.
Rose half opened her eyes, screwed them up again, rubbed them, and then finally opened them properly and looked at Paul.
“Ohhhh, is it morning already?”
“‘Fraid so. Although technically it was morning when we went to sleep at 3.”
Rose laughed. “I can just imagine what Chloe would say if I told her that this morning I woke up in bed with my boyfriend’s mate.” She said.
“Think she’d be jealous?” Paul asked with a grin.
“Probably not incredibly so.” Rose said. “Sorry, but she’s kinda busy being besotted with Ben at the moment.”
“Ah, well it’s to be expected, I guess. I’d probably be besotted with him if I was a girl.”
“Would you?”
“I expect so. Actually, how’ve you escaped the spell? You’re not secretly obsessed with him, are you?”
“Ew, oh God no!” Rose exclaimed.
“Now that is more like it!” Paul said. “Right, let’s get you to the station.”
“Mark’s house first.” Rose said, sitting up and throwing the covers off her. “Eurrrrgh, I feel minging.”
“I wouldn’t worry: I reckon you’re a lot better off than most of the people waking up at this party this morning!”
“I hope Colin’s not around.” Rose thought out loud, getting out of bed and attempting to run her fingers through her tangled hair. “Do you know what happened to Kate and Christian?” she asked Paul.
“Nope. Last time I saw them was… oh, in Ainsley’s lair.”
“Where?” Rose asked, looking at him in puzzlement.
“Did you not come down?” Paul asked, looking equally confused. “Oh no, that’s right, coz you pushed me and Ben in the pool and then stormed off in a huff.”
Rose smiled. “Will you stop it?! I said I was sorry!”
“I never did get those dry clothes.” Paul mused to himself. “Anyway, yeah, me and Ben left Kate and Christian down there, so for all I know they could be on the breakfast menu.”
“Oh, that’s so gross!”
“Well you never know…!”
“Have we got time for breakfast, or should we go?” Rose asked, feeling her stomach rumble emptily.
“Oh, I brought you some.” Paul said, picking up a plate from the bedside table. “It’s cake, though.” He said, handing it to her. “I couldn’t smuggle a fry-up out of the kitchen.”
“Aww, thanks.” Rose said. “Cake’s the best thing for breakfast.”
“Isn’t it just.” Paul said. “You can eat it in the car. Come on, let’s complete our mission before Mark wakes up.”
Paul put his jacket on, and Rose picked up her cake, and they left the room, went down the stairs, and out the front door.
“I feel really bad.” Rose said.
“About Mark?”
“Yeah.”
“Well actually, so do I. But, I’d imagine, for a totally different reason.”
“Why do you feel bad?”
“I feel bad about him making you upset.” Paul said.
Rose smiled. “No, don’t worry about that. I’m fine.”
“Yeah, but it sounds like he was acting really out of order, and I kinda feel like I should apologise on his behalf.”
“Oh shut up.” Rose said, smiling at Paul. “Are you okay to drive?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Didn’t you have a lot to drink last night?”
“Nah, not that much. I stopped at about 12, anyway.”
“Oh, okay. Why did you stop at 12?”
“I, erm-” Paul started.
“No, don’t answer that question!” Rose exclaimed. “I know what you’re gonna say, I don’t what to know!”
“How do you know what I was going to say?” Paul asked.
“Your reputation precedes you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! How can you not know what people think about you?”
Paul shrugged. “Don’t really care, to be honest. Is it accurate?”
“Spot on.” Rose said, grinning at Paul.
“Oh, well that’s quite worrying then.”
“Nah, we love you for it.”
“We, as in fans we?” Paul asked.
“What else am I?” Rose asked.
“My mate’s girlfriend. And my friend.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! Dead close we are now.” Paul said, grinning at Rose. “‘Speshly seeing as we spent the night together, an’ all.”
“Now don’t you go making that into anything more than it was!” Rose warned him.
“Passionate sex.” Paul said, raising an eyebrow in that way of his.
“What? No, you can’t say that!”
“Can.”
“No you can’t! We just slept!”
“That’s what you think…!”
“Ew, Paul!”
Paul laughed. “Sorry, I’m only jokin’.”
“Good!”
“You wouldn’t sleep with me, then?” he asked.
“I don’t sleep with people as a general rule.” Rose said with a smile.
“I could be your first.” Paul offered with a cheeky glint in his eye.
“Stop it.” Rose said.
“Stop what?”
