Romancing the Soul

by Sarah Tranter

  Susie had just raised herself from the bed when Rachael burst into the room, with Cassie in her wake.

  ‘It’s broken!’ Rachael cried. ‘It’s broken!’ Before Susie knew it she was wrapped in one of Rachael’s hugs. And this one was tight. Really tight. ‘It’s finally broken! You aren’t going to die. Not quite yet, anyway. Oh Suse, I love you!’

  Susie couldn’t help but return the hug. ‘I love you, too,’ she murmured, realising on a grimace that there wasn’t anything Rachael could do that would ever change that. Not that they wouldn’t still be having words.

  Looking over to George she saw he was in a similar clinch with Cassie, although it seemed she was also emotively beating his chest. He met her gaze with an accompanying eye roll. Susie started giggling, she couldn’t help it.

  Rachael, finally loosening her grip, stood back, wearing a grin ear to ear. She was also swiping tears from her eyes. ‘Porsche left straight away to head back to wherever she is staying and Michael disappeared off in his car a few moments ago. It wasn’t repeating! It couldn’t have been. It was all just down to so many of us being around again. Cassie and her flaming history repeating itself concept, I always said it was similarities.’ A choked sound escaped Cassie. ‘Anyway! We need to celebrate life, the universe – the history not repeating one – and everything. You two up for it?’ She glanced from Susie to George.

  They both started shaking their heads, but George’s head movement was interrupted by the sound of his phone.

  ‘I think we’ll pass,’ Susie said, as George cursed.

  ‘Text message from Francis,’ he said in explanation. ‘Everyone’s hit the club, but he’s calling them back. I’m needed on set.’

  ‘It’s past eleven o’clock!’ Susie pointed out indignantly.

  ‘He does this sometimes. About this stage in a film, too. He gets something in his head and he needs it done instantly. But his timing’s not bad.’ He shot her a rueful glance. ‘The sooner I tell him I’m pulling out, the sooner we can be out of here. And I need to tell him this face-to-face.’

  ‘You’re pulling out? What? Of the film?’ Cassie asked, evidently shocked.

  ‘Absolutely,’ he replied. ‘I refuse to be around Porsche and Michael a moment longer.’

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ Susie said.

  George shook his head. ‘Nope. This one I need to do alone. You celebrate with these two.’ He grinned at the face she pulled. ‘Or you could make a start on the packing?’ His grin broadened further at the look now upon her face. But his humour abruptly turned to a frown. ‘Although actually …’

  ‘George?’ she prompted as his frown deepened and his words died away. She moved to him and he wrapped his arms around her distractedly.

  ‘With Tom, Dick and Harry out of action, perhaps it’s best if you stay in the room. At least until the reinforcements arrive? In fact you could all celebrate up here … use room service to order whatever you want?’

  ‘We can order anything on room service?’ Rachael clarified.

  ‘Anything,’ he confirmed.

  ‘Well, let’s party then girls!’ she cried.

  ‘George?’ Susie prompted, for his ears only.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I’m probably being overly cautious but stay with these two, yeah?’

  Susie slowly nodded, knowing she was frowning herself now. ‘Be careful, please.’

  George raised his eyebrows.

  ‘Porsche will be there.’ And she didn’t like that idea. Not one little bit.

  He grinned and shook his head. ‘As soon as I’ve spoken to Francis, I’ll be back.’

  With a last kiss on her forehead he headed for the door.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  ‘I reckon there’d be more atmosphere in the bar,’ Rachael observed, after draining her latest glass of room service champagne. ‘And peanuts. I forgot to order them. And music. In fact, I spied a jukebox down there earlier. This is meant to be a celebration.’

  ‘George suggested we stay in the room,’ Cassie reminded.

  ‘She’ll be with us and anyway there’s plenty of security around downstairs should the press make an appearance. What do you think, Suse?’

