“I’m sorry, Jack, I should have text. John sprung it on me and I didn’t really think,” she spoke softly to him, making me feel as if I was intruding on a private moment. Sure, the two of them were cute a lot of the time, but this was a little bit beyond that.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“It wasn’t so bad.” Relief flooded through me as I realised that she really was okay. I think he knows about us.”
“How?” It was hard to figure out how Jack was feeling about that. I knew that he wanted to protect Belle, but I also figured that he’d love to be able to publicly call her his girlfriend. Even if it was just to stop the other single guys at the theatre from trying their luck.
“I’m not sure.” She shrugged, still looking at Jack and ignoring us. “It was just an impression I got.” She leaned down and gave him a quick kiss.
“I thought Belle said Jack wasn’t in a secret relationship?” All three of us turned to look at David. For someone so sweet, he’d somehow managed to interrupt an important moment for the two of them. Saying that, I’d almost forgotten that he didn’t actually know that Jack and Belle were actually dating. Oops.
“Of course she said that,” I snapped involuntarily. “She was being interviewed by her ex-boyfriend!” Shock crossed over David’s face, making me feel bad for snapping, but the tension of the past half-hour had taken its toll on me. I’d have to make it up to him later.
“I’m sorry,” David said later, once we were alone again. We’d come into my room after Belle had cooked us all a curry, mainly to give her and Jack some time to themselves; they probably needed it after the stress of the afternoon. I sighed.
“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have snapped,” I looked away, unable to meet his gaze. I wasn’t very good at apologising; I normally didn’t feel the need to. But, this time, he probably did deserve it.
“You were stressed out. I know I don’t know them well, but listening to that was difficult.” I stepped towards him and twined my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his chest. He wrapped me up in a hug, and that’s when I surprised both of us by starting to cry.
Chapter 7
Crying seemed to be my new thing. Not that I was doing it every day or anything. It had been weeks since Belle’s interview, and the night when I’d first broken down. But this time was different. This was all out ugly sobs. At least I’d managed to wait until I got home, where the only people that were around to witness it were David, Jack and Belle. Even if, in an ideal world, David wouldn’t be here to see this. But it kind of felt like everything was ruined. Or whole racks of costumes were ruined at the very least, along with the some of the sketches and patterns that I’d used to make them. Ruined in the fire that wasn’t any of our faults. At this point, the tears were unavoidable.
A fire had started in mine and Belle’s studio. No one seemed to know exactly how it had started, just that the result was hours more work for me. But it wasn’t that I was crying for. Just like Jack and his carving, or Belle and her drawings, what had been destroyed was my art. Not one of those pieces could be remade identically, and each of them had been made with love.
David stroked my hair as he hugged me to him, but hadn’t said a word since we’d got back to the flat and I’d run off to my room. Belle had tried to suggest I eat something, but I just couldn’t stomach it right now.
“Hayley?” David asked softly.
“Uh-huh?” I replied through the sniffles.
“Do you remember the first day we met? When you talked about your costumes?” I frowned against his chest, unsure why he was bringing this up. Especially now. David waited for a moment, before carrying on regardless of if it was a good idea or not. “You told me that each costume is a work of art, and that each was different. Why don’t you do it like that?”
“Huh?” I wasn’t sure what he meant, and propped myself up on my elbows so I could look at his face. He trailed his hand down so it traced patterns on my back, the sensation super soothing. He’d been doing it more and more often after I’d told him.
“Make them different on purpose.” I looked at him, completely at a loss for what to say, and not quite getting what he meant. “The new costumes have to serve the same purpose, right?”
“Well, yes. They’ve got to replace the ones that were destroyed,” I said slowly, wiping the last of the tears from my cheeks. Just being near him seemed to calm me, and I started to mull over what he was saying. Even so, whatever it was still eluded me.
“They don’t actually have to be identical to the old costumes.”
“Oh.” Realisation came over me in a flash, which would definitely have been a light bulb moment, had we been living in a cartoon. He was trying to suggest that I replaced the damaged costumes with new designs.
“That way, you don’t have to look at them as replacements, but as new pieces of art to work on.” It scared me that he knew me so well, and that he actually remembered something I’d said so long ago.
“Thank you,” I whispered, leaning up to kiss him.
“What for?” He looked confused, and it was kind of adorable.
“For knowing what to say to make me feel better.” He smiled lazily and a weight lifted from me. “I love you.” Shock crossed over his face, and it was probably mirrored in mine. I hadn’t meant to say that, I hadn’t even known I was going to until the words were out of my mouth. Not that they weren’t true; they were. But I still hadn’t expected to say them. I watched as David’s shock transformed into a wide grin.
“I love you, too.” As much as I wasn’t expecting to say the words to him, I definitely hadn’t been expecting to hear them back. Nor was I prepared for how much they’d affect me. I also couldn’t believe just how much better I felt about today, now that I’d heard them. I kissed him again, before snuggling down next to him and falling asleep.
