Rivers of Ink

by Julie Archer

  “Yeah, I gathered. I should have known that based on the mess that was the booking system in the shop.” Alicia hugged Wren back. She was easy to talk to and Alicia appreciated being brought into the clan so quickly. Wren pointed out people in the room, explaining who they were and how they fit in to the group. After a few minutes, Alicia’s head swam from all the information she was being bombarded with.

  A soft touch on her hip, followed by lips grazing the side of her neck, made her jump.

  “You look amazing.” Callan’s voice whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her.

  “Before you two need to get a room, I’m going to find Aidy,” said Wren. She smiled at Alicia. “I’m really glad you could make it, Ali.”

  Callan grabbed her hips and turned Alicia to face him. She slid a nail across the exposed skin at the top of his shirt, her fingers itching to undo the buttons. His hand grabbed hers and stopped it.

  “There will be plenty of time for that later.” His eyes teased hers. “If you’d like.”

  “Oh, I would like very much.”

  “Good, because I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve got on under that dress.”

  He held her at arm’s length and appraised her outfit. Nell had chosen a black dress that stopped just above Alicia’s knees and was embellished with silver beads. It had a scooped neckline that showed a glimpse of her breasts, and Callan’s eyes lingered there. He pulled her towards him, and she could feel the outline of his cock hardening against her.

  As Callan was about to lean forward to kiss her, Aidy tapped a knife against a glass, capturing everyone’s attention.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is about to be served, if you’d like to take your seats.” He waved to the three round tables that were set up for ten people each. “We’ll move around a bit between courses, so you don’t get bored of sitting with the same person for too long.”

  A ripple of laughter swept across the room and there was some general confusion as everyone found their seats. The first two courses passed in a blur as Alicia was introduced to more people. They bombarded her with questions about what she did and how she knew Callan, both of which were easy enough to answer. There were mentions of Xander, and Alicia reached for Callan’s hand under the table, knowing he still found it hard to talk about.

  When it came around to time for dessert, the final seat swapping took place. Two men joined their table, announcing themselves as Ned and Andy.

  “How are things, Cal?” asked Ned.

  “Not bad, mate, not bad,” said Callan.

  “I gather things are picking up at the shop again. Saw Isobel the other day, she’s still a wreck.”

  Alicia felt Callan stiffen at the mention of the woman’s name. It was the same as the one on the email that had been sent to Jason Mackey. Could they be the same person, and how did Ned know her?

  “As she should be.”

  Alicia was surprised at the coldness in Callan’s tone. She’d never heard him speak like that before.

  “She said you barely spoke to her at the funeral. I thought you would have been more sympathetic towards her, after all, she’d lost someone close to her.”

  Callan’s nails dug into Alicia’s palm, and she winced, pulling back a little.

  “And I hadn’t? Don’t be a prick, Ned.”

  “Must have been a shock though, finding them together like that.”

  “She told you?”

  “We went out for drinks. She told me pretty much everything.” Ned’s face glowed in triumph. “Seemed you got over her pretty quickly though.” He looked directly at Alicia. “Who’s your new bird going to screw when she’s had enough though?”

  Callan jumped up, his chair crashing to the floor. “I thought I told you not to be a prick?”

  “Callan, it’s okay. Calm down.” Alicia reached for his arm. He shook her off.

  “Don’t tell me to calm down, Alicia. You know nothing about this.” He stalked across the room towards the exit.

  Alicia glared at Ned, who just laughed at her. She didn’t know what to make of what he’d said. She knew that someone called Isobel used to work at The Unbound Soul, but she didn’t know what she had to do with Callan. And how did Xander fit in to it all? She pushed her own chair back and went to find him.

  He was at the bar on the ground floor, nursing a glass of what looked like a double shot of whisky. An empty glass already sat on the bar beside him.

  “Do you want to tell me who Isobel is?”