  ‘I’m in,’ she said, with no hesitation at all, getting up from the bed and heading to the door. There wasn’t enough up here to distract her from her worries about George. She was finding them particularly hard to shrug off right now. ‘I wonder how much longer he’ll be?’ she voiced, as the three of them swept through the lobby and reception area towards the adjacent bar.

  ‘Why are you so worried about—?’

  ‘Hey!’ a shout sounded behind them, cutting off Cassie’s words. Susie spun around in surprise.

  ‘So George didn’t get the early night he was hankering after, then?’

  ‘Graham?’ Susie couldn’t help the frown.

  He grinned, shrugging his hands into his jeans pockets as he sauntered over. ‘Plenty would take that look personally.’

  Susie shook her head and forced a smile. ‘Sorry. Just didn’t expect to see you.’

  ‘I thought I’d give the club a miss. Not much fun when tee-totalling it.’

  She shook her head again. ‘Weren’t you needed?’

  ‘Is this insult Graham night?’

  She shook her head more forcefully and grinned. ‘No, I just thought you’d be needed on set.’

  He looked at her blankly.

  ‘The text message. Francis calling you all back,’ she prompted, determined to ignore that plummeting sensation in her gut.

  Graham shook his head. ‘Know nothing about it. And he’d have a riot on his hands if he pulled that stunt tonight.’ Having retrieved his phone from his pocket while talking, he scanned through his messages.

  ‘There’s nothing here,’ he said, before heading towards a seriously-worse-for-wear party of five who had yet to work out how to enter the hotel through its sheer glass door. Ouch. That would have hurt.

  ‘Mac?’ Graham said to one as he opened the door for them. ‘You know anything about going back to set?’

  ‘No sireeeee! And that’s not funny.’

  ‘You’ve not had a text from Francis?’

  He shook his head dramatically.

  ‘Have you seen him?’

  ‘Big F? I most certainly have. He was giving us all a lie-in, but flipping out because he couldn’t find his phone.’

  ‘Who’s still at the club?’

  ‘Everyone! Bar lover boy, of course, and we all know what he’ll be …’ Mac’s words died on spotting Susie. She moved her hand in a little wave. ‘Sorry,’ he mouthed, before attempting to control a series of hiccups. ‘The bitch is obviously above being there, too, but she’d have been a no-show after her total flip-out anyway.’

  ‘Bad?’ Graham’s tone indicated flip-outs might not be uncommon.

  ‘The worst! You should hear Evie go on about it.’ Mac started calling, ‘Evie? Evie?’

  Evidently Evie had been one of the party who had got themselves into the lift and had just mastered closing the doors behind them. Whether they’d get themselves out of it again was another matter.

  ‘Evie normally takes it all but tonight she got seriously spooked. She said she’s never seen The Demon-atrix like it.’

  Susie made a mental note to remember that way of referring to Porsche.

  ‘She completely trashed that all-singing, all-dancing pad she’s in and was going on and on about betrayal and if she couldn’t have him, nobody could.’

  Susie’s skin prickled and her heart raced. Rachael and Cassie were suddenly close at her side.

  ‘And we know just who she was speaking about there.’ Mac’s attempt at whispering the last sentence didn’t work. ‘Evie fled. Said it wasn’t safe to be around her. Michael what�
��s-his-name sour-face turned up, said he’d get a doctor out. Evie reckons Porsche will get dosed to the nines, if not straight-jacketed.’

  ‘So no one, as far as you know, has had to head back tonight?’

  ‘Nope! And nobody is capable of … Sorry. The bog! The nearest—?’

  Graham turned a green-looking Mac in the right direction and gave him a shove towards the right door, before rejoining them.

  Susie sighed and shook her head. She would not let herself worry. George had most probably got the wrong end of the stick. ‘Thanks, Graham. I’d better call him.’ She found Cassie’s phone plonked into her hands.

  ‘He’s so not himself at the—’

  ‘No!’ Cassie gasped.

  ‘Crap!’ Rachael exclaimed.

  Susie looked up and—

  ‘What’s up?’ Michael asked, as the hotel’s glass door swung closed behind him. He didn’t stop walking until he was standing in front of them.

