by Katie Ginger
She wanted and needed him here. No matter what had happened between them, she didn’t want anyone else right now. Lottie swallowed down a sob as, this time, she was forced to leave a voicemail for Sid. ‘Sid, it’s me. It’s Lottie. The theatre – it’s – it’s totally flooded.’ Her voice broke as tears streamed down her cheeks. ‘Can you come? Please. Can you help me? I—’
Her head shot up as a sound like something tearing echoed around her. A piece of plaster fell from the ceiling and landed with a splash beside her, soaking her legs even more. She backed away. ‘Please, Sid, I really need your help. It’s all falling apart.’
The water-logged carpet sucked her foot down and a loud crash from above rang around the room. Lottie lifted her hair and caught sight of a jagged chunk of plaster as it crashed down and slammed into her skull.
Her knees buckled and gave way. The room spun and swam as she fell backwards into the water. Every part of her head throbbed and blood ran down her forehead into her eyes. The cold water washed up the side of her face into her ear and splashed onto her forehead. Lottie’s thoughts raced, and in her mind’s eye she saw the sea and waves she had watched only moments ago. Then everything blurred.
A total blackness pulled at her eyes, closing them for her. She tried to open them, but they were too heavy. Her body wouldn’t move. She couldn’t feel her legs or arms. Her eyelids fluttered open for a second seeing the dull grey sky through the holes in the ceiling. Then everything went dark.
Chapter 29
Sid pulled the duvet over himself still unused to being naked with anyone. Selena had no such qualms and lay exposed, basking in all her post-sex glory.
It had been a great weekend so far. Selena had been sweet and caring, and they’d had a great time together. There was something decadent about lying in a huge bed on a Sunday afternoon without a care in the world. Their clothes were strewn everywhere but he couldn’t be bothered with collecting them. Flooded with endorphins, Sid lay back on the fluffy pillows with his hands behind his head. He was glad Selena liked the room, and relieved too, as it had cost a fortune. Their suite in the swanky spa hotel was almost as big as his flat.
Selena’s long dark hair, now messed up and falling over her face, cascaded out behind her. Her make-up had been all but removed revealing the flaws in her skin. He preferred her this way. She looked real. Normal.
Sid wondered again what this sexy woman was doing with a geek like him. He wore Star Wars pants for heaven’s sake. He knew his faults all too well. Even though he was lanky his face had a chubby roundness, his teeth were too big, he couldn’t make his hair do anything stylish and his dress sense hadn’t changed since he was eighteen. Lottie’s hadn’t either, come to think of it. Thoughts of her threatened to push in and he squeezed his eyes shut to chase them away.
Selena stretched out like a cat and then gracefully swung her lithe limbs around and walked to the bathroom. Sid closed his eyes to snooze and listened to the rains incessant tapping at the window. He loved the sound of a summer storm. His phone rang from the corner of the room where his jeans were thrown over the back of a chair. He got up to answer it, pulling the gigantic duvet around him.
Selena made her way back into the room in one of the hotel’s fluffy bathrobes. ‘Who’s that?’
Sid looked down and re-read the caller ID, his smile growing wider. ‘It’s Lottie.’
‘Oh.’ Selena paused, running her fingers through her hair. ‘You’re not going to answer it, are you? I thought we were having some special time together?’
‘I know but she hasn’t really spoken to me since the play.’ His conscience tore at him. Selena deserved this break but then again … ‘If she’s calling me it must be important.’
‘If it was that important she’d call Jeremy, wouldn’t she? He’s her boyfriend after all. It must be something to do with work so you don’t need to answer it now.’
Sid looked at his phone again, panicking.
‘We’ve talked about this before, Sid.’ Her voice was still soft but there was also a sharpness and he knew he was annoying her. ‘You’re always on about Lottie bloody Webster. I thought you were giving her some space?’
His hands were sweating.
‘Please, Sid, do this for me.’
Before he could answer it went to voicemail. A few seconds later it rang again. He was sure now if she’d called him instead of Jeremy that meant she needed him, not Mr Suave. ‘If she’s ringing back straight away, it must be important, Selena. I think I’m going to have to answer it.’
