by Court, C S
“I’ll let you deal with Rhiafor the moment, I’ve got stuff that needs handling.”
Time to start fucking with Lottie.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Connie:
The food is lush, and company even better. A girls, chilled afternoon is so far overdue. It feels so good to let my hair down and enjoy being with the bestie, all the events of the last few days pushed to the back of mind as we talk about anything and everything.
Lottie swirls the wine in her glass, splashing some of the contents over the side and narrowly missing her jeans. She gives me a look of horror as I giggle,“Woah, that was close, wasted wine is not acceptable.” I laugh even harder at her words, my ribs protesting painfully, but I’m unable to stop, the sincerity in her voice making it even funnier.“Yeah you can laugh bitch, you’re not the one who nearly went home smelling like an alcy.”
“pah, says the woman on her forth glass of wine, I kind of think you are past the point of appearing and smelling sober.” Her eyes have that glazed look, and some of her words have begun to slur. To be fair she handles it better than me, I cannot handle wine, one glass and I’m a drunken mess.
“Meh, who gives a giant fuck? I sure as hell don’t.” She replies, with a wave of her hand to emphasise her point.
I look up as the waitress brings us our food, placing a rather swanky looking lobster and black truffle salad before Lottie, and a lasagne, minus the side salad in front of me.
I love my food, I honestly cannot see the point in picking at a few lettuce leaves and feeling unsatisfied, when I could be chomping away at a proper meal, the flavours exploding on my tongue and filling me up perfectly. A salad looks so… bland. A salad is more like a snack to me, not a filling meal.
“Stop wrinkling your nose up at my food, I can see the disgust quite clearly. Have you even ever tried a lobster and black truffle salad?” I shake my head, knowing she will not change my mind, it may taste nice, but it’s not filling.
“I don’t need to, it looks pretty enough, and it may taste delicious, but when the salad has gone I can guarantee I’ll still be hungry. It’s not for me chick.”
Lottie rolls her eyes at me,“you’re so stubborn sometimes. Just try it, I would never normally order something like this, you know me well enough to know I’m quite content tucking in to a burger, but it was recommended and I gave it a go. I’m actually kind of obsessed with it at the mo. It’s beaut.” I huff beneath my breath and do as she says, grabbing a fork full and lifting it to my mouth.
It’s surprisingly nicer than I thought it would be, and I suppose it would do for a light lunch, but I’ll stick with my lasagne.“Mmm”, I mumble around the bite.
I swallow it down and give her a small nod.“You’re right, it is really very nice, but I can guarantee I’ll be heading to McDonalds after one of those.”
“Me too.” She agrees, laughing.
We eat a few more mouthfuls in silence, savouring our food. I really need a wee, and I only went about half an hour ago when we came in. I take a sip of my lemonade and inform Lottie I will be right back.
“You just went. Bloody hell woman, hurry up, we have some serious chatting to do.” I hop up, and walk towards the back of the restaurant, ignoring the snarky looks from women looking prim and proper in their work attire. I may be underdressed for eating in such a place like this, but what the hell has it got to do with them? Stuck up cows.
I hold my head high and do my business, checking my make up in the mirror after. I feel a bit queasy, but shrug it off and put it down to hunger.
Head high in the air, I walk back out and make way towards Lottie, slowing down deliberately to give the stuck up bitches something to look at properly.
Tilting my head to the side, I smile sweetly at the ones throwing me daggers with their eyes, and watch them huff and drop their attention back to their food. Bullies, that’s all they are and all they will ever be.
“What was all that about?” Lottie asks, shiftily placing her phone back in to her bag and giving me her attention.
“Oh, you know, certain types of women thinking they are better than me and not approving of my attire.” I wave it off.
“Oh ignore them, I deal with those types of prats all day long.” She shifts again, appearing edgy and avoiding eye contact with me.
“What’s up? You’re acting weird.” I take a bite of my lasagne, the queasy feeling intensifying.