  Before Susie, Cassie or Rachael were fit for purpose, Graham started explaining to him about George heading back to the set.

  Michael raised his eyebrows a fraction. ‘Porsche headed that way, too,’ he said casually.

  He then wished them a goodnight and went to reception where he immersed himself in a tête-à-tête with the receptionist.

  As George’s phone clicked onto voicemail yet again and Susie resorted to leaving yet another garbled message, she told herself to remain calm. Facts. She’d look at the facts and not let her emotions get the better of her. George had been lured to a deserted site, and the bitch, who’d completely lost it and spoke of nobody having him but her, was headed his way.

  She hadn’t a hope of remaining calm! Terminating her message with a desperate, ‘Call me! Urgently!’ she leapt from the seat Cassie and Rachael had deposited her in, only to find herself yanked back down.

  ‘Sit down!’ they hissed in unison. Susie looked from their hands, wrapped around each of her wrists, to their faces: freaked out.

  Oh God! They weren’t back to this? Please no!

  ‘I know this looks bad,’ Cassie continued with deliberate calm. ‘But this is not what it purports to be. You do know this is not some clandestine meeting between Porsche and George? That—’

  ‘Of course I do!’ The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind … until now. And then there was naked Porsche. Betrayal … She ordered her head into silence. She could not lose sight of what was happening here. George was in danger.

  ‘They are deliberately trying to lure you to the set, to the lake, to—’

  ‘For God’s sake – open your eyes! This is not like last time. Can’t you see that? This time George is in danger, not me!’

  ‘George can look after himself,’ Rachael stated. ‘It’s you we’ve got to stop drowning. So you are going to come back to the room with us, right now.’

  ‘And we’re going to check in on Tom, Dick and Harry en route,’ Cassie added. ‘We’ll wait with them until the reinforcements arrive.’

  ‘You what?’ Susie exploded, frantically trying to release her wrists from their grips. Why couldn’t they see what was happening here? ‘We can’t abandon him! Why can’t you see it? It’s as plain as day. Porsche has lost it. Completely lost it! You heard what was said: if she can’t have him nobody can! And instead of getting medical help, she’s lured George away and— Oh God! What if she’s armed?’

  Cassie blanched.

  ‘You guys keep reminding me how dangerous she is, and I believe you. But not to me! George hasn’t slept in days thanks to you two. He’s not at his best and is too much of a gentleman to thump her when needs be. And he’s not going to know how volatile she is. He’s not going to know what we know. He’ll have no idea how to handle her …’

  Susie felt the tears roll down her cheeks. She couldn’t help it. She was terrified for George. Through blurred eyes she watched Cassie and Rachael stare at each other.

  ‘You’ve been helping George with his misguided need to keep me safe. Yet now, when it’s George in danger – real danger – you won’t help me? Not only that, you are physically stopping me from going to help him?’ How could they not help? And they couldn’t seriously expect her to just sit back and leave Porsche to it? George would not have abandoned her and there was no way she was going to abandon him. She couldn’t do it. Wouldn’t do it. She’d move heaven and earth to help him. He was her life, there was no two ways about it. Loss … And she was not about to lose him! However this played out, she was going to George.

  ‘We don’t know Porsche is going to be there,’ Cassie finally said.

  Susie shook her head. ‘But we don’t know she isn’t. And … And …’ Snot dripped from her nose and she couldn’t wipe the blessed thing because they were still holding her wrists. She sniffed noisily, but it didn’t ease the problem. ‘I’ll tell you this now. If something happens to George tonight,’ Loss … ‘I will find a lake to throw myself into. I swear, as God is my witness, that I will—’

  ‘Stop!’ Cassie cried. ‘Stop! Stop! Stop!’

  ‘And then you really will have history repeating yourself, won’t you?’ Susie murmured.

  ‘I’ll go,’ Cassie said. ‘I’ll go and check that—’

  ‘You are not leaving me on my own with her!’ Rachael fumed. ‘I wouldn’t put anything past her right now.’

