Chapter Fifteen

“Ten green bottles hanging on the wall, ten green bottles hanging on the wall, and if one green bottle should accidentally falllllllllllllll… there’ll be nine green bottles hanging on the wall!” Chloe and Paul sang with gusto as they sat in the back of a dark green people carrier with Ben. “Nine green bottles…”

“Argh! Stop!” Ben shouted in exasperation.

a1 were doing a gig at the MEN arena in Manchester that night, and the whole four hour journey up there had been accompanied by Chloe and Paul singing ridiculous songs they both knew, and Paul teaching Chloe even more ridiculous songs he’d most probably made up himself. And they didn’t sing them quietly either, no, it was full blast the whole way. They were still singing at the tops of their voices when they got stuck in traffic for an hour going through Birmingham, and they were still singing when they stopped at a service station to eat. They just encouraged each other; it was a nightmare!

“Don’t you like our singing?” Chloe asked, turning to Ben and grinning.

He smiled back, he couldn’t help it when Chloe was in this kind of silly mood – it was infectious! The singing, however, was not.

“I’m unable to answer that question I’m afraid.” Ben said.

“Why?”

“Coz he wants to get laid tonight.” Paul said cheekily.

Chloe hit Paul on the arm. “That’s from Ben.” She said.

“Oh, cheers mate.” Paul said to Ben.

“Any time.” Ben replied.

“So do you like my singing?” Chloe asked light-heartedly.

“See there you go again with the difficult questions.” Ben said.

“Well I’ll give you a clue if you’re stuck.” Chloe offered. “It’s either yes or no.”

“Oh well that narrows it down immensely. You see my problem is that if I say no, I’ll be punished, and if I say yes, then the singing will carry on which I think might just drive me insane.”

“If it helps, I’m gonna shag you anyway.” Chloe said, grinning naughtily at Ben.

“No, I do not like your singing.” Ben said.

“See, not so hard.”

Ben winked at her. “Well I wouldn’t say that.”

Chloe frowned as she tried to work out what Ben meant.

“Ohhhhh!” she said as it suddenly clicked.

“How long?” Ben asked Paul.

“Ten seconds, not bad.”

Chloe blushed. “You two are so mean! You know I don’t get jokes like that. I’m way too innocent. See my halo!” she said, making a circling movement around her head.

“Actually no, I don’t see it, but I’ll take your word for it.” Ben said, putting his arm around her waist and unclicking her seatbelt so he could pull her closer to him.

“That’s illegal.” Paul said. “That should be illegal.” He added as he saw Ben and Chloe kissing.

“Oooh! Manchester sign!” Chloe said, pointing out the window. “We must be nearly there!”

“Good, I feel car sick.” Ben said. “Brought on by your charming singing no doubt.”

“I feel Chloe and Ben sick.” Paul moaned.

Ben ignored him and sat there contentedly with Chloe leaning against him. Yesterday had been great. It had all gone according to plan. Chloe had been delighted with the ring, he knew she would be, and the room surprise had gone down fantastically. Shopping for paint had been great fun and Chloe had been excitedly rushing all over the shop picking up things for her new room. Ben had promised her that they’d start it as soon as possible and she’d seemed pretty happy with that too.

The radio show in the afternoon hadn’t cut into the day as much as Ben had thought it would, although he’d hardly got to see Chloe in the two hours they were there because she was banished to the canteen until they’d finished. But the interview had gone okay, and the DJ hadn’t been too mean about ‘Caught In The Middle’ so it hadn’t been too painful. When Ben had gone to get Chloe from the canteen afterwards she’d seemed a bit subdued, but it was probably just this illness she was possibly getting. He’d asked her if she was okay and she’s reassured him yes, so he wasn’t too worried.

That night had been incredible. Without realising it Ben had managed to get tickets to the show Chloe had wanted to see for weeks. When he told her what they were going to see she’d almost cried, she was so taken aback! Of course Ben hadn’t mentioned that he didn’t choose that particular show on purpose; if Chloe wanted to believe that he’d known she wanted to see it then that’s exactly what he’d let her think. The show had been amazing, and the meal they had afterwards was just as good. They were sat at the same table they’d got the first time they’d gone there, which immediately reduced Chloe to the thought that it was nearly their one year anniversary.

Lots of affection, lots of fun for Ben.

