Broken Truth

by Beth Ashworth

  Around four hours later, Charlie woke and found herself still alone in the bedroom. Looking around the room she noticed that nothing had changed in the time she had been asleep. Callum’s suit lay draped over the chaise longue with his shirt and boxers discarded on the floor beside it. The sheets on his side of the bed were still crumpled from his quick escape earlier this morning.

  Getting herself out of bed, Charlie padded softly into the en-suite to freshen herself up. Taking off her glasses, she ran her hands under the cold water tap and splashed a little against her face. Blindly grabbing at the hand rail beside her, she located a small towel and began to pat her face dry so that she could put her contact lenses in.

  A dark fuzzy shadow caught her attention in the large bathroom mirror. She didn’t have her contacts or glasses, but there was no mistaking who it was. Pretending to ignore his presence she continued to dab at her face.

  “I’m sorry, Baby,” he breathed into her ear as he snaked two strong arms around her waist. “You know I can’t just ignore work. If the phone rings then I have to answer it.”

  Reaching for her contact lenses, Charlie opened the case and carefully placed one in each eye. Blinking a few times, she saw Callum’s reflection watching her intently in the mirror. Choosing to ignore him, she headed for her walk-in wardrobe.

  Closing the door behind her, Charlie turned around and smiled within the comfort of her safe haven. Rows upon rows of neatly organised clothes assaulted her eyes instantly. Veering towards the mahogany rails on the left hand side of the wardrobe, she set her eyes on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a lacy cream cut out vest and matching dark brown boots and handbag.

  Attending lunch with her best friends, Lucy and Amelia, was always traumatic as the preparations involved were extremely time consuming. With all three of them working as stylists in the fashion industry, the competition between their outfits was always strong as they fought to come out on top.

  Preening her body and hair to perfection, Charlie admired her handiwork of the past hour in the large freestanding mirror. She didn’t feel supermodel beautiful, but she was happy enough with the outcome. Her chestnut coloured hair had been straightened and then curled within an inch of its life, so that it now lay in glamorous bouncing curls down her back. Snatching the Cartier studs from her jewellery drawer, Charlie fixed one in each ear before collecting her handbag and heading towards the living room in search of Callum.

  As Charlie wandered along the hallway of the vast triplex penthouse, she took in the breathtaking scenery all around that she loved. Floor length windows littered every room giving a panoramic view over the whole of Manchester.

  Unfortunately, the beautifulness of the city outside was not reciprocated indoors with the decor of Callum’s home. Each and every room was designed to be modern yet extremely minimal. Coloured in neutral tones and stainless steel, the penthouse gave off the young, single, bachelor feel, which probably would be the case if Charlie wasn’t living there full time.

  Without him noticing, she had slowly been making the apartment more homely. Starting off small, she had managed to smuggle a few ornaments and pictures into the bedroom and living room in an attempt to subdue the plain and empty look.

  For some reason Callum loathed almost every item that made a home feel comfortable. There were no throws, no cushions on the sofa and no rugs to squish your toes into. It was something that Charlie was hoping to remedy over the next few weeks on her many shopping excursions.

  Growing up in a three bedroom terraced house in Droylsden, Manchester; she was used to the endless clutter and mess found in most homes around Britain. Having shared a bedroom for most of her child and teenage life with her sister, Emma, it was normal practice to have endless storage boxes full of useless junk that was no longer required.

  As she entered the living room downstairs, she spotted Callum leaning back on the large white leather sectional staring out of the window. Taking in his appearance, she could see that he was ready and waiting to go. Dressed in a crisp white shirt with the top buttons undone and his favourite pair of worn jeans, he looked smooth and irresistible.

  Noticing her presence, Callum turned his head. She watched him slowly drink her in, a small smile tugging at his lips. Rising from the sofa, he picked up his fitted black blazer that lay draped over the corner arm and strode quickly towards her.

  “Forgive me?” he pouted cutely whilst pushing his arms through the sleeves.