‘But, baby.’ Selena sat down on the edge of the bed letting her robe fall open revealing her cleavage. ‘This weekend was supposed to be for us. Jeremy’s her boyfriend, she’d call him first over you if it was that important.’ Selena walked to him and gently took the hand that gripped his phone. It clicked through to voicemail and Sid’s stomach sank at missing it again.
Considering they hadn’t spoken in weeks this was big. ‘But she’s tried me twice now. I really should answer it.’
‘That theatre is all you ever talk about. Anyone would think you love her more than me.’ As Selena picked lint off the bathrobe there was a whine in her voice he’d never heard before and the sharpness of it pinched the muscles at the back of his neck. Did he? If he did it was only because she moaned about some of the other things he liked to talk about. Sid watched Selena’s face.
‘Honestly, Sid, I’ve put up with it for ages but this is too much. She’s not ruining my weekend away, she’s nothing special.’ Selena pulled her robe closed. Her mouth was set in a grim line and her eyes narrowed.
It rang again.
Selena marched over to him and grabbed the phone from his hands and rejected the call. ‘I will not let you ruin this weekend, Sid. We’ve got some massages booked later.’ She moved closer to him and lay her hand on his bare chest. ‘This was supposed to be for us, our first weekend away.’
Sid remembered he was still wrapped in the duvet and turned to find his jeans. Her hand fell away. ‘You’ve been so obsessed with that theatre, attending everything, working late doing who knows what. She hasn’t even thanked you for that really nice article you wrote. I mean, how ungrateful is that? I don’t see why you even wrote it, she didn’t deserve it. Why are you trying so hard for her?’
It was true Lottie hadn’t thanked him yet and he longed to know what she thought. ‘Maybe that’s why she’s calling?’
‘Then she can leave a message. Why can’t you just let that pathetic woman get on with it?’
Wow. What? Sure, Selena had every right to be mad but if Lottie was calling him out of the blue like this he had to answer. ‘Look, Selena, Lottie wouldn’t call unless—’
Before Selena would relinquish his phone, a ping told him he had a voicemail. Sid glanced at his phone then Selena. Her face was rigid and her eyes had lost their sparkle. ‘Now, listen,’ he began in a conciliatory tone, taking his phone back from her tight fingers. ‘I’m going to listen to this message, then we’ll get dressed and go out for a drink, okay?’
Selena released the phone but didn’t move or speak. Sid felt like some kind of hostage negotiator, only he couldn’t decide if it was him or the phone being held hostage. His heart sped up as he listened to the message. A nausea rose from his stomach and burned his throat. Lottie sounded weird. Were her teeth chattering? What the hell was happening there? There was a noise. A bang, then … something. He couldn’t tell what. All he knew was that something was wrong.
He tried calling her back but there was no reply.
‘What is it now then?’ asked Selena.
‘I have to go,’ Sid said, grabbing his clothes from the floor and throwing them on as quickly as possible.
‘What do you mean you have to go? Go where? Why?’
‘I think there’s been an accident. I—I don’t know. Lottie went to the theatre and there was a bang. I think something’s happened to her.’
‘And leave me here?’ Selena shouted. Her cheeks were red an
d her expression was hard and still. He could see her throat twitch with the deep breaths she was taking to try and stay calm. ‘I have no idea what she has that I don’t to get you and Jeremy fussing around after her.’ Sid’s heart was beating faster than it ever had before.
‘Don’t be like that. You—’
‘Don’t be like what? You’re running around after that woman, ruining our weekend and I should be pleased?’
Sid couldn’t deal with this right now. She had every right to be angry and disappointed that their special weekend was being cut short but he just didn’t have time for drama. Lottie needed him. ‘You can come with me if you can get dressed in ten seconds.’
‘Sid, if you do this, I promise I will dump you. I could get another boyfriend in seconds. You should count yourself lucky. You should …’
Her voice trailed away into background noise as Sid tried to calm himself down. If anything had happened to Lottie he would never forgive himself. He should have been a man and made things right. If they were only ever to be friends, then fine. It was better than not having her in his life at all.