Chapter 8
It turned out that Belle was completely right to say that no one would care about me wearing an off-the-rack dress. Except for me; I cared, but there was nothing I could do about it. I’d managed to remake several of the destroyed costumes so far, and managed to stay sane while doing it by following David’s advice. If anything, I was happier with how Merry’s Masquerade costume looked now.
I glanced over to where Jack and David were dancing, near us but not quite with us, in order to help protect Jack and Belle’s secret relationship. He looked good tonight, as did Jack if I was objective. The pair of them were dressed as gangsters, complete with the hats and braces, to go along with the 1920s theme.
Belle was dancing next to me, looking good in her silver flapper dress, which was almost identical to the red one I was wearing, and I kept seeing the guys sneaking glances at the two of us.
I threw Belle a quizzical look when I noticed that the guys had disappeared. It was ten to midnight on New Year’s Eve, and I’d no idea where they’d got to. We both shrugged it off, and carried on dancing. There was no reason not to; they knew where we were. We’d been drinking at the flat before coming out, and that, combined with the music in the club, had me pumped and enjoying the evening.
I spied the guys making their way back towards us, drinks in hand. David pressed one of them into my hand with a smile, before pulling me to him and beginning to dance. I let out an unrestrained laugh, enjoying the moment, and the fact that I could see Belle dancing with Jack, a big smile on her face.
“Are you ready for the countdown!” The DJ screamed out, and the crowd went wild; everyone ready to join in, “TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX, FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE!”
“Happy New Year!” David murmured against my cheek, or at least, that’s what I assume he said. Not that I had to think about it for long. David captured my lips in his, and we shared our first kiss of a new year. I had high hopes that this would be a good one. We broke apart, smiling, and looked over in time to see that Jack and Belle were also kissing. Only to have the moment ruined by Merry taking a photo of the two of them; guess their relationship wa
sn’t so secret anymore. I watched Belle carefully, and while she didn’t seem too bothered by it, I worried that that was just because she’d been drinking. Instead of freaking out, she grabbed Jack’s hand and pulled him off towards the smoking area, probably wanting some air, considering that, unless something drastic had changed in the past week or so, neither of them smoked.
David pulled me closer and we danced for another few songs, but I couldn’t get into it with the excitement of what was coming later; or what I hoped was coming later. I was staying at David’s for the first time. Other than the night after the fire, which I wasn’t counting, it was also going to be the first time we’d spent the whole night together. Which I was hoping meant that we’d be doing more than just sleeping.
“Should we go find them?” David spoke in my ear, though I could barely hear him over the music. Not that that was surprising, it seemed pretty standard for clubs. I nodded, not bothering to waste the effort of trying to make myself heard. Instead, I grabbed his hand and tugged him towards where I’d seen Jack and Belle disappear. It’s ridiculous how expensive cabs were at New Year, and splitting it with them would make it far more reasonable.
We rounded into the smoking areas to find the two of them lip locked again, and I briefly wondered what had been unleashed now that they weren’t going to hide anymore. Who was I kidding, the whole thing made me feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside. Maybe it was because I was just as loved up as they were.
“Oi! You two! Get a room!” I called out, and they broke apart, a big grin on both of their faces. Belle turned to look at me expectantly. She probably wanted me say what I had to, and go away, so that the two of them could go back to what they were doing. “We’re off, do you want to share a cab?”
“Yeah, sure,” she answered, reaching out to take my hand. With how many people there were in the club, we needed to stay together in order to get out. Outside, we split up to try and find a taxi, and I cursed myself inwardly for not thinking of booking one before we’d left the flat earlier; it’d make life so much easier.
“Wait,” David tugged on my arm and I spun around to crash into his chest. He brushed my cheek gently, and leaned down, kissing me. It was slow and sensuous, making me think that my hopes for the end of the evening weren’t completely unfounded.
The moment we found a taxi, we turned back to find the other two, but got distracted by the sound of raised voices. Something about them sounded familiar. Curiosity got the better of me, and I walked towards the shouting, David trailing behind me.
“…and stays away for three years, then that’s a good indication that things are over. Leave Annabelle alone!” It took a moment for it to sink in that it was Jack’s voice I could hear; I don’t think I’d ever heard him so riled up before. Even when Toby was interviewing Belle on the radio. And then, it clicked; I looked at who he was talking to, and cold dread ran through me as I recognised the broad, overly worked out man in front of them. Now Jack’s raised voice made more sense.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Belle is mine, and will always be mine.” He leered and something in me snapped. Storming towards him, I slapped him hard across the face, the loud crack sounding even harsher in the still night air.
“Leave her alone, Toby. You’ve done enough!” I spat at him, trying to slap him again, but David grabbed me around my waist and pulled me away. He mumbled reassuring words in my ear. To all of our surprise, including Toby’s, Belle took a step forward and looked him straight in the eye.
“If your problem is that our relationship never ended then here; I do not want to be with you. I am with Jack now.” If I hadn’t been so angry, or wanted to scratch Toby’s eyes out so much, then my inner cheerleader would be going crazy over whoever it was that had replaced my best friend. I’d never seen her stand up for herself quite like that, even before Toby. She turned away from him and looked me in the eye, allowing me to regain some semblance of control again. “Do we have a taxi?” She asked and I nodded. The four of us turned away, each of us lost in our own thoughts, Belle and Jack most of all. As far as I was aware, he’d never actually met Toby before, so that had to have been an eye opener for him.
