“When I was in my last year at school wondering what to do with my life, well, what to study at least, you informed me that I was a complete loser. That I was wasting my brain and talent for dealing with people and that it was my responsibility to get off my backside and make a difference with my life.”
Laura honestly couldn’t remember ever saying anything to him. It was back in the days when she was struggling with her crush on him. And being Laura her crush didn’t mean she got to look at him with rose coloured glasses, nope she saw reality. So she swayed between lusting after him and being repelled by how shallow he was. Now that she thought of it, it was just the kind of thing she would have said to him if she’d had a chance.
Charlie’s eyes twinkled at her.
“I do believe your exact words were – use your God given ability or lose it, moron.”
She cringed.
“In my defence, I was very young.”
“And yet so wise.”
“So boring.”
“Or sensible.”
“I’m beginning to think that sensible is just another word for repressed,” she scoffed.
“Well, since you brought it up. I can help with that repression. One night with me and you’ll be wondering what the words sensible and self-control actually mean.”
He looked so cocky that she was almost sad to burst his bubble.
“You mean like last night?” she said innocently.
He cringed.
“Tonight. You and me. Hotel. Fireworks. I’m going to rock your world.”
Laura grinned.
“You sound like a teenager.”
“Some.” He looked at her pointedly. “Might say that’s when I peaked.”
Chapter Seven
Laura had suddenly discovered a need to shop, which left him to pack up their camp site on his own. Typical. Although he couldn’t help grinning, he was pretty sure he’d seen her wander in the direction of the lingerie shop. As he stuffed all of her junk into her backpack a thought struck him - he really hoped she didn’t buy condoms. In his experience women did one of two things. They either went for colour, and what man wants a luminous green penis? Or they bought XXL, and that was just wishful thinking.
“Hey man, we meet again.”
Charlie stopped packing about a million romance books to find the two young English guys from their first campsite grinning down at him.
“They’re not mine,” he said, nodding towards the books.
“Whatever you say.” One of them winked while the other nodded.
“They’re my friend’s.” He stumbled over the word. He wasn’t sure what category Laura fell into. He’d have to make up a new one.
“Where’s the air bed girl?” The floppy one asked.
“Shopping.”
They seemed disappointed. They shuffled on the spot.
“Can I help you guys with anything?”
“Naw, it’s okay.”
With that they wandered off leaving Charlie to shake his head. They were probably hoping that Laura would generate some more excitement for them.
He’d started packing again when his phone rang. Seriously. A man could not get a minute’s peace.
“Hello,” he barked.
“Well hello,” a woman’s voice drawled. “You must be the hero of the moment. It’s an honour to talk to you. We’ve all enjoyed watching your video on YouTube; you make a person feel very patriotic.”
Everything within him stilled. Reporter.
“Who is this?” He kept his voice even.
“Oh, apologies, apologies. This is Claire Douglas, executive editor of Francine.”
Charlie vaguely remembered Laura using his phone; she must have given out the number.
“Laura isn’t here,” he said dryly.
“Well that’s fine, we can have a cosy chat instead.” She oozed insincerity. “I do hope you are cooperating with our little Laura. We are all so very anxious to get this interview to print. We wouldn’t want anything to go wrong. After all, her job does depend on it.”
Charlie wondered if there were some women you could hit.
“Her job depends on the interview?”
“She didn’t mention it?” The woman laughed like Cruella de Vil. “Let’s just say that she is on probation until we have the article in our hands. I’m sure everything will be fine. You are, after all, having a wonderful holiday…” She paused. “…together. Those pictures Laura sent made us all blush. It certainly looked like you two were having fun.”
Pictures? What pictures? The woman made him feel dirty and that was saying something.
“What do you want, Claire.” He used his most patronising tone, the one he reserved for junior doctors who thought they knew everything straight out of Uni.
“Just wanted to let you know how excited we are to include you in our hunky heroes edition. We’re thrilled. Now, can you let Laura know that the website teaser had gone viral? The world is waiting for her exclusive…” There was a pause. “…as am I.”
Charlie’s mind was reeling.
“In the meantime,” Claire continued, “you two be sure to have a good time.”
Charlie cut her off mid laugh. She sounded like a hyena after prey. For a second he didn’t know what to think or do. He flicked on his phone and Googled Francine. A minute later he was swimming in cold fury. He stormed in the direction of the site office, looking for a computer with a printer.
Laura was extremely pleased with herself. She had a bag full of sexy new lingerie, a pack of condoms - just to make sure there wasn’t another screw up - and a lovely bottle of wine. Now all they needed was a hotel. As she walked into the campsite she wasn’t sure what excited her most, the thought of a night naked with Charlie, or the thought of a night in a proper bed. She was grinning when she reached the tents, only to find that Charlie hadn’t packed them up.
Typical, he only had one job to do and he got distracted. She pulled back her tent flap to get her bag and stopped dead. Her mattress was covered with printouts, all of them showing pictures of Charlie half naked swimming in the river. She felt the blood drain from her face.
