One... The Collection: Three fun, flirty novellas, page 11
I dash into the bathroom while my straighteners are heating up, arriving back at my room just as Adam is emerging from his bedroom.
‘Morning,’ he calls out.
‘Hi,’ I call back. ‘How are you?’
‘All good. Am I alright to have a shower?’
Even though we all had a great time last night, things are still a bit weird between us – well, Marty didn’t help, asking if we were a couple, and all the girls were all over Adam (the combination of him being well-known around here and his black eye make him irresistible, it turns out) only made me sick with jealousy.
‘Sure,’ I reply. ‘I’ve already been in.’
He doesn’t say another word, he just heads into the bathroom. I don’t know what I was expecting but, I don’t know, him declaring his love for me (or even lust, at this point) would have been nice.
I begin sectioning off my hair, curling a bit at a time before pinning each curl to cool. I’ve just finished the last one when there is a knock on my bedroom door. I’m still in my underwear at this stage, so I hurriedly wrap a towel around myself before opening it.
‘Hey-oh!’ Mel squeals excitedly. Adam, who is looking incredible in nothing but his pants, is standing next to her, and she is visibly drooling over him.
‘I found this at the front door,’ he jokes before heading back towards his bedroom.
‘See you later, sexy,’ Mel calls after him with a wiggle of her eyebrows. ‘Fuck me, he’s fit,’ she says without bothering to wait until Adam can’t hear us.
‘What are you doing here?’ I can’t help but ask immediately.
‘Oh, hi Mel,’ Mel babbles. ‘How are you, Mel? – Oh, I’m fine.’
‘Sorry,’ I backtrack. ‘Hi, Mel. How are you, Mel? What are you doing here, Mel?’ I say with a chuckle.
‘Well, I thought I’d pop over and give you a tan, for your big day,’ she tells me. ‘I promise I’ve got the mixture right this time.’
‘Oh, thank you, that’s great,’ I lie.
At least now that she knows where she went wrong last time, she can do it properly this time, and what’s the worst that can happen anyway? If it starts looking a bit orangey I’ll wash it off, it wiped off like it was nothing last time.
‘So, where’s Si?’ Mel asks.
‘Erm, he had to go somewhere, we’re going to meet him at the fundraiser.’
‘Well, I drove here, so I’ll give you a ride,’ Mel offers as she slathers the lotion all over my legs. ‘I’m going to need you naked for this.’
‘Did I hear that right?’ Adam calls from the other side of the bedroom door.
‘Yeah, you did, perv,’ Mel calls back.
‘Hey, I was just getting something from outside the room, I can’t help what I overhear,’ he chuckles. ‘You two carry on.’
‘Mmm,’ Mel groans loudly. ‘Leah, let me smother this lovely lotion all over your lovely boobs.’
She’s actually still doing my legs but I can’t help but giggle, and I can hear Adam laughing on the other side of the door.
‘He’s good fun isn’t he?’ Mel whispers to me as she starts actually applying lotion to my upper half.
‘He really is,’ I reply, but the sigh and the big smile that accompany my words give Mel cause for concern.
‘You and him,’ she starts, ‘you’re not…’
‘No, no, no,’ I insist.
‘Okay, cool,’ she replies. ‘Look, I know I’m not single, but just in case I ever am, can you put in a good word for me?’
I blink at her.
‘Like, if you could just suggest it, in the car on the way to the beach,’ he continues. ‘You never know, right?’
‘You really don’t,’ I reply with a laugh.
Obviously Mel isn’t single, so I don’t have anything to worry about there, but all this does is remind me that Adam is the sort of guy who has girls lining up around the block. How can I ever compete with that?
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The only thing less surprising than the fact I “forgot” to talk to Adam about him potentially dating Mel, if she’s ever single, is the fact that, once again, my tan has failed to develop. Still, at least I won’t have to spend the day worrying about if it was going to look a mess or not.