I hear her sigh,“Nothing much, just some work stuff has caught me off guard is all.” I don’t believe her, but I know Lottie, you cannot force it out of her, it has to be when she is ready to talk.
“Okay babe, if you say so.”
She places her wine glass down forcefully and snaps at me.“Yeah, I do.” Her eyes flit over to the windows and doors, appearing jumpy and frightful. She breathes out sharply, closing her eyes for a few seconds before focusing them on me.“I’m sorry, just had some rough news at the office, didn’tmean to snap. Forgive me?”
“It’sfine,” I tell her honestly, I have behaved like this many a time.“Just if you want to get it off your chest then I’m here okay?”
She bites the corner of a lip, offering up a sheepish smile.“So, what do I do about the sex god that is Harry?” And just like she changes the subject and resumes to being my fun and lively friend.
“It’s up to you, have you heard from him?”
“Yeah, he text me when we left to ask when I want to see him again, he wants to take me on a date. I didn’t reply though, I have no idea what to even say.” Oh she has it bad, I don’t think she has ever run out of words.
“Well do you like him and want to see him again?” Stupid question, and judging by the look I am receiving from her she knows it too.“Okay, let me rephrase that, when do you want to see him again? Just message and tell him you had a good night and would like to go out with him. Wait for him to decide where and when then, although the Lottie I know always takes the lead.”
“And that right there is exactly why I want to take the back seat and have the decisions made for me for once, I really like him and don’t wannachase him off or take the lead all the time, it’s exhausting and gets boring real quick.”
I finish up my lasagne and place my plate to the side of the table.“Well then ask him what he has in mind and say yes. The poor bloke probably thinks he did something wrong, or you are not interested in him. If you like him, then message him. Simple.”
Shequirks an eyebrow at me in response, gulping down a mouthful of wine.“Fucking hell, since when did you become a love guru, miss‘I can give advice but am shit at taking it’?” Yeah she has me there, if I had followed anyone and everyone’s advice over the years, then Dan would have been history a long time ago. The only thing I don’t regret from our relationship is our kids.
“Yeah well, it took me a while, but I got there in the end.” A big cheesy grin instantly pops onto my face at the thought of Hunter.
“Oh bollocks.” Lottie’s wine glass crashes to the floor, the small amount of alcohol still in it narrowly missing the lady seated on the table beside us.“Sorry.” Lottie and I reply in unison the woman gaping at the pair of us.
“I have had to endure their blue language throughout my meal, some rather crude conversations, and now wine being thrown at me. I assumed this place had class, but it seems they allow any kind of riff raff in here.” The fifty something stick thin, bleach blonde, blatantly fake boobed woman says to the gentlemen she is sitting opposite. Totally brazen and as loud as anything, clearly speaking about us, but doing in a way that it was for our benefit more than his.
“And they started with you.” Oh bloody hell. Lottie pipes and replies loudly to the woman, several diners turning to look and see what the noise is about.
The stuck up cow splutters in to her water a few times, the man she is sitting with smirks at Lottie before resuming his meal, clearly unperturbed by the scene being caused by his lunch companion and us.“Excuse me. You have no idea whom you are talking to i
n such a rude manner.” This garners an eye roll from her companion.
“Oh, do tell. I’ll be sure to react appropriately.” Lottie bites back at her.
With a condescending smirk, she turns in her seat, her eyes taking the pair of us in from head to toe in disgust.“I am the future Mrs Rupert Pattersons, and if I’m honest, then I find your behaviour to be completely offending. I should think an apology would suffice, and maybe dining in a more class appropriate restaurant next time. Better yet, I hear Greggs is quite nice for the lower classes.” I could just reach out and flick her upturned nose. The cow is infuriating.
Lottie gapes my way for just a second, before her words sink in and I see the anger flare to life in her eyes. I can sit back and enjoy this, no need for me to lose my temper by the looks of things.