  ‘I’m not being left with anybody! I am going to help George and there’s nothing you can do or say to stop me. I’ve managed to escape from—’

  ‘Once!’ Rachael snapped. ‘Once you got away from Tom, Dick and Harry.’

  ‘That’s what they say,’ Susie clarified. ‘And just who do you think put them out of action tonight?’

  Cassie and Rachael simply stared at her.

  Susie had to concede that she’d not expected the laxatives to make them vomit too, but …

  ‘How could you do something so … stupid?’ Rachael finally fumed. ‘So beyond stupid and—’

  ‘Tonight of all nights?’ Susie added sarcastically, knowing full well that would be the next line. ‘Because history is not and does not repeat itself. And I couldn’t take any more! And I had the opportunity. So what is it? Are we going to go and help George together, or are you going to force me to go there alone? Because I will.’

  And it was so simple she suddenly realised. Looking at them through narrowed eyes, she said, ‘If you do not agree to my terms in ten seconds flat, I will start screaming this place down. Security will force you to release me, and then I’m gone. I’m going straight to him, alone if needs be, because … because …’ She sucked back the tears. ‘I won’t have him face Porsche alone, not when he’s going to need all the help he can get. And if anything happens to him, I swear that I will—’

  Susie found her left wrist released by Cassie, who then turned to Rachael.

  ‘For the record – Soul Mates? I hate them! Despise them! All sense goes straight out the window! If I ever encounter one destined for me – put me down! I mean it. Just put me down!’

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  As the headlights of the taxi going in the opposite direction passed them, George frowned. Where was everyone? It had become evident only one small Portakabin had lights on. ‘Stop over there,’ he instructed the driver, while pointing towards the lit window.

  It had taken an age for the hotel to secure a taxi and he’d thought he’d be one of the last to arrive. But then again, getting everyone out of the club was neither going to be quick or easy.

  Settling up with the driver, George bounded up the steps and opened the door.

  Empty. He moved into the room and sat down on one of a dozen or so chairs grouped loosely around the Formica table in the centre of the room. He spotted a kettle and mugs. He got up, switched the kettle on and then returned to his seat.

  He took a deep shudde
ry breath as he sat back in the chair. This nightmare was finally over. It had all been coincidence. He took some more deep breaths. He was torn between elation and the need to start bawling out of sheer bloody relief.

  Instead he frowned as he had another fruitless rummage through his pockets for his phone. He wanted to check on Susie … just in case. His gut was taking a while to catch up on the facts. It was to be expected, though, the last few weeks had been … horrific. But the sooner it realised there was no need to panic, that Susie was safe, the better. He couldn’t wait to shrug off this incessant fear.

  When had he last had his phone? He’d definitely had it at reception when he was waiting for the taxi, but had got distracted as the receptionist pushed mounds of paper in his direction for him to autograph for all her friends. He’d put it down. Had he picked it up again?

  He couldn’t remember.

  ‘You came!’ Porsche’s voice gushed as she entered the room through a door he hadn’t noticed. ‘He said you would. Oh George …’

  George thrust his chair backwards and leapt to his feet as Porsche, slurring her words, rushed towards him. She was wearing a long coat, with not much else underneath if the intermittent flashes of bare flesh were anything to go on.

  George scooted around the table, putting it between them. He took several calming breaths for the benefit of his pounding heart and attempted to introduce reason to the equation. The others would be here any minute. History was no longer repeating itself and even if it were, Susie was safely back at the hotel. This was therefore nothing more sinister than a highly unpleasant interlude he’d have to survive. Okaaaay.

  The kettle boiling behind him clicked off. He’d start by making coffee. That would occupy him for a few minutes by which time the others should have arrived and he wouldn’t have to look at Porsche in the meantime.

  ‘Coffee?’ George murmured the question, adding coffee to a second mug to which he now added water.

  ‘Coffee?’ she shrieked.

  George spun around. It wasn’t the word, but its banshee-like sound and … her eyes were wild, her face contorted.