It may be the hottest day of the summer so far, but as Adam and I walked along the beach, to the backstage area, it was positively frosty. Things were great between us before all this mess and I really miss that. Instead of having a laugh and enjoying each other’s company like we used to, we’re just walking in silence – me not knowing what to say, and him just probably not wanting to talk to me generally.
Temporary fencing has been put up around the festival site, to keep the general public out, and a bouncer actually has to tick out names off the guestlist before we can go inside. Inside, the beach is unrecognisable (apart from the sand, obviously). At one side there are tables and chairs with big, beautiful parasols covering them, stalls have been set up around a pop-up bar, and there’s a barbeque going that smells delicious. Finally, at the far side of the enclosed area we have a team of construction workers who are set up in front of what I’m guessing is supposed to be the final stages of the build, but it definitely looks like a pointless photo op to me. Kerry had this wonderful idea that, to keep this a community project, everyone could have a go at helping to build the backstage area – heavily supervised, of course, lest it all come crashing down. Sadly for her though, it doesn’t look like most of the VIPs have paid much attention to the dress code because they’ve all come dressed in their best. Adam and I look at one another, both making the realisation that everyone else is dressed in their summer finery at the same time. It’s okay for him, he’s wearing jeans and a T-shirt, he looks good. I, on the other hand… I look like I’m going to a Wild West fancy dress party. For swingers.
‘I’m going to grab a beer,’ Adam tells me bluntly. ‘Can I get you anything?’
It’s nice of him to offer but, judging by the tone he asked in, it doesn’t sound like he wants me to say yes.
‘I’m fine, thanks,’ I reply.
Adam gives me a nod and then wanders off. I suppose I’ll go and get my own drink, but something soft, I’m planning on avoiding alcohol today, because this is technically work after all.
I glance around the park to see if I can spot Si and notice a woman approaching me. The lady, who is all smiles, looks like she is in her sixties. She’s very conservatively dressed, in a turquoise twinset and a navy pencil skirt, and her brown hair is cut quite short with choppy layers. She is followed closely by a gang of women wearing matching twinsets in different colours, like a sort of middle-aged, unmasked Power Rangers.
‘Hello,’ the leader of the pack says, ‘I’m Lorraine. Si and Adam’s mum.’
‘Oh.’ It completely slipped my mind that she was going to be here. ‘Hello.’
‘You didn’t recognise me?’ she asks. ‘I take it the boys don’t have my photo on the mantle,’ she says to her friends, who dutifully laugh.
‘Well, it’s nice to finally meet you,’ I say sincerely. I’m not sure we’re going to have much in common, but if we’re going to be seeing each other from time to time it’s best to be pleasant, isn’t it?
‘Ladies, this is Leah,’ Lorraine tells her friends. ‘She’s the one living with my boys, rent-free, messing with their heads.’
Erm…
Lorraine’s friends all give me a disapproving look.
‘I’m not living there rent-free,’ I tell her. ‘And I’m not… I’m not messing with their heads?’
Lorraine’s grin widens. It’s a very sinister-looking, Cheshire Cat sort of ear-to-ear grin. So I think it’s pretty safe to say that she doesn’t like me but, well, I don’t think I like her either.
I walk off, grabbing a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter, before swiftly throwing it back. Boy, this is going to be a long day.
As I sip my second glass of champagne – slowly because the first one went straight to my head and now I’m feeling a little dizzy – I notice Kerry hurrying towards me.
‘Leah,’ she calls out. Then she clocks my drink. ‘You’re not drunk, are you?’
‘Of course not,’ I reply. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘No one is having a go at the construction and the photographer from the local press needs a photo of that before he can go. You’ll have to do it.’
‘Me?’ I reply. ‘Won’t it look better if it’s someone who doesn’t work for you?’
‘No one knows who you are,’ she reminds me. ‘Anyway, no one else is dressed for it and you’re a pretty young thing, it’ll be good for the photos. Please?’
‘Erm, yeah, okay then.’
Did I just fall for a compliment? Shit.
