Promise Me: Some friendships are made to be broken (Beggar's Choice #1)

by Lily Morton

  Catching sight of me she immediately smiles, as for some reason she’s always been nice to me. I think part of it is because Charlie wouldn’t accept anything else, but also because I’m too scared of her to reject her constant tarot card sessions. She’d once memorably dragged Charlie and I to a local spiritualist church to see a visiting medium. This had been memorable due to the sheer volume of people who’d come through for Charlie. He’d treated the whole visit with undisguised delight, and then heroically stopped himself from laughing when the only person that came through for me was an old cart horse that had apparently killed my great great grandfather. I know this was a lie by the way because he got run over by a tram when he was drunk.

  Mrs M gestures to the bacon that she’s hovering over. “Sit down Mabel. Do you want some bacon lovey?”

  Feeling suddenly shy I nod and slide into my seat. “Do you want some tea?” she continues, and at my nod she pours the dark liquid into the cup. Pushing it towards me she nods emphatically at it. “I’ll read your leaves when you’re done babe. See what sort of week you’re going to have.”

  “Lovely,” I say faintly as this never works out, mainly because she doesn’t actually know how to read tea leaves. Forcing myself to look at the two men I make myself look nonchalant and smile at them. “Morning,” I say trying to act as if I’d actually just stayed in bed last night.

  Sid looks at me searchingly for a second and then mercifully decides to play along. “Morning Mabes. What are your plans for today babe?”

  “Aah!” I say enthusiastically, because this subject will definitely take everyone’s mind off last night. “I’ve got plans for both of us today. We’re going to do loads together.”

  “Shit,” he says faintly, hunching down in his seat. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

  Charlie shifts next to me as if impatient at my delay in acknowledging him. “What plans?” he says in his gorgeous, early morning husky voice. I risk a peep at him but his face is inscrutable.

  “We’re going jogging,” I say as Sid takes a sip of his tea and then promptly spits it out over the table.

  “Jogging. I don’t jog,” he says in evident disbelief over the sounds of Mrs M tutting as she cleans up the spillage.

  “You say that like a normal person would say ‘drowning puppies. I don’t drown puppies‘.”

  “I think I’d rather do that,” he says darkly.

  “Oh don’t be such a baby,” I say airily. “This is all part of my plan. You’re going to get into exercise. According to research it gives you feel good endorphins that mean you won’t miss the drugs so much. Plus, it’ll tire you out so you’ll sleep properly at night.”

  “Sex does both of those,” he counters, shooting a sly sidelong glance at his brother which Charlie misses because he’s currently staring at me like I‘ve got a target on my forehead. “So if you’re worried about my physical health we could just head upstairs and sort that out!”

  “Stop it,” I say peaceably as Charlie’s head shoots round to glare at his brother. “We’re going jogging and then I have other things for us to do.”

  “I think I preferred the drugs,” he says gloomily.

  “Don’t say that,” I scold him lightly. “Now go and get changed and then we’ll set off.”

  “You’re running too?” Charlie asks with a faint tremor of laughter running through his voice.

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Oh, no reason. Just that the only times I’ve ever seen you move that quickly are for last orders at the bar and the sale at Top Shop.”

  “I can run,” I protest indignantly. “It can’t be that hard anyway because there’s loads of really unfit people do the London Marathon.”

  “Mabe, there’s loads of unfit people who start it but they don’t usually finish it,” he corrects me with a massive smirk on his face.

  “Well he won’t be too fast will he?” I say pointing at Sid who sits up indignantly.

  “I can run,” he says pointing an accusing finger at me.

  “Only after birds,” mutters Charlie. “You know what,” he continues with an air of revelation. “I think I’ll come with you.”

  “No!” we both say in horror. Charlie unlike us, really is a serious runner. He runs most days and his enviably cut figure is the result of this. Despite the smoking, drinking and whoring the man is actually in superb physical shape.

  “You can’t come with us, we’re beginners,” I say and Sid nods vigorously. “We’ll hold you back.”