  Stretching out her arms to grab the lapels of his blazer, Charlie pulled him closer. “Don’t I always?” she giggled before pressing a kiss against his lips.

  Two

  Exiting the lift on minus one, Callum placed a comforting hand on Charlie’s elbow and steered her towards the cars. As the architect and developer of one of the most prestigious skyscrapers in Manchester, life certainly came with a few perks – five whole parking bays. During the week the bays were empty apart from Charlie’s little white Audi TT RS Roadster that Callum gifted her with a few months ago. Today however, parked next to her little Audi sat a further two cars that were both Jaguars. The black on black luxury sleek saloon car she had seen a million times before, however the new sporty convertible also in black was definitely a new addition to the fleet.

  “Got yourself a new car then, Mr Ellis?” Charlie smirked with her hands on her hips. “Clearly somebody has too much money to play around with.”

  Pinching her elbow lightly, he grinned. “Why do you think I disappeared this morning? I had to go and take delivery of my shiny new baby.”

  Charlie scoffed. “New baby? You had better watch yourself, Mister. I’m not going to be too happy if you start sleeping in your car on the weekends or at home when I’m not around.”

  He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. “Let’s get going, yeah?”

  She wasn’t sure what she had said to make him suddenly act so different, but deciding not to press the issue she just nodded.

  He followed her to the passenger side door of the car, so he could hold onto her handbag as she got inside. Placing it onto her lap once she was securely seat belted up, he closed the door and rounded the car for the driver’s seat.

  “Wow!” he exclaimed, sliding into his seat. “This is very nice!”

  Charlie smiled and shook her head. “So what is this thing called?”

  He pressed the illuminated start/stop button on the dashboard. “This is the Jaguar XKR-S Convertible. Isn’t she an absolute beaut?” he spoke animatedly as the centre console slowly began to rise revealing the automatic gearbox. Switching to reverse, she watched on with amusement as Callum began to manoeuvre the expensive vehicle out of its parking bay. “I can’t wait to open her up when we get onto the M60. I hope you don’t mind if I take the longer route to Alderley Edge, Baby?”

  Opening the window, he leant across to swipe his key fob over the electronic panel. Within seconds the large security gate had opened up to reveal the glorious midday sun.

  Revving the engine, he pulled out of the underground garage to join the bumper to bumper traffic on Deansgate. “Shit,” Charlie cursed looking at the gridlock before them. “We are really going to be late.”

  If she had to pick something, punctuality would definitely be one of her biggest pet peeves. As a stylist working in a little upmarket boutique on King Street, she was always running at a hundred miles per hour with no room for falling behind. Over running with one client meant that she was late for the next, which was certainly not acceptable in her line of work.

  With clientele spending more money than her annual salary within the hour, Charlie had to make sure that she consistently dealt with the diva strops and high demands. Of course, with this happening almost every day, she was now a seasoned pro at the sport.

  “If I wasn’t so concerned about these bloody speed cameras everywhere then we would probably be there by now,” Callum replied as he pushed his foot down on the accelerator slightly to merge them smoothly onto the motorway. Swerving straight into the fast
lane, he turned his head quickly with a boyish smile. “We have three miles to our junction. Shall we see what this baby can do, eh?”

  Slamming his foot onto the pedal, Charlie felt the sudden queasiness in her stomach as the car surged forward at a crazed speed. Having not eaten anything this morning, she lifted her head to the sky in a silent prayer. On days like this she was proud of her laziness. Had she listened to her mother’s usual ranting and made time for breakfast, the interior of Callum’s new car would be spectacularly covered in vomit right now.

  “Wow!” Callum’s excited voice filtered through the small space in her subconscious.

  Snapping herself back into the moment, she registered the speed of the car increasing. Gripping the door handle for dear life, she tried to look anywhere but out of the window at the trees and buildings whizzing past at great speed. She had hoped that they would hit some traffic on the motorway, but it just appeared that cars were moving over into the slower lanes before they approached.