The food was great, company was even better and then they went home and… well, he didn’t really need to spell it out, did he? And that was great too, so all in all a fantastic day! The best for a while in fact.

Coming out of his thoughts Ben realised that Chloe and Paul were singing again.

“Six green bottles hanging on the wall, six green bottles hanging on the wall, and if one green bottle should accidentally falllllllllll… there’ll be…”

“No green bottles hanging on the wall, oh what a shame. Never mind, life goes on.” Ben said quickly, cutting Chloe and Paul off mid-chant.

Chloe made a face at Ben. “Meany.” She said.

“D’ya think we’re here?” Paul asked sarcastically as the car drove past a group of teenage girls huddled on the pavement outside the hotel a1 were staying at that night. “Okay, here is the plan. Me and Chloe’ll go round the back way into the safety of the hotel and you, Mark and Chris can go out in the cold and do the smiley signy thing.” He suggested to Ben.

“But Paul, meeting the fans is your favourite part of the job!” Chloe teased.

“I do love it, but I thought I’d let the honour of being screamed at and molested by underage hands go to those three for a change.”

“Ever the generous one.”

“I know, aren’t I just? So it’s a deal, yeah? If there are any stunners, bring them in for me, if anyone else asks where I am, I doubt they’ll notice I’m not there, tell them I’m allergic to fans.”

Chloe laughed. “What would you do if he really brought someone back for you?”

“Oh, you think I’m joking, don’t you?” Paul grinned. “I’d shag them, naturally. What’s the point of being in a boyband if you can’t take full advantage of your females groupies?”

“Isn’t it a bit wrong, though?” Chloe asked.

“I’m not talking about 14 year olds here.” Paul assured her. “But if it’s there for the taking, it’d be silly to look a gift horse in the mouth. Not like I get it anywhere else.”

“Well I’d shag ya.” Chloe said with a grin. “If, y’know, I wasn’t with big meany over here.”

“Well it’s a comforting thought.”

“You better not.” Ben said.

“What?”

“Think about shagging my girlfriend.”

“Would I do something like that?” Paul asked, doing his best to look innocent.

“Yes.” Ben and Chloe said at the same time.

Paul raised his eyebrows beseechingly at them. When they just looked back, he conceded.

“I’ve only done it once or twice.”

“What?!”

“Well, only idly.” Paul said. “In case you were wondering, it was great for me.”

“I wasn’t wondering!” Chloe said, laughing.

Ben felt ill. And he was pretty sure that it wasn’t all down to the travel. He knew Paul was only joking, but just the thought of him thinking about Chloe like that made his skin crawl. The thought of someone else doing things only he was allowed to do with Chloe made him feel physically sick. He couldn’t bear the thought of her so much as kissing someone else, let alone sharing anything more intimate.

And he knew she’d never ever in a million years do that to him, but it was still a horrible thought. If another guy tried to take advantage of her while she was with Ben, his fist would be in his face so fast he wouldn’t even see it coming. He’d beat him up so badly he’d have trouble breathing. No-one touched his girlfriend.

Okay, anger, breathe…

“You’re all frowny.” Chloe said, reaching up to Ben’s hair and twirling one of the longer front bits round her finger.

Ben smiled. “Stop it, you’ll make it all curly.”

“I like playing with it. It’s pretty.”

“It’s not supposed to be pretty.” Ben said, pushing Chloe’s hand away.

“No, it’s supposed to confirm his status as super hunk man of the world.” Paul said. “Can we get out yet?”

The car had stopped a while ago, but Mark and Chris’s car was yet to arrive.

“We’re still waiting for the other car.” The driver said.

“I don’t need them to walk me to my hotel room.” Paul said. “In fact, seeing as everyone obviously thinks I do need a chauffer, I hereby nominate Chloe to protect me from the big bad world.”

“Just wait for the other car, Paul.”

“Hmmm, it’s a tempting offer, it really is, you’ve almost convinced me to do as I’m told like a good little boyband member, but unfortunately I’m not Mark, you may have noticed, so… no. Come on Clo.”

As Chloe walked with Paul away from the car and towards the hotel building she was thinking about how Ben had reacted to what Paul was talking about. If he got that touchy when people joked about thinking about sleeping with her (Paul was joking, right?), then what would he do if he found out about her and Mark?

