Broken Truth

by Beth Ashworth

  Charlie pulled the phone away from her ear and set it on the table next to her barely touched sandwich and tea. She just didn’t feel hungry anymore. Her mind was racing at a million miles an hour as it struggled to digest the blow Callum had just landed.

  Needing to get some fresh air, Charlie grabbed her belongings and headed straight for the door without saying goodbye to Joseph.

  She wasn’t thinking clearly as she joined in with the usual, bustling rush of people around Manchester city centre. Although Charlie still had a good twenty minutes left on her lunch break, she started wandering miserably back to work to finish her day.

  Charlie couldn’t wait to finally be out of the door at five thirty. She had worked through one of her worst days in a long time at the shop. With Xavier out on holiday, Charlie had to actually associate with some of her other work colleagues, who after today she decided she loathed. They were young and bone idle lazy which pissed her off immensely. She was always forced to pick up their slack and they didn’t seem to give a shit.

  Throwing in the phone call she received from Callum at lunchtime and the hole she ripped in her tights later that afternoon and it was official...

  It had been the worst day ever.

  “Fuck it,” she mumbled as she headed inside a small shop on her way home.

  Thinking that a little alcohol was in order following the nuclear drop of a day she had, Charlie traipsed up and down the various aisles in search of something strong. Stopping in the champagne section, she picked up two bottles of Bollinger, figuring that Callum wouldn’t mind making it up to her with some nice bubbly.

  “Is it a special occasion?” the checkout lady asked as she scanned the items through the till.

  Packing the two bottles into a carrier bag, Charlie snorted a very unladylike laugh. “Far from it,” she said, handing the lady Callum’s platinum card.

  “Sorry,” the checkout lady blushed as she handed her back the credit card.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Charlie said, waving her hand in a dismissive manner.

  She picked up the bag of champagne and made her way towards the apartment. At least with two bottles of bubbly in hand, she knew that she was going to have a good night.

  Although it wasn’t going to end with a long fucking and a string of orgasms as normal, she was somewhat happy that she could guarantee she would be hovering over the toilet in a few hours completely out of her ever loving mind.

  She could not fucking wait.

  Fifteen

  “It smells like shit in here,” Lucy announced as she hit the button on the remote control to open the floor to ceiling blinds in the master suite.

  Charlie grumbled as the bright light hit her face. She gripped the covers tightly and pulled them over her head in a protective cocoon. She had no idea why Lucy was here or how she had even managed to get into the building.

  “Don’t be going back to sleep,” Lucy scolded, tugging on the bottom of the covers.

  “Fuck off,” Charlie protested while holding onto the covers with a death grip. She knew there was no way that Lucy was getting her out of the bed. Regardless of what reason she was here for, Charlie refused to budge.

  “Good morning!” Amelia sung loudly as she walked into the master suite.

  The high pitched tone of her voice cut straight through Charlie’s head like a cat being strangled. Lifting her free hand to her head, she cursed her friends for their early morning wakeup call.

  “What the fuck do you both want?” Charlie complained as she clutched her pounding forehead.

  “You are absolutely delightful in the morning,” Amelia teased as she whipped the covers clean from Charlie’s body. “Oh and nice pyjamas,” she smirked, taking in her cartoon character print all in one outfit.

  Charlie reached for her glasses and slipped them on. Sitting up in bed, she pulled her knees up and leant back against the headboard to assess the situation. Even with her glasses on the room still looked fuzzy in places. She tried to focus on one spot in the room in an attempt at stopping her head from spinning.

  “Are you going to be sick?” Lucy asked as she took a seat on the edge of her bed. She placed her hand to Charlie’s forehead with concern.

  “I’m just hung over,” she grumbled.

  “We can see that,” Amelia laughed from the corner of the room. “So anyway... are we getting ready to go or what?”

  Charlie flicked her eyes between both of her friends.

  “Go where?” she asked.

  “We are going to London!” Lucy squealed.

  The blood drained from Charlie’s face and a cold sweat broke out across her body.

  “W-W-W-What?” she stammered. “Why are we going to London?”

  Amelia and Lucy shared a look before they both turned to her with their arms folded.

  “Clearly you don’t remember anything about last night, so let me refresh your memory,” Amelia smiled, rubbing her hands together. “Basically, you got yourself absolutely arsehole drunk and called both of us separately to come and sort you out. When I got here you were an absolute crying mess. You were on maybe your fourth or fifth glass of Bollinger and you were slumped over the kitchen counter. You wouldn’t speak, you just carried on crying. Eventually, when Lucy got here, we managed to coax it out of you and you spilled the beans on what Callum had said to you earlier.”

  “Let me just jump in at this point, to say that I am beyond pissed off with him right now,” Lucy interrupted.

  “So yeah... Anyway, after you told us about him not coming back, Lucy and I immediately suggested that we move the plan forward and get our arses down to London this weekend to pay our Cal a little visit. You completely agreed, so we booked the hotel and train tickets last night. Our luggage is now sitting in your foyer,” Amelia said gesturing in the general direction of the doorway.

  “You look nervous?” Lucy laughed, noting Charlie’s pale and sweat dampened face.