  Callan fixed her with the same expression he had shot in Ned’s direction. “Not really,” he growled.

  “She must have been important to you for you to react like that.” Alicia couldn’t help pushing it. She wanted to know what was going on.

  He laughed hollowly and beckoned the barman over to get a refill. “Don’t push it, Ali. I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Part of her wanted to stay, to find out more about this Isobel who had so clearly gotten under Callan’s skin, whoever she was. The sensible part of her decided it was time to bail.

  “I think I’m going to go home and check up on Nell. She was a bit out of sorts when I was home earlier, and I’d like to stay with her tonight. I think that’s best.”

  A shadow of disappointment crossed Callan’s handsome features, and Alicia knew she had to be strong enough to walk away. He leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek, but she ducked out of his reach.

  “See you later,” she said.

  12

  The sun was starting to come up, and Callan was still awake. He was stretched out on the sofa in his living room and hadn’t slept since Alicia had given him the brush off the previous evening. His behaviour towards Ned had been out of order, and he still hadn’t explained the whole situation to his new girlfriend. The truth would probably be a good start.

  He’d put on The Comedy Channel for background noise, half watching the reruns of old sitcoms. He stared at the screen, not really taking anything in. His eyelids started to droop as he finally felt sleepy for the first time in hours.

  What felt like minutes later, his alarm went off. Marek was doing the morning shift, as Saturday was usually a busy day for tattooing, and he was doing the afternoon. It was already midday. Callan dragged his tired body into the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stripped off his clothes and threw them into a ball in the corner. He stepped under the flow and let the jets run over him, stimulating the blood around his body.

  Not more than about half an hour later, he was in Fosse Arcade. He stopped by Books ’n’ Beans for a much-needed coffee and sensed it was going to be a heavily caffeinated day. The Unbound Soul had a low-key buzz about it; Jason and Miles were with clients, and there were several guys waiting on the sofas, chatting to each other or on their phones. Callan smiled. He loved seeing people happy when they were in his shop. It made him feel the same. His eyes swept over the empty reception podium. He hadn’t expected Alicia to be there; he’d given her the day off, having anticipated spending the previous night with her. There had been a tiny part of him that hoped she might have popped in. He had to make things right with her again.

  “Hey, boss, perfect timing. I’ve just taken your half twelve up.” Marek came down the stairs, leather jacket already on, ready to head home. “That’s gonna be a long job, and I can’t wait to see the results. Make sure you take pics, yeah? I’ll see you Tuesday.” He high-fived Callan and left.

  Marek wasn’t wrong. It was a back piece, and even the outlining would take over an hour. He and the client had agreed that the session would last no longer than three hours. Callan wished he’d brought cake as well as coffee.

  It was close to four o’clock when he finally finished. Miles had also left for the day, leaving him alone with Jason. The two of them hadn’t spoken a great deal since Jason had started, although Callan wanted to quiz him a little more about his relationship with Isobel. Neither of them had customers, so they sat on the sofas downstairs, both on their devices.

 
Aidy had sent Callan pictures from the previous evening. One of them was of Callan and Alicia, caught candidly while they were standing at the bar. Callan’s hand was entwined in Alicia’s hair, hers was resting on his hip, and they looked as if they were about to kiss. It was a gorgeous shot of them caught up in the moment. Callan’s hand hovered over the picture. He typed a message, attached the image, and pressed send. Then, he waited.

  “You see much of Isobel?” Callan asked Jason, with what he hoped was a friendly, inquisitive tone.

  Jason looked up from his phone. “Not for a while. We used to run in the same circle, then she disappeared for a while and the next I hear from her is that email.”

  “So you’ve not spoken to her recently then?”

  “I let her know I got a job here, she said congratulations, and I haven’t heard from her since. Why do you ask?”

  “Just wondered, you know she used to work here.” Callan paused, wondering how much to tell Jason. “She, um, left under rather difficult circumstances.”

  “Really? What happened?”