“Sexy eh?” The voice said behind her.
She spun around to find Charlie standing a few feet away. His posture was relaxed, his face was blank, his tone even. He showed nothing. Laura felt sick. She’d only seen him really mad a couple of times in her life and this was how it looked. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, which made words impossible. Even if she had any words, which she didn’t.
“Had a little chat with your boss,” he said. “She’s pleased with your progress. Especially the sexy pictures that they’re all drooling over. So I had a look.” He motioned to the tent. “So tell me Laura, do you think they’re sexy?”
She swallowed hard.
“It’s not what you think, it’s only a teaser, get the readers in. The article won’t be like this. It will be serious.”
“Yeah, I heard how serious. Hunky heroes?”
She felt light headed.
“I wouldn’t let them do that to you, I promise. This is nothing.” She waved behind her to the tent full of evidence. “I had to do it.”
He turned away. Laura reached for him, but it was futile.
“I printed the teaser and comments off for you. Enjoy reading it; it’s all you’re getting. I’m done.”
“No!”
She rushed towards him and grabbed his arm. The look he gave her was contemptuous.
“I need this article. I need this job.”
He sneered.
“Well, that’s nice. I thought today, tonight was about us. I didn’t know you were still on the clock.”
She shook her head. It was all too confusing. Her hand dropped from his arm.
“It is about us,” she said, but he was walking away.
“You said you wanted me,” she whispered as he disappeared from sight.
Laura turned back to the tent. She felt bruised from head to toe. She crawled in
amongst the printouts. They were terrible. Everything he didn’t want. Everything he hated. And she had done it to him. Headlines screamed at her, Hunky Hero wet for you, Doctor Hottie cools down, Army Doc aims to serve. It was bad. And the blurb? It was nothing like the copy she’d sent. Claire had been at it. Each sentence was full of sexual innuendo. It mentioned his career and his act of bravery, but made it sound cheap. It made him cheap. And out of all of the comments she read there was nothing about Afghanistan, or how serious the situation was over there.
All the while the video had been out there Charlie had managed to duck the press. He knew he was being called Doctor Hottie, he knew where it would lead and he’d side stepped it. And what had she done? She’d brought everything he didn’t want right to him.
With tears in her eyes she ripped up the pages. It was a terrible thing to do. She wasn’t sure he would ever forgive her, let alone understand.
But, she had to try.
With heavy heart she staggered to the bathrooms to splash water on her face. She couldn’t go after Charlie with red eyes. This was hard enough without attracting attention.
Memories of the past couple of days flooded her mind. Charlie holding her through the night, Charlie taking her to cooking class, Charlie kissing her all night long. Charlie. Charlie. Charlie. He had invaded her senses.
She looked at her sorry reflection in the mirror. Although her actions had been clearly wrong, she was more upset about the fact she’d hurt him. Even with her dysfunctional upbringing she knew enough to know that you didn’t treat the people you love badly.
Love.
She stared at her reflection.
Oh no.
Wide red rimmed eyes stared back at her.
This was absolutely the wrong thing to think. She didn’t love him. She cared about him. She wanted him to be happy. She was upset that she hurt him. She DID NOT LOVE HIM.
Her heart pounded fast, she started to hyperventilate, she bent over and stuck her head between her knees.
No. She was wrong. She was just emotional.
When she’d calmed down she splashed water on her face. Right, obviously she wasn’t thinking straight. She was overcome with guilt. The only way forward was to find Charlie, apologise and fix this mess. After all she needed the story. It was all about the job. She’d just lost sight of that for a minute. That was all it was. It couldn’t be anything else. She wouldn’t let it be anything else. She stared at her reflection with determination.
She did NOT love Charlie Lewis.
Because loving Charlie Lewis was absolutely the worst thing that could happen to her.
With new resolve, she wiped her face and went off in search of the Neanderthal.
Chapter Eight
It took Charlie a while to calm down. When he did things became clear. This whole mess was his own fault. He’d lost sight of things. Laura had bullied her way onto the trip to get a story. And that was what she was doing. The whole lust thing was simply a case of too much time together. Because the last person he wanted to do the dirty with was the Iron Maiden. Seriously. No good ever came of that. Nope. This blow up was a good thing, maybe not the part where she turned him into a fantasy object for her sad little readers, but the rest of it. It was good to remember where they stood - which was separately.
He looked around the cafe terrace and smiled. As a free agent he could chat to any of these lovely women. Chat, dance and hopefully get laid. That would help a lot.
“Hello gorgeous,” he said to the girl beside him.
She smiled widely.
“Please tell me you’re Dutch, because I have had it up to here with English girls.” He put his hand above his head.
She laughed.
“You are in luck, I am definitely Dutch.”
“Well all right then,” he rubbed his hands together. “Let me buy you another drink.”
He signalled at a passing waiter.