As she thought that, Chloe realised with a pang that as of yesterday it was quite probable that there was no her and Mark, and unlikely to be again after the argu… discussion that they’d had yesterday. He probably hated her now, and she couldn’t really blame him. What she’d unwittingly implied couldn’t have been nice for him to hear, but she hadn’t meant it to sound how it came out, she was just confused.

Very confused.

When she’d first got into this with Mark, although she had felt something for him, it hadn’t compared to what she felt for Ben. It was purely lust, and she vaguely remembered thinking something like she would be pursuing Mark for the good of her and Ben when she was trying to justify to herself what she was about to do. The simple fact of the matter though was that she’d wanted Mark. But not on an emotional level; it was purely selfish and pleasure driven.

But now she’d actually got to know him and had discovered what a wonderful, caring person Mark was, her feelings for him had become deeper. She didn’t love him or anything, but she couldn’t just use him. Not that she’d been using him at the start of this; what was she gonna use him for, sex? That wasn’t exactly something she couldn’t adequately get from Ben. And her and Mark hadn’t even slept together. Chloe wasn’t really sure she wanted to. Well, she wanted to, but she didn’t think it was an incredibly good idea. She was worried that it would either complicate things too much or just really mess her head up.

Coz that was seriously cheating, wasn’t it? Not like a bit of kissing and a few secret meetings; actually having sex with Mark would take things between them to a level Chloe wasn’t sure she wanted to be at.

Talking of that…

“You don’t really sleep with fans, do you?” Chloe asked Paul as they walked.

“No.” Paul said. “Only the groupies. They deserve it more.”

“Really?”

“Really what? Really do they deserve it more?”

Wasn’t exactly what Chloe was getting at, but never mind.

“There’s not much difference between groupies and fans.” Paul continued. “Except that fans think they’ve shared some kind of emotional connection with you and groupies just want the sex.” He shrugged. “I’ll sleep with anyone.”

“Oh.” Chloe said.

She didn’t really know what else to say to that.

Paul giggled. “Not really, you idiot!”

“So you don’t sleep with fans?” Chloe asked, almightily confused.

“Of course I don’t! What do you take me for?!”

“But in the car…”

“Oh, I was just making things up. I’ve got a reputation to keep y’know. Couldn’t tell Ben that I’d never dream of taking advantage of my position like that, it’d break his heart!”

Chloe smiled. “You really had me there! So you don’t really think about sleeping with me then?”

“Oh I do that!” Paul said with a grin.

Chloe pushed him playfully, but a tiny niggle popped suddenly into her mind.

“Paul…”

“Yep?”

“Has Ben ever… you know, slept with a fan?”

Paul looked at Chloe and frowned. “I think you know him better than I do, Clo.”

“Well I don’t really. I haven’t known him for as long as you have, and he’s never said anything about that kinda thing but… well, has he?”

“No, he hasn’t. You know he’s not like that. He knows he’s not like that, I don’t think it’d even enter his mind to do it. Anyway, I believe that honestly all his life he’s only had eyes for you.”

“Huh? He’s only known me a year!”

“Yeah, but he’s been waiting for you all his life.”

Oh God, Chloe thought she was about to cry! That was such a beautiful thing to say, and so tainted by what was happening with her and Mark. Chloe wished she could say she felt the same way about Ben, but the closer she got to Mark the more she was beginning to consider that he was the one she’d been waiting for; the right guy for her. And the fact that out of her own tactlessness she may have lost him only made her want him more.

Chloe and Paul both lapsed into silence until Paul said something so completely out of the blue that it was all Chloe could do to keep on walking.

“Is there something going on between you and Mark?”

Chloe could just imagine the shock on her face.

“What?!” she exclaimed, trying her best to sound indignant.

Paul started to look a bit remorseful and Chloe suddenly felt guilty.

“I’m sorry Chloe, but I have to ask.” He said.

Chloe gave a disgruntled “Hmph” and said, “No. There’s nothing going on between me and Mark.”

How things stood between them at that precise moment in time, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

“There’s not?”

“No! Why would I risk everything I have with Ben for Mark?”

Why was she saying this? She needed to stop talking now.

“I’d have to be a complete idiot! I mean, who would do something like that?”

Okay Chloe, enough.

“It’d break Ben’s heart, and split up the band, and would just be a really stupid thing to do and…” Chloe trailed off, realising she was ranting. “I can’t believe you’re accusing me of this.” She said quietly, without conviction.

