“I'm gonna go and get some air. You ladies sort this out while I'm gone,” I said, and attempted to walk in a straight, dignified line back to the VIP section to collect my coat. Winter in Paris was just as cold as anywhere else in Europe. None of the staff attempted to impede my escape. I got as far as the curb, and turned up the collar to protect myself from the bite of the evening air.
I yelped when William came up behind me, and grasped my elbow roughly. He span me around to face him, and then clicked his tongue impatiently. With the utmost annoyance, he observed, “You're drunk.”
“I resent that accusation.”
“Why?”
“Because it's totally true.”
He sighed, “I'm taking you back. Come on, I'll get us a cab.”
I pulled my arm out of his grip, “No! I'm here with Freddie, so you can – you know – scoot.”
“Scoot?”
“Yeah. Get lost. Go on, rich boy. Why don't you ask Chantelle on a date? She could get a helicopter to drop her off, right?”
“You're babbling.”
“ I am not! You're just not listening right.”
William propped his hands on his hips. He looked up at the sky, and mouthed some swears that I was in no fit state to make out. Without asking my permission, because he knew he wouldn't get it, he lifted me off my feet like a Princess. It would have made my heart race if he wasn't such a prat. I wriggled pathetically while he carried me away, and called for help from people who didn't care, or couldn't speak English.
I would have put more money on the former than the latter.
William only trusted me to stand on my own two feet when he was ushering me into the back seat of a cab. He gave the directions to the driver in fluent French, and then helped me to buckle up. I stared resolutely out of the window for the duration of the journey, focusing all of my anger on the innocent stars dotting the clear, cold sky. He dropped us at the gates, and we were left to walk down the drive ourselves. It didn't sound so bad, but when one considered that Madame Courtenay had a really sizable estate, it felt like miles.
“I'm tired,” I complained childishly, “I don't want to walk.”
“Shut up, and keep moving,” William snapped back.
“You're no fun, and you suck.”
“Would you prefer that Freddie had taken you off somewhere for the night?”
“Yes, obviously! You ruined it, idiot!”
“Me? I'm the idiot? Do you have any idea what he could have talked you into?!”
I giggled, “Yeah.”
He didn't reply, which was a little disappointing. I liked making him angry at me, because it meant I could be just as snappy back. And while he was being a total dick, I could hate him. There'd been a few times when I thought he wasn't so bad. Like when he asked me to dance at Charlie's party, and when he decided to go along to visit Jenny in the hospital.
Two.
There had been two times.
To provoke him further, I said, “I like Freddie. Do you think he'll ask me out?”
“You should ask him that,” he replied tersely.
“Do you have his number? I'll call him. Maybe he'll be able to come by and pick me up. I mean, it's not like it's even that late.”
“No.”
“Liar.”
“I'm not giving you his number! Blake, don't you get that you're in serious trouble with your mother right now?”
“Don't you get that I don't care?” I asked, “It's not like it matters. She'll forget by morning. Anyway, I wanted to spend more time with Freddie.”
“Yes, you said.”
“He's a good kisser.”
“What?” he asked, stopping dead in his tracks, and turning to face me.
I shrugged, “We kissed. It was good. He should have come to school instead of you.”
“He's too old.”
“By – what – a year?”
William balled his hands into fists, “I'm going to kill him. I will literally kill him when he gets back.”
“He could totally knock you out. You're a wimp.”
The punch he'd thrown proved otherwise, but I wasn't going to tell him that. I didn't want William to think I was complimenting him or anything. Had I been in a better position to do it, I'd have hit him back in retaliation. I never usually shied away from that kind of thing when I was sober.
“ I'm a wimp? Me?”
“You repeat stuff a lot,” I said, “You should get your hearing checked.”
He was so irritated by me, it was amazing. William started pacing back and forth in front of me. That wasn't so great, because it was slowing us down. Now we were back, I just wanted to go to bed. It was clear I wasn't going to be allowed back out to play once Mum got hold of me. If I was lucky, I would be able to avoid her until morning.
“And what is that you're wearing, anyway?” he asked all of a sudden, “Did you dress up for his sake?”
“Technically he dressed me.”
“You mean he saw you -”
“I really don't think this is worth talking about,” I said, “And not your business, either. Can I go now. I'm seriously tired, and you're annoying.”
“I think you'll find, you're the annoying one here. Freddie wasn't going to tell me where you were, do you know that? I only knew it was a place his father owned. If I hadn't gone there first, you could have been in his bedroom by now!”