‘You’re a star. I’ll shout you when we’re ready for you.’
I suppose whacking something with a hammer for a photo opportunity is the least I can do for the woman after she gave me a job. Plus, it’s not like I’ve got anything better to do. Si is busy talking with other grown-ups, and is yet to even acknowledge that I’m here, and Adam is busy being introduced to people as the host of the festival. I’m just wandering around on my own, trying to avoid the lovely Lorraine because I’m not sure I’d be quite so reserved if we interacted again.
Grabbing my compact mirror from my handbag, I touch up my lip gloss and make sure my curls haven’t dropped too much in the ridiculously hot weather we’re having today. Meh, I’ll do.
‘Leah,’ Kerry calls over, ‘we’re ready for you.’
As I wander over to the makeshift building site, I adjust my short-shorts to make sure they’re not riding up, and I double-check each button on my shirt to make sure they’re all still fastened – the last thing I need right now is a wardrobe malfunction.
‘This is Chuck,’ Kerry tells me as she gestures towards a muscular man wearing a hard hat. Despite his work-appropriate headgear, Chuck looks a bit like what I imagine a builder stripper would look like – in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was one. He’s wearing cut-off jeans and his shirt is tied around his waist, and while he’s probably a little older than Adam, he could certainly give him a run for his money in the six-pack department.
‘Hello darling,’ Chuck says in his strong, East London accent.
‘Hi,’ I reply. ‘You’re not from round here, are you?’
‘I’m not, what gave me away?’ he jokes.
‘It’s those muscles,’ I say flirtatiously as I prod one of his biceps with a finger. ‘We don’t get men that hot around here.’
Chuck laughs as he rubs his stubbly chin.
‘This is our Leah,’ an amused Kerry explains – I’d forgotten she was watching. ‘Give her something impressive to do for a photo op.’
‘I can think of a few things,’ Chuck whispers as Kerry wanders off.
As the photographer gets ready a crowd of people accumulate around us, just waiting for us to do something interesting.
‘Be gentle,’ I tease. ‘I’m just a girl.’
‘Here.’ Chuck takes off his hard hat. ‘You can wear this.’
‘Is that necessary?’
‘No, but I bet you’ll look sexy in it.’
As he pops the hat on my head I realise that both Adam and Si are in the crowd of people watching us. Considering Adam has been putting all his effort into trying to make me jealous these past few days, and Si has been positively frosty with me, I don’t suppose it will do either of them any harm to see me flirting with Chuck.
‘Here.’ Chuck picks up a drill and hands it to me. ‘You can do some work on the frame.’
‘Yikes!’ I squeak as I take the drill and realise it’s really heavy. ‘I can hardly hold this thing, are you sure it’s safe for me to do this?’
Chuck leans in close to whisper to me.
‘Don’t worry, you’re not really doing anything,’ he reassures me. ‘This is just for the photos – the toilets are actually going here.’
I feel instantly relieved that I won’t be doing any actual work but nerves sweep over me again as the crowd grows and Lorraine takes up the spot next to Si. That’s three pairs of evil eyes on me now.
‘Ready whenever you are,’ the photographer instructs me, but I struggle to hold the drill high enough.
‘Don’t you have a smaller tool? This one is too big for my tiny, girly hands,’ I say, instantly realising how rude that sounded.
‘That’s what they all say,’ Chuck jokes. ‘We’ll do it together.’
Chuck stands behind me, so close his body is pressed up against my back, and he puts his arms around me and his hands on mine to support the weight of the drill.
‘How’s that?’ he whispers into my ear.
‘Not bad,’ I joke, but I can feel my cheeks getting warm because I can see Si, Lorraine and Adam all staring at me.
As we start drilling at absolutely nothing in particular, I can’t help but giggle. The drill is so powerful I can feel my entire body shaking, if it wasn’t for Chuck I’d be drilling my way to New Zealand by now.
The photographer snaps a couple of photos and it’s over in an instant.