  “No, no,” he says in a faux virtuous voice. “You need an experienced runner with you. I’ll be your trainer like that little old man in the Rocky films.”

  “No,” Sid groans. “You’re like a fucking sergeant major when anyone runs with you. You won’t have the patience.”

  “Oh, I think the rewards will more than outweigh the hindrances,” Charlie says grandly, and clapping his brother on the back sharply, he exits the kitchen saying over his shoulder. “I’ll meet you in the hall in an hour.”

  “What have you done Mabel?” Sid says in a very dark tone.

  ***

  An hour later I’m waiting in the hall for the boys. I’m wearing an exercise outfit of black, three quarter leggings with a bright pink halter backed racer top along with black and pink Nike running shoes. The outfit actually belongs to Viv who’s a keen runner so I know the gear is expensive, and luckily we’re the same shoe size. Unfortunately, I have a little more up top than her so the top is much tighter than the ones that I usually wear, and I tug it far away from my breasts in a futile attempt to stretch it.

  “Wow,” comes Sid’s voice from the stairs. “Mabes if this is what stretching is really about then you can definitely sign me up for our exercise classes.”

  “That’s pathetic,” I moan as Charlie passes him and smacks him sharply over the head.

  “Don’t ogle Mabel’s tits,” he says and I’m relieved to see that he looks much more light-hearted. “You’re objectifying her as a woman and I for one am disgusted by that.”

  “Whatever,” mutters Sid who moves much more slowly and reluctantly towards us.

  Charlie reaches me and looks down at my outfit for a long second. When he looks up his face looks slightly tight and then he seems to make a conscious effort to relax. “Well you look the part,” he smirks. “Let’s see if you can walk the walk though.”

  “I can walk,” I say indignantly. “It’s just not usually very fast.”

  He laughs and ushers us out of the back of the house shouting a goodbye to Mrs M. He hugs me to his side as we go but his touch feels hot on my bare back and I shiver slightly. Catching it he looks down at me. “Do you need to grab a hoody or something Mabes?” he asks in concern and I shake my head no, while ignoring Sid’s knowing smirk.

  Once we’re outside on the back lawn Charlie’s light hearted demeanor abruptly drops. “Right,“ he says in a much firmer tone. “We need to warm up first before we do anything.”

  Sid groans and sidles next to me. “I’m going to get you back for this Mabel,” he says in a low voice. “Even if it takes forever.”

  We look at Charlie who is jogging on the spot while he waits for us. He looks lush in a pair of loose, grey Adidas running shorts and a sleeveless white running shirt that emphasises his tan and tattoos. He looks unbelievably yummy but also intimidatingly fit.

  “You might want to get that revenge in soon mate,” I whisper. “I don’t think we’ve got long on this earth.” We both snigger until Charlie calls us to order.

  Ten minutes later and we’re still in the garden. According to Charlie we’re completely and horrifyingly unfit, and although we’re certainly going to feel like absolute shit later, if we don’t do all this stretching we’ll feel a whole lot worse. I tell him that he should definitely consider motivational speaking if the music career ever goes wrong but he’s firmly in trainer mode and doesn’t even crack a smile.

  As for me I’m not sure whether warming up should include my nether regions
, but I’m definitely warmed up down there. I’m currently doing something called a bridge which entails me lying on my back while raising my groin area towards Charlie. I’ve definitely imagined doing this before but not actually on the back lawn in front of his brother, and in my dreams he’s wearing less clothing and isn’t barking orders at me. Although, come to think of it he’s gone a lot quieter since we started this stretch and his eyes seem to be stuck on a track running from my groin to my chest. I catch his eye as I raise towards him and he seems to still for a second before his hand moves out almost as if it’s beyond his control and he rests it lightly on my stomach where the top has ridden up. His hand is large and in that position he’s almost touching my crotch and I gasp out loud. We stare at each other for a long moment as he pushes my torso slowly back to the ground and I see a drop of sweat make its way down his face which I’m sure is lowering to me slowly, but then Sid groans and rolls up to a standing position.