  “Just one mile till we get off, Baby. Shall we go faster?” he asked as his foot pushed the accelerator pedal to the floor.

  Charlie swallowed down the rising bile in her throat. She was totally going to get the little fucker back for this.

  “Charlie!” both Amelia and Lucy squealed over the lunchtime chatter in the small restaurant.

  She waved happily as she noticed them seated in their usual booth tucked away at the back. As she started to move towards them, Charlie felt the press of Callum’s hand on the small of her back. His gesture was commanding and it halted her in place. “I thought Jack and Ollie were supposed to be here?” he said dipping his head low so that he could whisper softly into her ear.

  Flicking a glance across the room at the table, she realised Callum was right and that the girls were on their own. “I can’t believe that I didn’t even notice the boys weren’t here,” she replied. “I’ll have to ask them why they aren’t here. Did you still want to have lunch with us?”

  “Of course I will. I still love spending time with the girls as well,” he smiled, taking her hand in his.

  Weaving her way through the crowded tables with Callum in tow, Charlie smiled brightly as she focused on her two best friends. It had only been a few days since they had last seen each other, but it may as well have been years. For Charlie, her friends were like lifelines during the week while Callum was away. With nights in and nights out filling her social calendar, they always made sure to keep her busy rather than wallowing away in the apartment by herself.

  Releasing his hand, Charlie squeezed herself in at one end of the rounded booth and placed her handbag on the table so that she could hug them both.

  “Girl, you are looking beautiful as always,” Lucy said, admiring her outfit from head to toe. Snapping her gaze to the centre of the table, her jaw opened slightly. “And that bag? Damn! How the heck did you manage to get your hands on that?”

  Picking up the bag by its handles, Charlie twirled it around in the air. “Oh, this old thing?” she started to tease. She knew that it would be one of the first things both girls would mention on her arrival.

  “You bitch! I have been on waitlist for that thing for the past six months,” Amelia screeched, lunging across the table. “How did you get it?”

  “My Baby got it for me,” she laughed as she held the bag above her head.

  Finally, Amelia gave up trying to claw it from her hands. She retreated back to the other side of the booth and apologised to Lucy whom she had climbed over in the process.

  “Ladies,” Callum’s deep voice broke through the mayhem at the table.

  Switching their attention towards him, all three girls squeaked excitedly as the waiter stood closely by with three bubbling glasses of champagne. “A little treat for you all, perhaps?”

  “Oh, Cal, you shouldn’t have,” Lucy said, sweetly fluttering her eyelashes in his direction.

  “Yeah, Cal, that is so nice of you,” Amelia gushed, clapping her hands together.

  Trying to keep a straight face, Charlie watched on with amusement as Callum played along with her friends.

  “Like, it’s totally nothing. I like, want you girls to enjoy yourselves, like,” he replied cheekily.

  On hearing the final and over the top like in his sentence, Charlie couldn’t contain her laughter any longer. Raising her hand to cover her mouth, she continued to splutter loudly as she watched the scene before her.

  “Okay, Callum. A little overkill that time,” Lucy laughed as she took the flutes off of the waiter’s tray.

  “Totally,” Amelia agreed. “But anyway, are you joining us for lunch today?” She raised a questioning eyebrow in his direction.

  “I would love to catch up with you beautiful ladies,” he grinned. “I have to admit though, I am feeling a little disappointed that my boys aren’t here to back me up. How come they didn’t come today?”

  “They wanted to be here, but their sister had some sort of ‘thing’ she needed them to attend instead,” Lucy explained as she took a sip of her champagne. “They did say that they were sorry they couldn’t make it though.”

  “This is where dating brothers can kind of suck,” Charlie said, gesturing towards the lack of testosterone on the opposite side of the booth.

  “I don’t mind. It just means that Callum is stuck with all three of us,” Amelia replied with a wink. “Are you going to be able to handle it?”