“I’m not! I didn’t think anything was going on, I just had to check. He hasn’t said anything about you for a few days, but the way he looks at you…”

“What?” Chloe asked, suddenly desperate to hear how things looked from an onlooker’s point of view.

She almost needed proof that she hadn’t imagined the whole thing.

“I think he still cares for you." Paul said.

“Well we’re just friends.” Chloe said firmly. “It’s nothing more than that.”

Mark was walking up the hotel stairs towards the fourth floor. He seemed to have lost Ben and Chris somehow, but he wasn’t in a hurry to find them again. They were probably still outside signing autographs for the fans, but Mark had managed to slip away. He knew Chloe would be on her own in the hotel room, and he needed to talk to her.

He wanted to apologise for yesterday. What she’d said about not wanting Ben to know about them had hurt, but after thinking about it for a while Mark had realised that it wasn’t fair of him to push her, and he shouldn’t have shouted at her. She was bound to be a bit unsure of what she wanted; Mark couldn’t blame her for being confused, he just hoped that confusion wouldn’t out and make her give up everything they had.

He didn’t like the way things had been left between them and he was determined to put things right, even if it meant getting down on his knees and begging. He’d found out from reception that Chloe and Ben’s room was number 106 and so that was where he was on his way to now.

The phrase “Chloe and Ben’s room” ran through Mark’s mind again. It made him shudder. Every second he spent with Chloe made it harder to let her go back to Ben. He loved her so much that he just wanted her all to himself; he didn’t want to have to share her with anyone else. He didn’t want her to be with anyone else. But until she decided that she was ready to leave Ben to be with him, there was nothing much he could do about it except try to resist the urge to shout “DON’T TOUCH HER!” every time her saw Chloe and Ben together.

Reaching the door marked 106 in shiny silver metallic letters, Mark took a deep breath and knocked. There was a short pause and then the sound of someone fiddling with the lock on the other side. There was a click and the door swung open to reveal Chloe standing in the entrance to the room. Her hair was slightly tousled from the wind outside and she looked surprised to see him.

“Hi.” She said awkwardly, looking at him like she didn’t know what to expect.

Mark had been rehearing in his mind exactly what he was going to say to her, hand movements included, but at the sight of her all he wanted to do was hug her and never let go.

“I’m sorry.” He blurted. “Everything I said, I didn’t mean it, I take it back, I just love you…”

He stopped gabbling as Chloe flung her arms around his neck and pulled him tightly to her. Mark returned the hug, closing his eyes as Chloe nuzzled her head into his neck.

“I’m so sorry Chloe.” He said.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t matter.” Chloe murmured.

“I was so scared, I thought I’d blown everything, I didn’t mean to pressure you.”

“I know, I’m sorry too.” Chloe said, arms still around Mark. “I just need time.”

“Take as long as you need to.” He said.

“I didn’t mean it to sound…”

“I know. You don’t have to explain babe, I understand.” Mark said, running a hand through Chloe’s hair and down her back.

“You know I’m not ready to leave Ben yet, don’t you?” Chloe asked, a worried expression on her face.

Much as it pained him to hear her say those words, Mark nodded.

“However long it takes, I’ll wait for you.”

“Do you really mean that?” Chloe asked.

“I really mean it.” Mark assured her, moving closer and kissing her.

Every time they kissed, Mark entered a whole new realm of pleasure that he’d never experienced in anything else before. He loved the way it felt; her lips on his, the touch of her hand on the back of his head, her fingers in his hair. And he loved that he could put his arms around her and hold her so close he could almost feel her heart beating in time with his. Everything about her was perfection; the clothes she wore to compliment her figure, sexy in such an unassuming way, the way she had her hair that made it look so inviting that you just wanted to tangle your fingers up in it, the fact that she didn’t need a drop of make-up to look beautiful, the way her smile lit up her whole face and how her warm brown eyes told you that whatever happened, it’d all be okay.

“Can I see you tonight?” she asked.

“Tonight?”

That was most definitely a development for the better, usually it was him asking, or rather begging, to see her.

“After the gig or something?”

“Er…”

“Oh, it’s okay if you don’t want to. I mean, we don’t have to.” Chloe said quickly.