  “Are we actually going to run?” he says grumpily. “I’m warmed up now and I’m fucking absolutely certain that you two are.”

  Charlie seems to catch himself and then jumps to his feet with alacrity. “Right you are,” he says in an unnecessarily loud voice and moves down to the gate at the bottom of the garden, completely forgetting to give me a hand up which is very unlike him. Sid does it for him with a wry grin.

  “I’m glad I’m off the drugs,“ he mutters. “I’d never have been clear headed enough before to appreciate all this.”

  “What - the warming up?” I ask confused. I can’t see why that is. To me it’s just prolonging the inevitable which is me dying hideously red faced during my first serious run.

  “In a way,” he says cryptically before padding off to join his brother who is jogging lightly on the spot again. I sigh and follow them.

  “Right then are we ready?” says Charlie brightly as I reach him. “I thought we’d do a light run to start off. We’ll go out the back way, run onto the Heath and past Kenwood House and Thousand Pound Pond and then back home.”

  “That sounds lovely,” I say faintly. “Oh wait a minute!” I exclaim and he sighs.

  “What now?”

  He appears to be trying to avoid looking at me so I turn to Sid. “Don’t you need your iPod lovey? You know, to take your mind off the pain.”

  “Mabel, we’re running, not conducting a live vivisection on ourselves,” Charlie says, but Sid just sighs heavily.

  “I don’t need my iPod Mabes, because I want to be able to hear my death rattle when it comes.”

  “Jesus Christ!” says Charlie, obviously losing his patience. “Come the fuck on you two.”

  Half an hour later and I actually think I have the privilege of knowing what death must feel like before the actual event. At first we kept to a light pace and it was almost nice. It was warm but there was a constant breeze so I wasn’t sweating too unattractively. It was nice to jog past the beautiful exterior of Kenwood House with its pretty restored gypsy caravan and the lovely peaceful setting of the pond. I’ll even admit that it was nice to sort of feel part of a community as we exchanged nods and smiles with other joggers. However, that feeling is long gone now and if we don’t stop soon I think I might just collapse at Charlie’s feet. I’m not sure how this will go down either as he is showing no signs of fatigue at all, running smoothly with all his muscles working like silk under his skin.

  He and Sid have had many sidelong looks from people so far but I don’t know whether it’s because they’ve been recognized, or because they look so fit and hot. Yes, even Sid looks good, the little running traitor. He’s obviously in his running groove and shows no sign of tiring, despite the fact that Charlie nearly had an apoplectic fit at him when he sparked up a cigarette as he ran.

  They’re both ahead of me at the moment and as they crest the hill and disappear I give up. Stumbling to a stop I don’t know whether I so much sit down as fall down, but here I am lying on the ground in a pathetic, shuddering heap. I lie there for a few minutes until the urge to throw up leaves me and I’m just panting rather than gurgling for air. I cowardly hope that they’ll forget all about me and leave me here forever, but just then a shadow falls over me and looking up I see their smiling faces. The bastards aren’t even breathing heavily.

  “Golly gosh Mabel,” Sid says. “I’m so pleased that you shared your favourite hobby with me. We’re going to have so much fun together this summer.”

  I try to summon up the energy to tell him to fuck off but settle for sticking my middle finger up at him before my hand slips limply back down onto the grass.

  Both men howl with laughter at this and flop down on the grass next to me. “Charlie don’t sit so close,” I say petulantly, shoving him away when he sits too close to me, as his body heat is extraordinary and something I don’t need at the moment.

  He shifts off obligingly and we’re silent for a while. Charlie occupies himself for a bit by holding buttercups up to my crotch and breasts and asking them whether they like butter and then he obviously gets really bored.

  “Split Second Song?” he demands and Sid and I groan.

  “You go first,” I urge Sid who considers for a second.

  “’Another Way to Die’ by Alicia Keys and Jack White,” he smirks, and I burst out laughing.