  Callan’s phone buzzed, giving him the chance to think about how to respond to Jason’s question. He glanced down at the screen. Alicia had replied with a smiley face, nothing more. It was a start. He tapped out a reply, asking if she wanted to come over to his place that evening. She didn’t respond straight away.

  “A number of things happened, and it made it tricky for Isobel to continue working here.”

  “God, what did she do? Embezzle the company or something?”

  If only that had been the problem, thought Callan, that would have been so much easier to deal with. Luckily, he was saved by a mother coming in with her teenage son asking if someone could give him a trim. Jason bounced up and took them over to the barber chair.

  Callan rested his head on the back of the sofa, a wave of tiredness washing over him; what he’d give for a nap right now. His phone buzzed again. Seeing Alicia’s agreement to come to see him that night galvanised him to tell her the truth and put things right between them. Energy flowed through his body as he set to tidying up and prepping the shop for closure. He didn’t want anything else to go wrong.

  Alicia and Nell had been curled up on the sofa under a duvet all day, watching their favourite box sets. Anything to take their minds off Callan and Rory. It transpired that Rory had told Nell he was staying over at Kyle’s, and when Alicia chose to head back to Nell’s instead of Callan’s, she had found her friend sobbing on the sofa again. They’d drunk into the early hours of the morning, cursing the behaviour of their other halves. There had been tears, shouting, laughter, and finally, sleep.

  The knot in Alicia’s stomach was part hangover and part uncertainty about where she stood with Callan. Obviously, she knew Isobel had been part of The Unbound Soul crew, but what else had she been? There were so many questions she should have asked him. Running off like she had probably hadn’t helped.

  “Rory says he wants to go out tonight.” Nell waved her phone around. “He’s on his way home from Kyle’s.”

  “Are you going to say yes?”

  Nell pushed a hand through her blonde hair. “I don’t know. I want to make him sweat, let him know that he can’t let me down at the last-minute time after time. There’s also the lure of a fancy restaurant and lots of nice food though.”

  “Maybe you should stay in and get a takeaway?” suggested Alicia. “I can always hang out in my room, with headphones for when you make up.”

  The cushion that Nell hurled at her head missed her by inches. “You deserve some time to yourself too.”

  From beside her, Alicia felt her phone vibrate. She’d put it on silent overnight, not wanting to hear from Callan. When she’d woken up to no messages or calls, disappointment crushed her. She tried to be discreet as she pulled it out.

  “Is that him?” demanded Nell.

  Alicia looked at the screen. There was a shot of the two of them from the previous evening, the pose both tender and passionate at the same time. Callan’s message asked if she was okay.

  “Yes. He wants to know how I am.” She wasn’t sure if she knew herself, let alone trying to articulate it to Callan. Instead, she sent back a smiley face, unable to find the words to respond. He messaged back almost straight away, inviting her over to his place later. Alicia stuffed the phone back down the side of the cushions. “What are you going to say to Rory?”

  “You know I’ll back down and say yes to dinner.”

  “Perhaps it will give you the opportunity to talk to him about all this work stuff. I mean properly, not shouting at each other when you both have to work late or on a weekend. You’re both strong, professional people, and when you take on the world, it should be together.”

  “Who are you and what did you do with Alicia Dylan?” Nell’s tone was teasing. “You speak sense for someone who doesn’t know what’s going on with your own fella.”

  “So I should see him tonight?”

  Nell nodded vigorously. “Absolutely.”

  Alicia fished around and found her phone. “Okay, I’ll go see him. Sort out whatever last night was all about, perhaps stay over.”

  “Oh, you’ll definitely stay over.” Nell said philosophically. “And if you don’t stay and have mind-blowing sex, you’ll just have to come home.”

  “Ugh, and have to listen to you and Rory doing the same?”

  “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

  Alicia fixed Nell with a look. “You know make-up sex is always the best.” As she said the words, Alicia hoped she was going to find out for herself.