  “I am...” She gulped quickly and swallowed some saliva down her suddenly dry throat. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. It all sounded like such a good idea last night, but now that I am actually thinking about it I’m not so sure.”

  Lucy’s eyes softened for a few moments and she placed her hand reassuringly on Charlie’s knee. “Look, what is the worst thing that is going to happen? We go to London, we buy you some kick arse lingerie, and then you go to your boyfriend’s house and have the most amazing sex ever,” Lucy replied, exaggerating the final ‘ever’ in her sentence. “Piece of cake, hey?”

  Charlie brightened up a little bit and gave her friend a weak smile.

  “So are you still in?” Amelia asked as a wicked grin started to spread across her face.

  “Oh fuck it,” Charlie resigned, knowing that there was no way of backing out of this situation.

  She would have to take this as a lesson for future. She would never get drunk and unknowingly plot world domination with her best friends ever again.

  Two hours later and Charlie had finally packed her belongings into her overnight bag. Having spent the majority of time perusing her vast wardrobe, she had been completely undecided on what outfits to pack. She wasn’t sure if she would be going out with the girls at night or whether she would still be in Callum’s possession being completely fucked out of her mind.

  Secretly, Charlie hoped for the latter.

  “You all packed, bitch?” Amelia shouted up the staircase from the living room.

  “Yes, I’m on my way down!” she yelled back in response.

  Taking a quick glance in her bag, Charlie double checked she had her necessities before she zipped it close. Standing the bag upright on the floor, she pulled up the helpful travel handle and pulled it along behind her as she made her way downstairs.

  Stepping off the bottom step, Charlie’s jaw hit the floor as she took in the sight of their luggage. “What the fuck is all that?” she screeched, gesturing animatedly with her right hand towards the multiple suitcases that were piled up by the lift. �
��And you bitches were shouting at me for packing a couple of outfits?”

  “Woah!” Amelia raised her hands in a back off gesture. “You know that we can’t just pack a few outfits. It is all about the costume changes in London. I need an outfit for the train journey, an outfit for shopping, an outfit for dinner and then an outfit for the evening,” she replied defensively.

  “Don’t forget another outfit for coming home the next day,” Lucy pointed out.

  “You guys take the piss,” Charlie complained, looking at her weekend wheelie case. “Should I pack some more stuff?”

  “No!” They both shouted in unison.

  “Fine.”

  “Don’t worry,” Lucy said with a shrug. “I’m sure you will work that little piece of plastic when we get to Bond Street later.”

  “God, I am so happy that Jack doesn’t know about my credit card bills. He would do his fucking nut if he knew how much I shopped every month,” Amelia said slightly amused. “My little plastic gem is going to get seriously worked out this weekend.”

  Charlie frowned.

  She didn’t like that her friends were still crippling themselves with monthly credit card bills, so that they could continue living a lifestyle that they really couldn’t afford. It was the same sticky mess she had found herself in before Callum came along and relieved her of the problems.

  She knew however, that both girls were waiting for the days when Jack and Ollie would finally propose and provide them with the financial security they needed in life.

  With the brothers now jointly owning their own accountancy firm, they had managed to setup and plan more than enough for their futures. After quadrupling their less than modest annual turnover within the last five years, the boys were now finally starting to reap the rewards for their many years of hard work.

  “Are we ready to go?” Amelia asked, glancing at the time on her mobile phone. “We have to catch the train in like forty five minutes, so we need to get our arses in gear.”

  “Oh shit. We need to get the fucking address for London,” Charlie suddenly remembered, slapping her hand to her forehead.

  “Well come on then!” Lucy said as she pushed Charlie forwards towards the staircase. “I’ll come with you.”

  “Ok.”

  Rushing along the downstairs hallway, Charlie stopped abruptly outside of Callum’s office. In all of the time she had been living with Callum, she had only ever been inside the room a handful of times, so many that she could in fact count the amount on one hand.

  “Why are we stopping?” Lucy asked, noting Charlie’s sudden frozen stance.

  She bit her lip worriedly. “I don’t usually go into his office,” she confessed. “I’ve only ever been in when he has been here and again that is only a few times.”

  She reached out to grip the door handle, but didn’t try to turn it.

  “It’s not like we are going to find a dead body or anything,” Lucy snorted. “We are just trying to find out where the fuck your boyfriend lives. Because it isn’t like you’ve known him for almost a year and a half and he’s never told you.”

  Charlie raised her eyebrows at her bold and honest comments. “You are completely right,” she said with a nod.

  Twisting the door handle, she flung the door open quickly and looked around the room. Nothing had really changed since the last time she had been in there. The room was still very cold and clinical looking. In fact, it was the only room in the penthouse that Charlie hadn’t yet been able to smuggle some warmth into.

  Callum’s large glass desk and white leather office chair were positioned in the corner of the room by the floor to ceiling windows. Around the room, he had modern and quirky shelving units that were filled to the brim with many business books and self-help guides.

  Charlie looked around the room unsure of where to even start.

  Lucy clearly sensed her uneasiness and headed over to his desk. “Let’s start over here,” she suggested, taking a seat in his chair and wheeling closer.