“Oh my god, yes, I do believe you are right, an apology would more than suffice.” Lottie pauses dramatically. I nearly crack up laughing upon realising the woman hasn’t taken note of Lottie’s sarcasm, the man she is with has though, and he is struggling to rein in his sniggers behind a handkerchief. He catches me looking and winks my way, obviously enjoying the show.“But seeing as I’m not going to get one, I’ll tell you this. You are a washed up old hag. As the future Mrs Robert Battercake, or whatever the hell your name is, I would expect you to act with more class and behave like your shit doesn’t stink. CauseI’ll tell you this lady, you may very well be marrying in to money but you can sure as hell tell you don’t come from it, nor have you made it on your own. So you go back to handing out those blowjobs in exchange for a pair of Louboutins, and I’ll just carry on earning the substantial amount I do, and sit back watching my bank account grow from my own success without the added STD on top.”
The woman’s face takes on an angry red shade and her cheeks hollow from grinding her teeth together. She bashes her hand on the table and goes to open her mouth and throw abuse at us, but a loud, booming male voice cuts her off.
“Petra that is enough.” Her mouth gapes, opening and closing like a goldfish at her companion,“Ladies I do apologise, it seems my fiancé has taken everything in to that air head of hers and believes herself to be something she is not. Quite frankly I am sick of her behaviour, but you were the first people to put her well and truly back in her place. If you can do it, I can too. Your meal is on me, my way of making amends on Petra’s behalf.” And with that he turns his attention towards his stunned bride to be without giving us the chance to respond.
I look to Lottie in amazement, part of me wanting to stand and applaud, the rest wanting to collapse to the floor and roll around in laughter. We hold each other’s stare, unsure of how to proceed after that turn of events. The waitress thankfully makes her way back to us and asks if we would like anything else. The pair of us shake our heads at her, barely able to mutter a no.
As she turns to walk away from us, I gather myself together,“Erm, sorry, can we just have the bill please.” Movement from the table beside me captures my attention again.“It’s fine, I have this. You ladies have a pleasant day.”
I smile at the man, who appears quite a bit older than‘Petra.’ Body wise, he seems to be in good shape, not an ounce of fat can be seen through his suit, it’s the hands that show his age though, no matter how much money you have, the hands will always give you away, deep wrinkles and sagging skin. His grey hair is brushed to one side of his head, and a simple pair of black rimmed glasses situated on his face. He is just your average old man who looks after himself, but quite clearly has a hefty bank balance, and with the way his fiancé was throwing his name around, I would assume it’s a name of power too.“Thank you, that is very kind.” I tell him gratefully, now that we have his attention for a few moments.
He waves my comment off, as if buying two stranger’s their lunch is no big deal, even if his fiancé was a mega bitch.“No thanks needed, have a nice day the pair of you.”
We gather our belongings, ignoring the daggers being thrown towards Lottie and myself by Petra beside us.“You ready?” I nod.“Yep, where to?”
I follow Lottie to the entrance, where she removes her phone and fires off a quick text.“I need to pick up some files from work. You okay to go home? I’ll pop over and see the kids later.” Oh, I wasn’t expecting our girl’s time to be over and done with so soon.“Okay.” I fail miserably at trying to remain upbeat. I was enjoying myself and assumed we would have a little longer to catch up. Whatever happened whilst I was in the toilets has really spooked her.
“There’s Tonyout the front waiting. Let’s get back, you can sort out the kid’s things, I can pick up my files and then we can hang out later. Film and some munch sound good?” That’s more like it, the kids love Lottie, and will be over the moon at the prospect of seeing her.
Tonyopens our door, avoiding total eye contact with us and garnering an eye roll from myself. Honestly, anyone would think he can’t stand the sight of me, because I sure as hell do.“Cheers.” I mutter, and situate myself in the back, buckle my seat belt in and get comfortable as we head back.