‘Oh my God, you’re not even listening to me.’ Selena threw her arms up in frustration.
Sid finally looked up after pulling on his trainers. ‘I’m sorry, Selena, but I have to go and see if Lottie’s alright. She was really upset and then something happened. There was a noise – I don’t really know.’
‘A noise? You’re doing all this because of a noise? What sort of noise?’ She had her arms crossed over her chest and her head wiggled as she spoke.
Sid clenched his teeth trying to stay calm. ‘I don’t know what sort of a noise, Selena, that’s why I need to go and find out.’ He pulled his T-shirt over his head. ‘Listen, I get that you’re annoyed with me and I’m sorry our weekend’s finished like this, but something’s happened and I need to find out what. She could be hurt.’
Selena’s mouth was pursed tightly and her large brown eyes were cold as she held him in her unwavering gaze. ‘It’s pathetic. You’re both pathetic.’
Sid felt a stab of anger at her response but he had to stay calm and focus on Lottie right now. ‘If you want to come, I’ll take you home once I’ve finished, but right now, I have to get going. What do you want to do?’
‘I’m staying, Sid, and if you leave, we’re through, do you understand?’
Sid put his hands on his hips and stared at the floor. ‘I do.’ He grabbed his jacket from the chair, slung it over his shoulder and left.
Chapter 30
Lottie’s eyes opened slowly and focused on the sun shining through plain blue curtains over a small window. Her hand flew to her face to shield her eyes and swept across a dressing on her head. ‘Ouch.’ Thinking there would be blood, she checked her fingers, but they were clean. Her brain was pushing against her skull and it pounded worse than the hangover she’d had after last year’s Eurovision.
Lottie pushed herself up to sitting and leaned back on the hard, lumpy pillows. Every muscle hurt and her limbs felt heavy. Looking down, her hand had a cannula in it and she studied the rest of the room to see other patients and more medical instruments. How on earth had she ended up in hospital?
A short, incredibly cheerful nurse bustled in. ‘Hello, lovey. Nice to see you awake.’
‘Hello.’ Lottie watched her pick up a chart from the end of the bed and read it, then check her watch and write something down. ‘Sorry, who are you? And how did I get here?’
The nurse smiled. She had a kind face full of wrinkles. ‘I’m Margaret. I’ve been looking after you since you were brought in yesterday.’
‘Yesterday? What time is it now? How long have I been here?’ Lottie looked around for her stuff.
‘Calm down, lovey. It’s okay.’ Margaret sat on the side of Lottie’s bed. ‘It’s about four o’clock now. You were brought in yesterday afternoon at about half past three suffering from a severe concussion and hypothermia. You were unconscious, and we’ve been waiting for you to wake up. Your body temperature is roughly back to normal now, but you’re still quite weak. It’s lots of rest for you.’
‘I’ve been here a whole day?’ Lottie looked down at the unpleasant hospital gown she was wearing trying to comprehend what was happening. There were quite a few blankets on her bed and the smell of disinfectant stung her nose.
‘Yes. Now, let me fetch that nice young man who’s been waiting for you. Typical, isn’t it? He only nipped out for a cup of tea and as soon as he leaves, you wake up.’
Sid? Lottie’s heart quickened. She closed her eyes as the tightness in her head intensified. She remembered now. She’d visited the theatre. There was a leak and the water was everywhere. He hadn’t answered her calls. Then the ceiling came down. Lottie shuddered at the memory.
She desperately wanted to see Sid again. She’d missed him so much. When he came in, Lottie would give him the biggest hug of his life. She wondered what awful T-shirt he’d be wearing today and pictured his cheeky, goofy grin. She loved him to bits. How could she ever make up for everything she’d said?
Lottie pushed her hair back from her face. It was lank and greasy, and smelled awful, but Sid wouldn’t care. The door opened and Lottie took a deep breath, ready to apologise.
‘Lottie,’ exclaimed Jeremy as he strode into the room, throwing his suit jacket onto the chair beside her bed, and wrapping her in his arms. ‘You scared me so much.’ He stood back and held her face. ‘I’m so glad you’re alright.’