Mark smiled. “Don’t be silly, of course I want to! I was just thinking when I’d be able to get away. It might be kinda difficult.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Mark furrowed his brow in thought. There had to be some way they could see each other.

“I’m sharing a room with Paul, but how about I text you when he’s gone to sleep?” Mark suggested. “Then you can come to the room when Ben’s asleep too.”

Chloe nodded. “Okay.”

Suddenly a really really horrible thought entered Mark’s mind about what Chloe might be doing with Ben that night before she came to see him.

“Chloe, are you…” Mark paused.

He knew it wasn’t really any pf his business, and he wasn’t sure how Chloe would react. But he’d be allowed to ask her if they were sleeping together, wouldn’t he? Surely then he’d have a right to know? But did he have any right to so much as ask at the moment?

“What?” Chloe asked.

“Are you still…” Mark was cut off by the sound of the door opening.

Him and Chloe jumped apart as they saw Ben standing in the doorway.

Had he seen anything? Oh god, if he’d have got there a few seconds earlier… Please don’t let him have seen anything.

Mark looked at Ben, frantically trying to read his expression in the few moments before he spoke.

“So that’s where you’ve been hiding, Mark.” Ben said with a grin, walking into the room.

Phew. That had been too close!

“Er, yeah, I er, just thought, um, I’d… come and keep Chloe company.” Mark said feebly.

“How very generous of you.” Ben said, taking Mark’s place and putting his arms round Chloe. “You okay?” he asked, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Chloe nodded.

“Good. Where’s Paul?”

“In the bar.”

“Now there’s a plan if ever there was one.” Ben said. “Shall we go and join him?”

Chloe nodded again and as Ben dragged her out of the room, she gave Mark a look that said she was just as panicked at how close that had been as he was.

Down in the bar, the group were on their second round of drinks. The a1 guys had been firmly restricted by Del to one alcoholic beverage each before the gig that night, which had not gone down too well with Paul who was already on his second beer by the time everyone else had got there. He’d tried to argue that the rule should start from then, and then that he’d just drink Mark’s alcoholic drink for him seeing as he wouldn’t be wanting it, but to no avail.

You had to give it to him, thought Chloe, he did try. And try, and try…

“Just one more.” He was begging Del.

Del shook his head. “No.”

“Just one!”

“Paul, you have already had too many.”

“But I’m not even drunk yet!”

“You’re not meant to be drunk! You’ve got a show to do!”

“This is why I need one more! Come on, please, just one tiny weeny little… pint?”

Chloe laughed at the look on Del’s face.

“I think that’s a no my little alky friend.” She said to Paul.

“Well fine, but when the show’s crap tonight, we all know who to blame!!”

“The show won’t be crap, it’ll be fantastic.” Mark said. “Why are you so negative all the time?”

“Coz Del won’t let me drink!” Paul exclaimed. “See, Mark wants me to drink! He’s fed up of me being negative and… will leave the band if things don’t change!” he said triumphantly to Del.

Del pushed a glass of coke towards him.

“Not stopping you drinking.” He said.

“Oh you know that’s not what I meant!” Paul said exasperatedly.

“I knew no such thing. You were accusing me of not letting you drink - I think that’s unfair - to prove that point here is your drink.”

Paul sniffed the dark liquid in the glass.

“Has it got vodka in it?”

“No it bloody well hasn’t got vodka in it! I told you, you’re not drinking alcohol.”

“Well I think that’s very unfair and would like to lodge a formal complaint.” Paul said. “There’s gotta be someone you can write to about this.”

Chloe smiled at Paul’s comment, but it soon faded when she saw a girl approach the table and go up to Mark who was sitting opposite her. She was tall and slim, and was wearing a short denim skirt that laced up the front and a low cut black top. Her short brown hair was stylishly flicky and tinted red. She was just Mark’s type, pretty much everything that Chloe wasn’t.

Chloe felt jealously and insecurity rising up inside of her; what did she want?

Chloe strained to listen across the table, trying to block out the sound of Ben and Paul’s voices and watched as Mark looked up and the girl flashed him a radiant smile. Mark smiled back. That really cute ‘I-have-no-idea-what’s-going-on-but-I’ll-try-and-bluff-it’ smile.

“Hi!” said the girl.

“Hi.” Mark replied.

Chloe could tell by the expression on his face that he was trying to work out if he should know who she was or not.