‘Thank you for your help,’ I tell Chuck as I hand him his hard hat back – hopefully it didn’t do too much damage to my hair.
‘You’re welcome,’ he replies. ‘If you–’
‘Excuse me,’ Si interrupts us. ‘I just need to borrow Leah for a moment.’
‘No worries,’ Chuck replies as he watches Si drag me away from the crowd.
‘Leah–’
‘Oh, so you are still talking to me,’ I interrupt.
‘Leah, look, Mum asked me to have a word with you, she said you were rude to her.’
‘I was rude to her?’ I reply.
‘Yeah, and I don’t think wearing an outfit like that, and flirting with a builder is doing much to impress her either,’ he adds.
I glance down at my Daisy Duke get-up. I’m not actually flashing that much skin. Sure you can see my legs, but only as much as you’d expect considering I’m wearing shorts, and my shirt covers me, it’s not like my bra is on show.
‘First of all, it’s like 30 degrees out here today,’ I remind him. ‘Secondly, the invitation said to come dressed to work and I’m the only one who did, which is not only why my outfit stands out a bit, but it’s also the reason my boss had me pose for that stupid photo. This is a fundraiser, not a porno.’
‘I know,’ he starts, but I don’t let him finish.
‘And I’m not trying to impress her – why would I be trying to impress her?’
‘It’s just, you know, we’re all living in her house, technically,’ he says. ‘If she speaks to you again, will you be nice?’
I grit my teeth for a moment, and then I smile.
‘Sure,’ I say sweetly.
With my champagne buzz wearing off and a few hours still to go there’s only one thing for it… time to prop up the bar.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
As I throw back the last of my vodka and orange I notice Lorraine, out of the corner of my eye, here for round two.
‘Oh, dear, getting drunk at a fundraiser is not a good look for a young woman,’ she points out.
‘I haven’t had much yet so…’ I wave at the barman. ‘Another one of these, please.’
‘I think she’s had enough,’ Lorraine insists.
‘You got that right,’ I say with a sigh. ‘I would like another drink though.’
‘Do you think you might have a drink problem?’ she asks in a faux sweet tone.
‘Yeah, my problem is that I don’t have a drink,’ I reply.
‘I mean a problem with your drinking,’ Lorraine insists.
I roll my eyes.
‘It sounds like you’re the one who has a problem with my drinking, Lorraine,’ I point out. ‘Come on, what’s your issue?’
The barman happily pours me another. I take my straw from my empty glass, put it in my new one and resume drinking.
Lorraine seems to wait until the barman has gone to serve someone else before she speaks.
‘Look, I admit, I may have come in a little hot, but I’m just worried about my boys,’ she tells me. ‘Adam is a sweet young man, who cares deeply, and I don’t want him getting hurt. And Si, well, he means well, but there is a reason he and your brother stopped talking.’
‘Why?’ I ask.
‘It’s not my place to say,’ she continues. ‘I just would kindly ask that you leave the two of them alone, if you don’t mind. I don’t want my boys falling out.’
‘I’m not doing anything,’ I insist. ‘I’m just renting a room, while I find a place of my own.’
‘You know I do aerobics with your mother,’ Lorraine tells me. ‘We had a lovely little chat about you, from one concerned parent to the other, and she told me all about your trouble in London... Never good to hear, for a concerned parent, or a potential lover, or a potential employer for that matter.’
What is she doing? Is she threatening me?
‘Don’t make trouble for my boys, okay?’ she says firmly.
I nod my head.
‘These stories do have a way of getting out eventually though, don’t they?’ she says as she gets up from her seat. ‘And they get so twisted over time. But that won’t happen to you, not on my watch.’
Suitably smug, Lorraine wanders off.
‘Another one of these, please,’ I tell the barman.
I grab my drink, spin around on my seat, and watch Lorraine as she chats to her friends.
‘Hey,’ Adam says as he sits down next to me.
‘Hey,’ I reply.
‘Is she being friendly?’ he asks.
I nod my head.