Disappointment hit her like a sucker punch to the stomach and tears came to her eyes. As handsome as he was with a scattering of five o’clock shadow, he wasn’t Sid. ‘Jeremy,’ replied Lottie trying to keep her voice calm.
‘Don’t cry, sweetheart, I’m here.’ He kissed her lips as the tears ran down her face. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘I’m okay.’ She sniffed and placed her hand over his to remove it from her face. She wanted it to be Sid’s hand. Jeremy pulled back, concerned. ‘Sorry, my head’s quite sore,’ Lottie lied.
Jeremy stood up straight. ‘I’m not surprised. What were you doing at the theatre in weather like that?’
‘You told me the place needed checking, so—’
‘By experts, Lottie, not people like you.’
‘People like me?’ She knew what he meant but the comment still stung.
‘You know what I mean.’
‘I don’t think I do, actually.’ Lottie sniffed and took a tissue from the box on her bedside. ‘I didn’t know it was going to be so bad. And I’m the chairman, it’s my responsibility.’
He squeezed her hand. ‘I’m sorry, it was a bad choice of words. It’s just the weather was so bad and you didn’t tell anyone where you were going.’
‘I didn’t expect for there to be great big holes in the roof or to be knocked unconscious.’ Lottie saw the shock in Jeremy’s face. She hadn’t meant to sound quite so cross with him and he was here waiting for her to wake up. Unlike Sid. Her head pounded even more.
Jeremy sat down on the side of her bed looking sheepish. ‘We’ve all been so worried about you,’ he said gently.
‘We?’ asked Lottie, hoping he would tell her Sid had been at her bedside every moment since he heard the news, or at least popped by.
‘Well, okay, I’ve been worried. I came straight back from London when Sarah called.’
‘Sarah?’ What the hell was going on?
‘Yes. The girl from the committee. That’s her name, isn’t it?’
Lottie nodded and the weight of her head hurt her neck and shoulders. ‘How did she know about me? Who found me?’
‘Don’t worry about all that now,’ said Jeremy, caressing the back of her neck and laying her down gently onto the uncomfortable pillows. ‘You need to rest. I’ve got to head back to London tomorrow, I can’t put it off any longer, but I’ll make sure Sarah gives me regular updates on how you’re doing.’
‘I can text you myself,’ Lottie replied. ‘I’m not a child. I’m sure I’ll be back to no
rmal tomorrow.’ Lottie ran her fingers over the bandage again.
Jeremy took a mobile phone from his pocket and put it on her bedside table. ‘Your phone wasn’t working after being in the water for so long so I bought you another one.’ Lottie looked at the brand new, top of the range phone and berated herself. She shouldn’t be so stroppy with Jeremy just because Sid hadn’t come to her rescue. It wasn’t his fault. ‘Thank you,’ she replied and lifted her head for a kiss. Jeremy’s lips were gentle on hers and it filled her with warmth.
‘You look tired, sweetheart,’ he said, stroking her cheek. ‘Get some rest now and I’ll call you later. I love you.’ He bent down and kissed her again and Lottie felt her body relax.
‘I love you too,’ she said, feeling her heart warm up at the words. She hadn’t said them to that many people and it still felt new to be saying them to Jeremy. She’d wanted to see Sid because he was her friend, the one she’d called, but she was glad Jeremy was here. And he’d been so sweet and caring replacing her phone. It must have been ruined when he’d found her. She was so lucky to have him in her life and for him to be so caring. ‘I’m sorry I’ve been so awful.’
‘That’s okay,’ he said, chuckling. ‘I think you’re allowed as you’ve had such a terrible time.’
Jeremy kissed her again then left and she rolled onto her side, staring out of the window. So that was that. Sid hadn’t come. He’d ignored her calls. She’d thought of his article as a sort of apology but it hadn’t been, had it? Her eyes burned as she tried to keep more tears from falling. Her pleas for help had gone unanswered. He hadn’t forgiven her for what she’d said and wanted nothing more to do with her. Whether she liked it or not things were over between them now. For good.