“Now I know why Mark said you were annoying.”
“Mark said I was annoying? I’ll show him annoying!” Paul threatened.
“I think you should, actually.” Rose encouraged.
“You want me to show Mark annoying?”
“Why not? Not like he doesn’t deserve it.”
Paul laughed. “No-one ever lets me be annoying. You’re fab! Why aren’t you my girlfriend?”
Coz I’m in love with Mark, Rose thought.
What was she going to do about all this?
Christian opened his eyes, woken by the sunlight streaming in through the large window opposite the bed he was lying on. It looked like it was a lovely day outside, and Christian’s day improved considerably when he realised that Kate was lying next to him. Still asleep, she had an arm across his chest and her head nuzzled against his shoulder, and Christian smiled as he remembered the lovely night they’d had together. No, they hadn’t done that, but what they had done was stay up into the early hours of this beautiful morning talking about anything and everything. Christian didn’t remember actually falling asleep, or how Kate had come to be cuddled up to him like that, but he decided on the spot that this was how all days should start.
There was the loud bang of a door somewhere down the hall from their room and Kate stirred. Christian watched as she slowly opened her eyes, squinting in the bright sunshine. She looked at him, frowned in confusion for a second, and then went very red as she carefully detached herself from him.
He smiled at her. “Good morning.”
Kate smiled shyly back. “Morning.” She said quietly, lying next to him awkwardly as if she didn’t want to move for fear of dying of utter embarrassment.
Christian didn’t know what she had to be so embarrassed about. It wasn’t like they hadn’t had any physical contact before, or anything. They hadn’t kissed since the time in Ainsley’s “lair”, but Kate was very shy, and Christian didn’t want to scare her off by being too forward. It was nice just to talk, anyway. He’d found out so much about her – she really was a fascinating person, although of course she didn’t think it.
“You’ve gone very red.” He said, still smiling, looking her right in the eye.
“Have I?” Kate said, looking away from him.
“You have. What are you so embarrassed about?” Christian asked, being bold and touching the side of her face in an attempt to get her to make eye contact.
Kate looked uncomfortable, and Christian reluctantly took his hand away.
“Nothing, I mean, I’m not.” Kate said, getting up off the bed and straightening her clothes out.
Okay, so now Christian was confused. Kate was acting like they’d never met before and had somehow woken up in bed together, total strangers! But last night had been so wonderful; how could she be so unresponsive to him this morning? Well he might as well ask her: he had nothing to lose.
“Kate, did I do something wrong?” Christian asked, standing up on the opposite side of the bed to her.
“What?” she asked, looking at him in surprise. “No, of course not!”
“So why are you being all weird with me? You’re acting like last night didn’t happen.” Christian said, before realising that his last sentence sounded very soap opera-y, and his choice of words were maybe a little inappropriate for the situation. “Sorry, that sounded way too melodramatic.” he apologised.
“Christian, I…” Kate paused, as if debating something with herself, before sitting back down on the edge of the bed.
Christian did the same, but on the opposite side, anticipating bad news.
“There’s something you don’t know about me.” Kate began.
“You’re an alien?”
Kate smiled. “No, not an alien. Oh, I might as well just tell you, I don’t know why I didn’t before really, I just thought you wouldn’t be interested if you knew. But now I feel really bad for lying to you.”
“Would it help if I promised to still be interested after you’ve told me?”
“I really don’t think you will.”
“It takes a lot to put me off a girl.”
“Ohh, I think you’ll find this is a lot.” Kate said.
“Well why don’t you try me? I might surprise you with my hidden depths.” Christian encouraged.
“Okay, well, um, the thing is… I’m married. Well, no, not married, exactly-”
“Married?” Christian echoed.
“Don’t forget to close the door on your way out.” Kate said dejectedly. “Before you go, can I just explain? It’s not completely how it sounds.”
Christian nodded, too stunned and heartbroken to say anything in response.
“I’m not actively married, not any more. Me and Finn – my husband – split up a couple of months ago, just after I got my book published, actually, but it’d been coming for a while.” Kate started.
“So you’re not married?” Christian asked, finding his voice as relief flooded over him.
“Well, legally I am. I’m still waiting for the divorce to come through.”
“But you’re not still with him?” Christian asked slowly, trying to find the catch in all this.
If she wasn’t still with this guy, then where was the problem with Christian and her?
“No! No, not at all!” Kate said.
“So why didn’t you tell me before? It wouldn’t have mattered.”