“Yeah, I'm still not happy about you getting in the way of that. Why do you keep spoiling all my fun?”
“ Fun? You think doing that with him, would be fun?”
“Pretty much.”
“I can't do this any more,” he said, pushing his fingers through his hair in frustration, “I can't stay quiet.”
“You've never really been quiet about anything. You should try doing that. Now, would be good.”
William stood straight, and looked me dead in the eye. With all the sincerity and directness of a man confessing to a proud murder, he announced, “I love you.”
“What?”
“I've tried to ignore it, and I thought if I went with Charlie to Switzerland then it would go away. But it didn't, and here you are again, like you're determined to be in my life.”
“I'm really not.”
He closed the distance between us, and took hold of my shoulders. I should have pushed him away, but I wasn't really sure what was going to come next. As far as I understood it, William had always hated me. I'd made the worst possible impression on him at the opening night party, and then had continued to prove to him that I detested him more than any other person on the planet. So the fact that he liked me just made no sense. There was nothing in our relationship to indicate those kinds of feelings would be encouraged, and I certainly hadn't worked to fuel those stirrings in him.
For a moment he didn't say anything at all. He was scrutinising and searching, like he was looking for a sign I was okay with it. When he thought he'd found it, his arms wrapped around me, and I was trapped in a tight hug. It was eerily reminiscent of the way Wyatt had treated me. And it might just end the same way if William wasn't careful.
“After you threatened me at the party, I realised that you were different. I've been surrounded by girls like Chantelle my entire life, but you weren't afraid to talk back to me, like we were equals. And I know that it'll be difficult for people to accept you. I mean, even I find it difficult,” he said, his head resting atop mine with all the impressions of affection. It was too bad what was coming his mouth was completely toxic.
He continued completely oblivious to my feelings, “You're not rich, and your mother is completely ridiculous, and you don't dress as you should, but that can be changed. The company you keep is a bit – well – questionable, but as soon as the school year is over you won't be seeing most of the girls in your dorm again anyway. Despite all of this, for some reason, I still love you.”
When he came in for a kiss, I found it was the perfect opportunity to strike.
And strike I did.
<
br /> Not with a slap, or anything so ladylike. Instead, I head-butted him as hard as I could in the nose. I took a pretty large amount of satisfaction from hearing him howl in pain. William backed off, and held a hand over his nose which, amazingly, I'd managed to break. It was streaming blood in a very unbecoming way down over his chin.
Served him right.
“ What is wrong with you?! I thought you'd be happy!” he cried.
“Happy? What, because you're such an amazing catch?”
“Yes!”
“Okay, first,” I said, “I should point out that this means I don't feel the same way about you.”
“I can see that!”
“Good,” I said, “Second, I've never done anything to indicate I was into you, and if I did by mistake, then I didn't mean to. And last, do you really think I'd want to go out with a total dick, who broke my friend's heart?”
“Your friend -?”
“Jenny! You decided that she wasn't good enough for Charlie, and you made his parents transfer him to Switzerland! Jesus, that's overkill by anyone's standards! She's the nicest, sweetest, most innocent person in the world, and she loved him! What the hell were you thinking?”
He rolled his eyes like the whole thing was a waste of his time. It only served to heighten my anger, and I was tempted to give him a kick in the balls for good measure. Before I could, William declared, “I was happy to get Charlie away from her, okay? Christ, I should have followed my own advice. All the girls you spend time with are idiots. It doesn't matter if they have money, they're still not fit to be seen in society! Charlie's name would have been ruined if he'd been associated with any of you!”
“Wow. And you wonder why I'm not into you? I'm not even going to mention what you did to Gideon. Although I should, because you were a grade-A arse to him.”
“Gideon?” he asked, “What's he got to do with anything? Oh,” he shook his head, “Don't tell me. He's another one of your boyfriends? I could see that Wyatt was interested, but I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to fall for -”
“ He's not, but I like him as a friend and a teacher. He told me everything about when he worked in your school. You ruined his career, and he could have gone to prison. How can you treat anyone like that? What is wrong with you?!”
“And this is what you think about me?”
“This is why I hate you,” I snapped, “And this is why I wouldn't have said yes, even if you hadn't asked me out in the middle of completely insulting me!”
“I was just telling the truth!”
“You were being spiteful!” I shouted, “Because you can't say anything, without turning it into something poisonous!”
“So, I should be happy that the girl I like is going to drag down people's opinions of me?”