“What do you do for a living?” he shouted over the noise of the band. He remembered them being a whole lot better the night before when he’d bought the tickets.
“I’m studying to be a dental assistant,” the blond told him.
“You don’t write?”
She looked confused.
“No.”
“And let me ask you this, if you had to choose between your friends and your job, what would it be?”
“Friends?” Now he’d really lost her.
As the waiter arrived with their drinks he put a hand on her lower back and led her over to a table.
“We are going to have a great evening together,” he told her. “I’m Charlie, and I’m a doctor.”
Her eyes lit up and he felt a pang of guilt. Okay, so he wasn’t above using the title for sex, it was when other people did it that it bothered him. He frowned.
“Are you okay?” his new friend asked.
“Yeah, just trying to get a bad taste out of my mouth.”
Her eyes sparkled.
“Oh, I can help with that.”
She leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss.
“Better?” she said.
“All gone.”
They clicked glasses. The evening was looking up.
And then someone tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned his heart sank.
“Hey you,” Laura said with a fake smile. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“Well keep looking. I’m busy.”
Her smile tightened. She put her hands on her hips. He wondered if she was trying to look intimidating in a pair of blue jeans and a Minnie Mouse t-shirt.
“Say goodbye to your friend, we need to talk.”
“I’ve said all I’m going to say to you.”
“Well you can listen.”
“No,” he turned his back on her.
Barbie looked confused. He gave her a reassuring smile. Laura walked round to the blond, who was a least a head taller than her. She fiddled with the silver friendship ring Maddie had given her before she stuck out her hand.
“Pleased to meet you,” she said. “I see you already met my husband.”
The girl’s mouth fell open.
“We’re not married,” Charlie said. He waved a dismissive hand in Laura’s direction. “I already told you that I’m a doctor, well this is a psychiatric patient that follows me around. She’s delusional.”
When the woman looked back at Laura, Laura held up the hand with her ring finger, now complete with ring.
“Five years this week, we’re here to celebrate our anniversary. We had a fight and he stormed off. You see, he wanted to bring the twins, but I said we needed time alone. You know how it is.”
The woman looked from one to the other, it was clear she didn’t know what to think. Charlie made a little circle motion beside his temple to indicate Laura was bonkers. Laura narrowed her eyes.
“Oh dear, he’s been using that doctor line again, hasn’t he?” She cupped her mouth as though whispering at the girl. “He likes to boost his ego; he’s still embarrassed about being a stay at home dad.”
She had the blonde’s full attention again. She leaned over and patted him on the hand.
“I keep telling you honey, you don’t need to feel insecure, you are attractive. I don’t value you any less because you don’t work. Looking after the kids and making dinner is important stuff.”
“I need to go see my friends,” the girl told them before making a hurried exit.
“Good idea,” Laura said.
Charlie growled at the evil pixie. Once the girl was gone Laura turned to him.
“We can talk here, shouting our business to anyone who can hear or we can go somewhere else. Your choice.”
“How about not at all?”
She had that look in her eye that signalled she was about thirty seconds away from causing serious damage.
“Fine.” He pointed to the old stone bridge over the canal. “Over there.”
They walked in silence across the cobbled street towards the bridge
. When they got to the middle of it Charlie leaned against the wall, his back to the canal. Laura stood in front of him, hands on hips, like it made her bigger and more intimidating. Yeah, right.
“I’m not interested in anything you have to say,” he told her.
“Fine. You can listen anyway.” She stuck her little nose in the air and glared at him from behind huge glasses. “You knew why I came on this trip. I’m here for an interview, for a women’s magazine. Just how did you think this would go exactly? Did you expect them to do a detailed report on the war on terror? To print graphs and statistics? Seriously, this is how we hook women in. The story will be light but it will take the topic seriously. It will take you seriously. So how about you get over yourself and grow up?”
The yellow lights glowing along the canal bank made the air around Laura glow, which was slightly disconcerting - she looked like a really grumpy angel.
“Grow up? Really? You’re telling me to grow up? Who exactly made you the judge of all things mature? Let’s have a look at your life shall we?”
Laura started to say something but he held up a hand, so she stopped, which surprised him.
“One.” He ticked the points off on his fingers. “You are being blackmailed into writing a story you don’t want to write to keep a job you don’t really want. And why? Because you’re too much of a coward to take a chance and do something else.”
Laura snapped.
“Do something else? Get another job?”
She took a step towards him and poked at his chest.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. You just float around doing what you like, expecting your family to put you up when you need it. Well it doesn’t work like that for the rest of us, buster. Some of us have to be responsible.”
“Responsible, responsible. That’s all I hear. You’re a coward. If you wanted to get another job, a better job, you’d get one.”
He was pretty sure he could see steam coming out of her ears as the top of her head turned red.
“We’re in the middle of a massive recession, moron, jobs aren’t lying on the pavement. You don’t just pick one up. And what do I have to offer anyway? Eight years writing about vampires. Eight years.”
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