“Of course it would! You’d have run a mile!”
“But I don’t see the problem! If you’re not together any more, why would that make a difference to how I feel about you?”
Kate looked at her hands. “I don’t know.” She said quietly. “I don’t even know why you’re interested in me in the first place. I just really like you, and I didn’t want to ruin things.”
“You haven’t.” Christian said, getting off the bed and walking round to Kate’s side.
She stood up as he got closer.
“I should have told you before.” Kate said. “I kinda thought you’d know, actually. It says in the front of my book.”
“It does?” Christian asked.
Kate smiled. “I knew you only bought it coz I was there.”
“No I didn’t! I have every intention to read it, but I wanted to sit down and read it all in one go, so I was waiting for a quiet day.”
“I wouldn’t waste your time.” Kate said self deprecatingly.
“Why do you do that?” Christian asked.
“What?”
“Put yourself down all the time. You must know you’ve got a talent?”
Kate shrugged. “You’re making me all embarrassed again.” She said, smiling at Christian once more.
“I’m sorry, I try not to.” Christian said. “So where do me and you stand now?” he asked.
“It’s your call, isn’t it? I’m the one with the secrets and lies.”
“No, but I want to know what you want.”
“What are you offering?”
“A proper date in a nice restaurant, just the two of us, and see where it goes from there?”
Kate smiled. “And you’re really still interested?”
“Of course I am! Are you sure you’re not just trying to get rid of me?”
“No, I’m not trying to do that!” Kate assured him.
“Well that’s a good thing then.” Christian said. “So you’ll come out with me?”
“Yes,” Kate said with a smile. “I will.”
“See ya babe.” Paul said, watching as Rose disappeared from view before pulling off the side of the road and heading away from the station.
He switched the radio off and pressed speed dial 7 on his phone. He had it all hooked up to the car and set to speakerphone so he wouldn’t have to compromise his driving while he was having a go at Mark. No, he was planning not to get cross or take sides, or anything, but poor Rose! She didn’t need to put up with Mark’s mood swings, and appeared to not be willing to, which was fair enough. Paul wondered if this was the end for them. He hoped not, coz they did seem to be good together, but Mark really needed to get his act together if he wanted to keep Rose.
“Hufmlph?” Mark answered, sounding decidedly hung over.
“Heavy night last night?” Paul asked with a grin, despite the nature of his call.
Ahh, he’d loved to have been there when Mark woke up this morning.
“Paul?”
“Certainly is, mate. Thought I’d let ya know that Rose has gone home.”
“She’s gone home?”
“Yeah, I’ve just dropped her off at the station now.”
“Is she okay?”
“Well she didn’t want to see you until she’d had a chance to think about things…”
“Do you know what happened?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, she told me.”
“Paul, I didn’t-”
“Look, I don’t really wanna get involved, just give her a bit of space, okay?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
Mark put his phone on the bedside table.
Rose had gone home? She’d gone home without even saying goodbye? Oh no, this was bad – he’d really messed up this time. She wasn’t going to come back, he knew she wasn’t, and who could blame her?
Mark put a hand to his face.
“Owwww.” He moaned haplessly.
He couldn’t believe last night had happened. No, re-phrase that: he couldn’t believe what he’d done last night. The worst thing was that he could remember every single little detail clear as day, and hear everything that had been said in surround sound. And oh, it had been awful. He’d been awful. The stuff he’d said to Rose… how could he say something like that? He didn’t even know where those words had come from! He’d been so horrible to her! That would have been bad enough without the situation, but the fact that he’d said that to her because she wouldn’t sleep with him… Well, that was just one more relationship ruined, wasn’t it? Maybe if it hadn’t been for that, then Rose might be able to forgive him, but the impression he must have given her by acting like that would no doubt prove to be irrevocable. He just couldn’t believe he’d done that! What was he thinking?! Of course he wanted to sleep with Rose - he was male, after all – but if he’d have been thinking at all, he wouldn’t have wanted it to have been like that, and he certainly wouldn’t have reacted that way when Rose said she didn’t want to. Ohhhh, he was just an idiot!
“Mark?” he heard Christian shout from the landing.
Mark closed his eyes and pretended he was asleep.
He felt awful, his girlfriend was leaving him; the last thing he wanted to do was talk about it. He had no idea how he was going to sort this mess out, and at the moment all he wanted to do was lie here and die very quietly on his own. Why did he always manage to ruin everything?
To be continued…