  13

  After he got back from work, Callan spent around an hour making sure the flat was as tidy as possible. He changed the bedding, shoved a load of crap into the cupboard in the hallway, and pushed a vacuum cleaner around. He changed into a pair of faded jeans that hung off his hips and a v-neck t-shirt that clung to his muscular torso. The intercom went as he was contemplating whether to light some candles.

  “Come on up,” he answered, as Alicia’s voice floated into the room.

  He went to the door and opened it, waiting for her to arrive. She appeared moments later, clutching a bottle of red wine in one hand.

  “Hey, I’m glad you came.” Callan kissed her on both cheeks and ushered her through the door and into the living room. He took the bottle from her as she shrugged off her coat. “Do you want a glass now? I ordered us some pizza. It should be here soon.”

  “Sounds good.”

  He took her coat and dropped it on the bed, then went to the kitchen. As he sorted the wine out, he observed Alicia. She was dressed in blue jeans and a slightly oversized off-the-shoulder jumper, which exposed her skin. Her hair was loose, and she wore simple silver earrings. Her back was to him as she stood admiring the view from the window. What he wanted to do was go over to her, slip his arms around her waist, kiss her neck, and apologise for being an idiot. He needed to explain everything about Isobel and Xander and how that had affected him. Then he wanted to take her to bed.

  Callan took the two glasses over and handed one to Alicia. “Shall we sit down?”

  They both perched on the edge of the sofa. It seemed such a formal situation, almost as if they didn’t know each other. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Alicia giggled.

  “What’s funny?” asked Callan.

  Alicia waved her glass around. “This. Us. I mean, it’s not like we haven’t well, you know?”

  She was right, thought Callan, as his mouth curved into a smile. “Mmm, it does feel a little strange, doesn’t it?” He paused. “I really do want to apologise for last night. Ned can be a total douche sometimes.”

  “I’m not going to argue with either of those things.”

  Their eyes met, and Callan leaned towards Alicia, bringing his hand up to stroke her cheek. His thumb traced a line across her lips, and her breath hitched.

  The intercom buzzed again, breaking the moment.

  “I guess that’ll be dinner then.”<
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  Callan reluctantly broke away and went to let in the pizza delivery guy. His stomach growled. He hadn’t managed to eat anything all day and was looking forward to the food. He set the boxes down on the low coffee table in front of the sofa.

  “I didn’t know what you’d like, so I got a meat feast and a vegetarian. Nothing too spicy though.”

  “Both good choices. I’m starving.” She broke open one of the boxes and grabbed a slice.

  Callan followed suit and shoved almost an entire slice into his mouth. It tasted like heaven.

  They ate and talked, discussing The Unbound Soul, the potential promotions and marketing they could do; Aidy and Wren’s upcoming wedding the following week—anything except them and what had happened the previous evening.

  “I can’t eat anymore.” Alicia sat back on the sofa, holding her stomach, after they’d polished off about three quarters of the food. “Not sure there’s much left for our breakfast.”

  “Oh, it’s our breakfast is it? Who said you could stay over?” teased Callan.

  Alicia’s cheeks flushed, and she looked away. “Oh, um, I thought…”

  “I think I need to explain some things first. Then you can decide if that’s still what you want to do.” He cleared away the boxes, refilled their glasses, and sat down on the sofa, facing towards Alicia, his back against the arm.

  He took a deep breath. “As you know, Isobel used to work at the shop. She was the receptionist, much as you are now though she doesn’t have your excellent marketing brain.” He smiled, trying to lighten the explanation. “She was also my girlfriend.”

  He watched as Alicia nodded and sipped her wine, listening intently.

  “I think I get why you reacted to Ned as you did,” she said. “She must have been important to you.”

  “Yeah, I was so important to her that she was shagging my brother.” A horrible, bitter taste filled Callan’s mouth as he said the words.