Eeeek time to get ready to see my babies.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Connie:
Thankfully, the drive back to the complex was pretty quick, with no heavy traffic holding us up. Lottie left me in the lobby–apparently my hobbling was taking to long for her- and rushed directly up to her apartment to gather the files she needed to swap over at the office. Despite needing to hurry, she waited with me to enter the lobby from the car park and practically ran to the elevators, obviously it was pretty urgent or she would have left it until she went back the following day.
I jump back suddenly, when an unfamiliar face presents itself from behind the concierge desk, a young, scrawny looking, and redheaded male.“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t’ mean to give you a fright. I was coming to make myself known to you, I’m assuming you are Mrs Jacobson?” He sticks his hand out for me to shake.“Mr Jacobson showed me your photo and informed me I was to make myself known to you and call him the second you entered the building. So, here I am. Please, call me Dexter.” I take his hand and shake it with apprehension, he may, very well be a young, harmless looking man, but I’m not taking too many chances.“Nice to meet you.” His words about being Hunter’s wife sink in, forcing my heat to skip a beat at hearing the word‘wife.’ “Mr Jacobson is not my husband, he’s my, my… erm, yeah he’s my partner.” Boyfriend just sounds so childish, and not at all like what Hunter and I have, it feels like a partnership in every way.
“Right, I apologise. I was informed at orientation that Mr Jacobson had a wife. I’m sure the records just need to be updated to reflect a recent divorce. You are Connie though, am I right?” His face suddenly appears panicky, the worry evident, as if he has somehow put his foot in to it. He’s only a kid, and it’s an honest mistake to make.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Mr Jacobson isn’t divorced, yet at least. Although he is separated. I should head on up anyway, and please, do call me Connie.” I attempt to put the poor kid at ease.
He looks me over sceptically, and I wonder just how many times they see rich married men with play things on the side, full of false promises. Mine is different though, he truly is separated, and I’m not just a play thing. Well, I hope not anyway.
“I need to call this in to Mr Jacobson, it was nice to formally meet you. If you should need anything at all, please either call down, or stop off at my desk.” I nod, already aware of how things are run, but not wanting to come across as rude.
“Thank you.” I call behind me, as I turn and hobble to the elevators. I haven’t done much today, but the little I have has taken its toll on my body. My ankle is throbbing and my ribs are aching. My head, apart from the huge egg on the back, feels fine.
I enter Lottie’s apartment, just as she is running out of the door, with several files in hand.“Catch you later sweetie, running really late.” She throws out breathlessly.
She’s gone before I can respond, so I do the only thing I have the ener
gy to do. Walk to my bedroom, and crash on top the of the covers, just about having enough energy to grab a fist full of duvet from either side of me and pull both bits over myself to meet in the middle. My bag thumps on the floor as it falls, quickly forgotten as my eyes droop and I give in to sleep.
I awake to male voices down the hall. It takes me a few moments to get orientated and realise I am in bed at Lottie’s. The voices begin sounding my name, and I immediately recognise Hunter’s. I go to sit up, but as I do my bedroom door flies open, and stood in the doorway is one very angry looking Hunter. Relief at seeing me briefly passes across his face before the anger makes a return.“Fucking hell woman, why the fuck didn’t you answer your phone? I’ve been calling non-stop for the last hour and a half.” I shuffle to the edge of the bed, and feel around with my hand until I locate my bag. Pulling my phone out, I soon spot the thirty one missed calls and eleven text messages, all from Hunter.
“I’m fine, I came back from lunch and crashed. I think being out and about was more than I was ready for, I’ve been asleep for the last…” I look at the time, 4.40pm .. “Oh crap, over two hours.”
“You gave me the scare of my life, everybody reported in and let me know you were safe and in the building, but then you don’t answer your phone and nobody could tell me which apartment you entered. Fuck Connie, I had every scenario running through my mind, and none of them pretty.” His hands tug his dirty blonde hair at the roots.
I don’t even see him coming, before I know it he is sat straddling my waist on the bed, check me over with his eyes. He drops his forehead to mine, his breathing erratic, and his body shaking. God I really did scare him, I feel awful.