  “Oh me next, me next. Mine’s got to be ‘Doctor! Doctor!’ by The Thompson Twins.”

  Charlie groans. “That’s so obvious, the two of you.”

  “Okay then smartarse. What song truly sums you up at the moment?”

  “Simple. It’s got to be ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ by The Stone Roses,” he says deadpan while Sid and I pelt him with grass. “What? It’s the truth. I would quite like to be adored right now. It’s nice. Mabel you should put that on your list of things to do today – adore Charlie.” I snort and he adds consideringly. “Make sure it’s at the top of the list though Mabe.”

  Finally, I rouse myself. “Well I suppose we’ll sleep well tonight,” I say brightly. “Although I might have to stay here for a few weeks as my legs don’t seem to work anymore.”

  Both men snort and then Charlie leans over me, his eyes a fierce blue against the green of the trees. “Mabel, I will never leave you behind,” he says soulfully and I sniff haughtily rising to my knees in an ungainly crouch.

  “Talk is cheap Hudson,” I say and it really truly is with most people. However, Charlie always manages to make it with actions as well because he not only gives me a piggyback all the way home, but also buys me a cake to eat on the way, and never once complains when I get crumbs down his neck.

  We arrive at the back of his house laughing, but this soon fades when we’re accosted by three paparazzi photographers clicking and whirring. “What the fuck?” mutters Charlie, letting me down from his back quickly, and then putting his arm around me to lead me to the gate. Sid moves to my other side with his head tilted down to deny them a shot.

  “Charlie, is it true mate?” shouts one of the men, who I have to say looks about twelve. I don’t think he’s even started shaving yet and he’s definitely not done his homework about Charlie or he wouldn’t be getting quite so close to his face with that camera.

  “Fuck off!” mutters Charlie, putting his hand up to block the camera shot, and at the same time opening the gate and pushing me through.

  “Charlie, Charlie, where’s Noa?” come the shouts through the wood and we all look at each other askance. I’ve never seen anyone at the back of the house before as they usually restrict themselves to the front where they can get some good footage.

  “Why are they asking about Noa?” wonders Sid as he removes his headphones and curls them into his pocket.

  “I don’t know,” returns Charlie grimly. “But I’m going to find out.”

  We hurry into the house and Charlie shouts for Mrs M who comes trotting up.

  “Oh, I’m pleased you’re home,” she says. “The phone’s been ringing off the hook and there’s loads of photographers at the front. I couldn’t g
et my car out to go home.”

  “There’s a few at the back as well,” mutters Charlie. “Don’t worry about your car. I’ll take you home and come and pick you up in the morning when they’ve gone.”

  “Oh I don’t think they’ll be gone any time soon. Have you seen the news?”

  “No, why? What’s happened?” asks Charlie with the air of a man expecting anything.

  “Well, they’re saying that you and Noa are engaged, and getting married next week.”

  I can’t help it and I let out a pained gasp, but luckily it’s covered up by Charlie’s explosive ‘fuck’.

  “Is it true?” asks Mrs M cautiously.

  “No, it bloody isn’t,” he says and she and I both sigh with relief, but probably for different reasons.

  Charlie looks at Sid who smirks and shrugs. “What are you going to do mate?”

  “I’ll ring up Bill and get him to issue a statement denying it.”

  “Noa won’t like that.”

  “Well she can just bloody get over it,” Charlie says sharply. “I’m not marrying someone just because The Sun says so.”

  Sid laughs. “I’ll leave you to it. I’m off for a shower.”

  When he’s gone and Mrs M has bustled off Charlie turns to me. “Go on up Mabe and run a bath. I’ll be up in a bit when I’ve spoken to Bill.”

  “Why?” I ask blankly.

  “Mabe, you haven’t stretched or done anything to cool down. I was going to do it with you on the back lawn when we got back, but the paps have bollocksed that up.”

  “Oh it’s fine,” I say hastily. If he touches me much more today I’m going to climb him like a monkey up a tree.