“Me and my friend over there,” the girl pointed to a table across the room where an equally pretty blond girl was sitting. “Noticed you sitting here and wondered if you’d like to join us?”

Chloe almost gasped in horror, but stopped herself just in time. That girl was hitting on her boyfriend! Well, one of her boyfriends anyway.

“Um…” Mark said.

No, not um! Say no!

Sensing fresh meat, Paul looked up at the girl.

“Who’s your friend, Mark?” he asked, winking at her.

“Err…”

Great time to be lost for words Mark, well done.

“I’m Emily.” She said to Paul. “I was just offering to buy… Mark a drink, but he doesn’t seem to be interested.”

Damn right he’s not bloody interested. Chloe thought crossly. Well go on then, tell her to get lost. What are you waiting for?!

“I’m very sorry, my friend’s an idiot. He would love a drink.” Paul said. “Mine’s a pint.”

Oh no, Paaaaaaul!

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” Emily asked, batting her stupid eyelashes at stupid stupid Mark.

“I, er…”

Oh he was such an idiot, show him a bit of flesh and he’s all yours. What was she messing around with him for?

Chloe realised then that not once had she shown Mark any kind of flesh. Well, apart from when she went swimming in a lake with him in her underwear. So he must…. Oh never mind, he was still an idiot.

“Liz, that’s my friend over there, was wondering if you’re single.” Emily said coyly.

Was she still talking?!

Mark looked at Chloe.

What did he think she was going to do?! If he said he was single, he was dead. But then again, if he didn’t say that, Ben, Paul and Chris would start to ask questions.

He was going to have to say he was single, wasn’t he?

As it turned out, Mark didn’t have to say anything as Paul butted in.

“What is wrong with you man?” he asked Mark. Turning to Emily he said, “Yes, he is single. And as it happens, so am I.”

Emily gave Paul a look of disdain. “Er… great. So, do you wanna come over?” she asked, leaning in towards Mark.

Stupid heartless cow, knocking Paul back like that. She’d be lucky to get someone half as great as him. And she wasn’t having Mark.

Having said that, Chloe had had enough of Mark acting like a rabbit confronted with a fox. Stupid bloody men.

“I think I am going to the loo.” She said, getting up abruptly and glaring at Mark, before walking away from the table.

I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him I hate him. Chloe thought as she felt tears come to her eyes, much to her dismay. Why did she care so much? She thought she was aloof, casual. Why was she reacting so ridiculously to a girl talking to Mark? And why did she feel desperately insecure? Ben never made her feel like that…

Argh, Mark was NO GOOD for her!

Chloe realised that she didn’t actually know where the toilets were and she could be walking in totally the wrong direction, which made her feel even more stupid and a lot more cross. She didn’t even need to go to the stupid toilet, she just wanted to get away from stupid Emily and her stupid friend Liz, and her stupid flirting with stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid times a million Mark.

“Toilets are that way.” Mark said from behind her.

“ARE YOU EVERYWHERE I AM?!” Chloe shouted, her already short fuse snapping completely and bursting into flames.

Mark almost took a step back.

“Woah babe, calm down.” He said, venturing forward again and placing a hand on Chloe’s shoulder.

She shrugged it off and he put it back. She shrugged it off again and he put it back again.

ARGH!!

“Why are you being all funny towards me?” Mark asked. “What was that glare for?”

“Oh, so you noticed that, huh? Thought you’d be too busy staring into Emily’s eyes.”

“Her?” Mark asked, raising an eyebrow and letting out a small laugh, which only served to incense Chloe even further. “Are you… jealous?” he asked incredulously.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me.” Chloe warned. “Is this pay back for yesterday? Is that what it is? I’m not quite willing to give up everything to be with you so you go off with another girl?”

“No, babe!” Mark protested. “She’s just some cheap piece of meat I couldn’t care less about. You,” he said, tracing a finger lightly down Chloe’s arm and looking into her angry eyes. “are beautiful.”

Oh who was he trying to kid? What did he take her for? If he thought…

Mark leaned forward and kissed Chloe, making her forget she was ever cross with him.

“I love you, you know that.” He said, giving her hand a squeeze. “I’ll see you tonight.”

And then he’d gone. Back to the table, back to her, leaving Chloe standing miles away from the toilets, still with absolutely no idea where they were.