  As he opened his mouth to respond, the not so subtle sound of Callum’s phone ringing brought silence across the table. “Hold that thought,” he paused, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans. “Callum Ellis,” he answered with a firm and clipped tone.

  Watching his face, Charlie noted the usual grimace which told her that work was interrupting them yet again. Raising his finger, he gestured for them to give him a minute as he headed towards the entrance of the restaurant and disappeared outside.

  “Seriously...” Lucy broke through the silence around the table. “I think your man gets hotter and hotter each time I see him,” she whistled, fanning herself with her hand.

  Smiling, Charlie pushed her friend’s shoulder. “You had better keep your eyes off of my man,” she threatened.

  Lucy flew across to the other side of the booth in a flash. “Ooooooh! She’s on the defence, Mia. Protect me,” she squealed, pressing herself into Amelia’s side.

  “Ok, enough,” Amelia groaned, pushing Lucy slightly away from her. “You know how territorial our Charlie is over her man. She doesn’t need to hear how hot you think he is!”

  “Thanks,” Charlie nodded.

  “What she needs to hear, is how every woman in this place practically fucked him with their eyes the moment he walked through that God damned door!” she shrieked without a care for those around them who could hear.

  Folding her arms across her chest, Charlie tried to hide her smile as her best friends high fived each other victoriously. They totally knew which buttons to press when she was around. As much as she tried not to encourage the situation, she too couldn’t help but laugh. Her boyfriend was fucking hot as hell and she was completely pleased with that. In fact, she was more than pleased, she was proud to have such a good looking man in her life.

  “You two shouldn’t be talking about my gorgeous man anyway. What would Jack and Ollie think?” Charlie shot back at them defensively.

  Both girls looked at each other and sniggered.

  “When Ollie can fuck me like a freight train for four solid hours, then, and only then will we talk about my hot guy,” Lucy half laughed and half snorted.

  “Four? He fucked you for four orgasm ripping hours?” Amelia stared at her with her mouth hanging open slightly.

  Turning a vibrant shade of pink, Charlie shot daggers across the booth at Lucy. “Big mouth,” she blushed. “We did have some breaks in between you know.”

  “Holy shit! Do you think he can help train my Jack to have a bit more stamina?” Amelia asked hopefully before further explaining herself. “Yo
u see, once he’s in I’ve got exactly four and half minutes to make some magic before the load is blown and I’m left waiting until the morning for his dick to recharge.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Charlie noticed that their topic of conversation had clearly piqued the interest of others nearby, who were unashamedly looking over and listening to them speak. Never one to miss an opportunity, she decided they could have some fun with this.

  “Girls,” she whispered, leaning in closely towards them. “We’ve got some earwiggers over here. Let’s give them something to listen to,” she said as a devious expression crossed her face.

  Returning back to her original position, Charlie nodded for them to begin.

  “Oh my God!” Lucy exclaimed, clasping her hands up to her mouth. “Charlie, tell Mia about what you texted me last night.”

  Playing along, Charlie rambled on for several minutes about her epic shag-a-thon with Callum last night. Spurred on with the girls timely and well placed “Oooohs” and “Aaaaahs”, she continued to draw the attention their way. With no stone left unturned, she made sure to go into specific detail of their every location which did include: The stairwell leading up to the master suite, the sun lounger out on the terrace and the vanity unit in the bathroom. “And then...” she paused dramatically for effect. “He fucked what was perhaps the eighth or ninth orgasm out of me,” she finished with a dreamy sigh.

  “Wow,” Callum chuckled, approaching the booth. “Now he sounds like a bit of a keeper.”

  As she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, Charlie fluttered her eyelashes seductively. “He sure is,” she murmured, flicking her eyes up and down the length of his body.

  Cocking an eyebrow, Callum ran a hand through his black and tinted silver tousled mess of hair. She could tell he was fighting the urge to just take her now in front of all of these people after what she had just divulged. His usual piercing glare glimmered steadily with the promise of more to come later.