We dropped the two of them back at the flat, then carried on to David’s. His flat mate, Michael, was away for the night, something about visiting a friend at uni. It was smaller than the flat me and Belle shared, despite the fact that both David and Michael had jobs, whereas we got by on Belle’s graphic design work and my savings, and it was very much a man’s flat; all monochrome with black and white stock photos on the wall. Then again, that could be the artist in me being slightly unimpressed.
He stripped off his jacket, and took mine, hanging them by the door in a surprisingly tidy move. Though, come to think of it, the whole place was tidy. Much tidier than anywhere I’d ever lived.
David pulled me into his arms with a kiss, and I soon felt lost in the sensation, pushing my body towards his and deepening the kiss.
“Are you sure?” He asked, breaking the kiss but not moving away.
“Yes,” I whispered back, my breathing laboured.
“Hayley, you need to be,” I wasn’t sure exactly what it was that had him so worked up about this, but I’d never been so sure about a guy before, and I was determined to let him know.
“David,” I pulled away slightly, putting some distance between us so that I could look into his eyes, “I love you, and I’m sure, now can we just get on with it? I’m getting impatient!” He laughed, and the tension I hadn’t realised was in his face fled. He walked backwards, bringing me with him to his room. Excitement built within me, and I was glad that the alcohol from earlier had worn off; I hadn’t drunk enough for it to still be affecting me, and the confrontation with Toby has also gone a fair way to sober me up.
Safe to say, this was the best New Year’s Eve ever.
Chapter 9
Things were bad. Really bad. New Year had been a real milestone in our relationship, but since then, almost all me and David had done was fight. I wasn’t even too sure what we were fighting about most of the time, only that it started after he suggested I met his family. It wasn’t that I was against the idea as such, more that I thought it was too early. And that the little voice in the back of my mind was telling me all the things that could go wrong. Then what would they think of me? I was being ridiculous, and while I knew it, I couldn’t help it.
“Merry, you had better not rip that cape again. It’s the fourth one I’ve had to make,” I snapped, knowing that it wasn’t really Merry making me so short tempered. Well, actually, she was part of the reason that I was so wound up. For some reason, she seemed to go through costumes faster than the rest of the cast put together, and I was already behind as it was, thanks to the fire.
“Aren’t you needed on stage?” Belle asked, not even looking up from the sketch pad propped up on her desk. I wasn’t sure what she was designing, but it was almost like she was putting more into it than she’d ever put into anything before.
“They’re practicing Prima Donna.” Merry pouted, ignoring Belle’s clear attempt to get her out of my way. Which knowing her, was what she’d been trying to do.
“They’ll be moving on shortly, though, and it’ll be easier with you around to pick up the next scene.” She looked up and fixed Merry with a stare that would have most people quaking in their boots; a stare that I don’t think I’d ever seen Belle give anyone before. A weird sense of pride took over me as Merry scampered out of the room. Or it did, until she turned the stare on me. “And you…what’s wrong?” I flinched involuntarily, unused to this side of Belle.
“Nothing,” I answered automatically.
“No, not nothing. You’re snapping at everyone, and don’t think we haven’t heard you and David arguing.” Oops, I hadn’t realised that they’d been able to hear us. Or why they didn’t spend time at Jack’s flat. Come to think of it, I wasn’t actually sure where Jack lived.
“He wants me to meet his family,” I admitted sheepi
shly and watched as shock passed over her face.
“THAT’S your problem?”
“Yes.”
“It’s been a couple of months, of course he wants you to meet his family!” It didn’t escape my notice that I was normally the one speaking sense to her about things like this. But then, that’s what best friends are for, I guess; and I secretly appreciated her calling me out on it.
“And have you met Jack’s family?” It was a low blow and I knew it, but that didn’t stop me. Another advantage of being best friends; despite my curtness, she wouldn’t actually take offense. A smug look, that I was sure I’d be the only one to ever see, crossed her face.
“No, but both of our families are coming up next week for a meal. Which we’re having at the flat by the way. You’re welcome to come,” she was genuinely saying that as well, and I’m sure both of their families would make me welcome.
“That sounds like too much fun for me to be there.” I smiled at her to soften the blow, but she knew I wasn’t serious anyway.
“Tell David you’ll meet them. What’s the worst that could happen?” She asked softly.
“They hate me?” I worried my lip between my teeth as I thought about it.
“Just be your normal charming self and they won’t be able to help but love you. You’re just loveable like that.” She smiled and I felt kind of reassured. Score three for the best friend thing.
“She is.” A deep, recognisable voice came from behind Belle, and my eyes instantly latched onto his from where he stood in the doorway.
“I think they probably need me near the stage.” She winked at me, and left the room as quickly as possible. David took a step towards me, looking slightly unsure, but not letting that stop him. Our fighting had been bad, but we were still together. Or at least, I thought we were.
You Know I Do (Curtain Call Book 2) Page 4