  Charlie followed her lead and immediately started scanning the various pieces of paper that littered his desk. Usually meticulous with organising his paperwork, she was surprised to see that he had left the room in such a state. Clearly he had left in a bit of a hurry last week and didn’t mind what he was leaving out, which would be her excuse if he ever did find out and question why she was in there.

  Spotting many pieces of company headed paper with Callum’s untidy scribble all over, she pushed the documents aside in the hope of finding something that would lead her to his apartment.

  “What about this?” Lucy asked, waving an envelope in front of Charlie’s face.

  Taking the envelope out of her hands, she turned it over to look at the address. It looked like a utility bill that was clearly addressed to Mr Callum Ellis.

  “Bingo,” she smiled, clutching the papers to her chest.

  Sixteen

  Leaving Manchester Piccadilly train station at roughly nine in the morning, the girls were more than impressed when they pulled into London Euston train station after just over two hours.

  Collecting their bags from the various luggage racks they had commandeered in their cabin, the girls exited the train with the usual Saturday bustle of people heading into the capital for the day.

  “Are we getting a taxi or did you arrange for some sort of car to pick us up?” Amelia asked curiously towards Lucy.

  Lucy gestured her head towards the escalators going underground towards the tube station. “I thought we could just get the tube?” she said with a slight shrug.

  “Are you fucking kidding me? I’m not getting on the tube,” Amelia shrieked, dropping her bags to the floor and crossing her arms moodily.

  “You are,” Lucy threatened. “I’m not sitting in a taxi for the next hour trying to get from one side of the town centre to the other.”

  Charlie looked at the pure horror on Amelia’s face and tried to stifle her laugh as best as possible. Her face looked a picture with her eyes bulging wide out of their sockets and her jaw fixed open in shock.

  Amelia quickly turned towards her. “Please tell me you’ll back me up on getting a taxi?” she pleaded, searching her face for any form of agreement.

  Flicking her eyes over to Lucy, Charlie saw her smiling and shaking her head from behind. They both knew that Amelia hated the tube more than anything. There was just something she didn’t like about being crammed into such a confined space with such a variety of people. Long haul trains on the other hand were not so bad in her books because there was always a first class cabin. At least on those trains she was able to distance herself from everyone else.

  “I’m cool with the tube,” Charlie answered trying to keep a straight face.

  Amelia looked back and forth between both her and Lucy, clearly trying to make sense of the situation. Eventually, she exhaled a large breath in defeat. “Whatever,” she sulked, bending down to pick up her bags.

  Charlie shot Lucy a quick grin which was immediately returned with a sly victory dance behind Amelia’s back.

  “Come on then,” Lucy said, heading towards the escalators. As she approached the underground entrance, she stopped abruptly and turned towards Amelia. “Gotcha,” she laughed. “Did you really think I would make you get the tube? Of course I ordered us a car!”

  Amelia clasped her hand to her heart and closed her eyes in relief. “Oh thank God,” she cried. “I actually thought you were going to make me go through with going down there,” she said, turning her nose up at the many people piling down the escalators to the tube station.

  “You are a bit over the top you know,” Charlie said. “There isn’t anything wrong with catching the tube. How many people use it a day?”

  Amelia looked as though she was going to retort bitchily, but Lucy stepped in before matters went too far. “Come on,” she said, beckoning them towards the escalators. “We need to go down here to get to the pickup point. I’ve arranged for our driver to take the bags straight to th
e hotel, after dropping us off on Bond Street.”

  Charlie fixed Lucy with a confused stare.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” Lucy admonished. “I know what you’re thinking, so stop it. I haven’t paid for any of this, I promise you. I just happened to tell Ollie last night that we were planning a girly weekend in a few weeks, so he decided to give me his card to book everything on. I texted him earlier and told him that the weekend came up a little earlier than expected,” she winked deviously.

  Charlie fidgeted with the handle on her weekend bag. “But what if he tells Callum that we’ve gone away for the weekend?” she asked, gnawing sharply on her lip.

  “Don’t worry about a thing,” Lucy reassured her. “I told him that we were likely to surprise Callum while we were here, so he promised not to say anything. Ollie loves surprises, so he is usually really good at helping to keep them.”

  “Yeah, don’t panic Charlie. Your kinky little sex plan is still going to go ahead alright,” Amelia said, nudging her shoulder.

  “Shut up!”

  “I want to go in here,” Lucy squealed as she barrelled her way through the doorway into a small boutique.

  One look around the shop had Charlie’s pulse increasing and her stomach flickering with nervous excitement. “Perfect,” she said with approval as her eyes began feasting on the racks upon racks of lingerie and nightwear before her.

  With shopping bags hanging from both of her wrists, Charlie lifted her hands and rubbed them together eagerly. Her eyes were continuously being assaulted by beautiful garments that were hanging all around the shop floor and she couldn’t wait to let herself loose.

  “Good afternoon,” an approaching sales assistant greeted. She took in their shopping laden arms and directed them over to a chaise longue where they could store their purchases while they shopped. “Are we after anything in particular?” she asked, flicking her eyes between the three of them.