I balled my hands so tightly that my nails dug into my palms. Knowing full well that it would do more harm than good in the eyes of our host if I hospitalised William, I swallowed down the desire. In a voice that wavered with the calm I forced into it, I told him, “I'm going inside, and I'm going to bed. In the morning, I'm leaving. And I never want to see you again.”
“Fine by me.”
God!
I never thought I'd meet anyone that hateful, but there he was.
William-freaking-Davies.
Chapter Seventeen
Excessively sorry to go.
A few stern words from my mother were nothing compared to the blazing row I'd had with William. Neither of us spoke of it when we were in the house, and when I went to bed, I was glad of some time alone. At least, I was alone until the early hours, when Georgia crawled back into my bed. I didn't dare to talk to her about what had happened, because I didn't want anyone to know that such a creep had been interested in me.
Wyatt was the preferable option.
Or Freddie.
The only downside, was that I couldn't have a relationship with him, and not see William. They were related, and another meeting would be inevitable. It was so unfair. I didn't think I was going to set up house with the guy and have five kids, but I wanted to spend more time with him.
“What are you doing?” Georgia asked when she finally stirred in the morning.
I was on my knees in front of my case, folding my clothes, and happy to be back in my comfortable jeans. I'd keep the dress Freddie got me as a reminder that the whole trip hadn't been a total waste of time, but it was the only good thing I was taking from it.
“Packing. I'm going to see Dad for a few days before school starts.”
“Our flight isn't for another couple of days.”
“I know. I can't be here, Georgia. Not without committing a major crime, or an international incident. You can stay on if you want.”
“No way,” she said, “If I have to spend another day with Wyatt's sweaty hand holding mine, I'm going to freak out.”
I smirked, “I told -”
“Don't even say it.”
“Come on, you have to let me have this one. I knew he was no good for you.”
“At least I tried,” she said, “But yes, you were right. So I'll go back with you. That way your Mum won't be so mad at us. Do you want me to tell her it was my idea?”
“Good plan,” I said, “If she thinks it's me, she'll try to play the strict parent.”
“I'll break up with Wyatt while I'm at it. I don't want him coming back thinking we're a thing.”
All in all, it was a pretty productive morning. For Georgia, at least. She wasn't at all gentle in dumping Wyatt. He didn't appear to accept it at first. When she slapped him, he got the message. I didn't laugh, not matter how much I wanted to. I was still reeling from my night out, and the way William had treated me.
Mum wasn't happy, but when we made it sound like I was accompanying Georgia as a responsible friend, she came around to the idea of us flying without her or Wyatt. Freddie volunteered to be our driver, and brought his car around while sporting a pair of dark glasses.
“Hungover?” I asked.
“You have no idea. How are you not?” he grumbled, “You had twice the amount I did.”
“I worked it out of my system before I went to bed.”
To my horror, William came out to help load the cases into the boot of the car. I was going to shout at him to leave it, but it wasn't worth it. If he wanted to make himself useful, that was up to him. It would just help us get on our way quicker. He said nothing to any of us in the duration, and then stalked back into the house.
Drama Queen.
I wasn't going to give him another thought. Not ever. William was from a totally different world from me, and I had no interest in occupying it. Freddie and Georgia chatted in as animated a way as was possible with his headache. I kept quiet, squashed into the front passenger seat beside Georgia, and watching Paris fly by. It was a beautiful place. It was too bad William had totally destroyed my impression of it with his attitude.
Freddie might have expected a kiss at the airport, but he didn't get one.
I just couldn't bring myself to encourage someone who had such an irritating relative. I let him have a hug, because I couldn't find it in me to be cruel to him. He must have sensed something was off, but he was too polite to mention it. We parted as friends, and Georgia and I returned to England.
It was wet, and grey, and everything I thought it would be. The airport was busy with people heading home after visiting relatives in the country, or returning from more tropical climates to the dismal reality of their lives. In silence, we went through baggage claim, and the security checks. At the taxi rank, I asked, “Do you want to come and stay a few days?”
“I shouldn't. But thanks.”
“See you at school?”
“Definitely,” she hugged me tight, and hopped into the waiting cab.
I headed back inside for a train. The cost of a taxi from London to Cornwall would be enough to put me into debt until I retired. Rail tickets weren't much better, but at least I had enough for one of those. I found a single seat, and the
one beside me was soon occupied by a man who fell asleep almost as soon as his backside was in the chair.
I hit Dad's number on the speed-dial on my phone. He picked up after a few rings. He'd probably been in the middle of working instead of closing up for the holidays like any sane person would. I cleared my throat, and said, “I'm on my way home.”
One Word From You: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation Page 15