“The ladies love it,” Brad replies, grinning. “Listen, bro, why don’t we catch up over a few beers? Say, tonight? I can’t imagine that you have anything exciting planned.”
“I’m busy tonight.” My mobile phone chooses this moment to start ringing. I look to the screen and see Stacey’s face lit up, telling me that she is the one calling me. I smile and am about to answer the phone, when I stop myself. I don’t want Brad eavesdropping on my conversation with her. I will phone her back when he has fucked off and left me alone.
I hear him wolf-whistle as he hovers over my desk. His eyes are on my phone.
“Wow. Nice work, bro. She is hot.” I feel my blood boil at his comment.
“Why are you still here, Brad?” I can’t hide the anger in my voice.
“Whoa, calm down. What’s your problem?” he asks me.
“I have already told you that I don’t have the fucking time for a social call. Either you tell me what you really want, or you get the fuck out of my office.” I know that I am being a little unreasonable, but I can’t help it. The thought of him being attracted to Stacey riles me. She is my whole fucking life. He is not going to charm her and steal her away from me.
Brad stands up, giving me a wary look.
“Look, bro, I didn’t come here with an agenda. I simply came because I figured that we could try and forge some sort of relationship again. I know that I have been an asshole in the past, but I have changed. I’m a different person now, Jake.” I scoff which interrupts his little speech. He shakes his head and turns, walking towards the door.
He places his hand on the door handle and then turns back around to face me. “If you want to talk like adults at some point, then feel free to call me. I sent you an email earlier with my number on.” With that, he opens the door and leaves, slamming it behind him.
“Fuck it,” I say out loud to myself. I rub my temples and will the impending migraine to piss off.
Maybe he’s right?
Maybe I do need to chill out a bit more?
However, deep down, I know that it is just his presence that has me feeling like this. He really is a pain in my ass.
I pick my phone up to call Stacey back. I need to speak to her. She will be able to calm me down. It rings and goes to answerphone again.
Bollocks.
I chuck my phone onto the desk and sit back in my chair.
I need to get out of here and clear my head.
Chapter Twelve
Stacey
I arrive home just after five o’clock.
It has been a long day.
I have been sorting out paperwork all day at The Den, and now I have to get changed, ready to go back in an hour and start the evening shift. All I really want to do is relax with Jake, but I can’t ask Susie to cover for me again. It wouldn’t be fair to her. Plus, I need to show that I am an active member of the team, even if I am the boss.
I run upstairs and go straight to my mobile phone which I left on the bedside table when I left home this morning. I put my bag on the bed and sit on the edge. Looking at my phone, I see that I have a couple of texts from Jake, and a shit load of missed calls.
I sigh and decide to read the messages before I call him back.
Hey, baby, we seem to keep missing each other
today. I have no more meetings now, so call when
you can. Love you.
Jake x x x
This is ridiculous, I miss your voice. Call me asap.
Jake x x x
I smile at his eagerness to speak to me. It’s exactly the same for me when I haven’t spoken to him for a while.
I hope that this feeling never fades.
I open the last message from him, and my smile soon disappears as I read the words.
How the fuck could you do this to me?
Don’t look for me.
I don’t want to see you right now.
Huh? Is this message meant for me?
I call Jake’s phone, but it goes straight to voicemail. I call his office next, but there is no answer. I even try to call Eric, but his phone goes to voicemail too.
What the hell?
I start to panic at the fact that I can’t get hold of him. I take off my shoes and rack my brains for a reasonable explanation for his message. I change out of my skirt and shirt combo, and I put on my skinny jeans and a fitted white T-shirt. I put on my black shoe boots and pick my bag up off of the bed. With my phone in hand, I try to ring Jake again, but it still goes to voicemail. I make my way downstairs, still feeling confused by Jake’s last message.
As I enter the kitchen though, I freeze.
My eyes widen as I stare at the leaflets that litter the kitchen island.
“Oh no,” I say out loud. I walk slowly over to the island, and my heart starts to beat faster. My eyes scan the leaflets and it dawns on me what Jake’s message was about. Panic starts to course through me at the sight of the abortion leaflets that Jake has clearly seen, and my breathing starts to speed up as I realise how stupid I have been.
I should have thrown the leaflets away.
The bag that I had put them in is on the floor, with all the contents spilled out. I can only assume that Jake knocked it over and the leaflets fell out.
Fuck.
I can also only assume that Jake thinks that these leaflets belong to me.
Of course he thinks that they belong to you, Stacey. They were in your fucking bag.
I let out a sound of rage.
I need to find him.
God knows what is going on in his head right now.
I pick up the leaflets, tear them into pieces and throw them in the bin. Nausea overwhelms me, and I grab the edge of the counter to steady myself.
Where would he have gone? His office? Paul’s house?
I rack my brains, but ultimately, he could be anywhere. I am about to try and phone him again, praying that his phone has miraculously switched on, when the screen lights up, making me jump. Lydia’s name is across the screen and I hurriedly answer, needing to speak to someone.
“Lyd, thank God you called––”
“Babes, you need to get your ass to The Den. Now,” she says, cutting me off mid-sentence. I don’t fail to notice the urgency in her voice.
“What’s going on?” I ask, suddenly getting a bad feeling settling deep in the pit of my stomach.
“Jake’s here, and he’s not alone.” My heart fills with dread at her words, and I slowly sit on the stool as my knees go weak.
“What do you mean he’s not alone?” I whisper. I speak so quietly that I am surprised that she can hear me.
“Just get down here. I’ll be waiting at the back door for you.”
“Okay.” I hang up the phone and take in what she has said. She obviously doesn’t want to tell me over the phone, and that just makes me more nervous about what I might see when I get there.
A few minutes go past before I feel like I can stand. When I do, I take my phone and handbag, and walk into the hallway. As I reach the front door, I pick up my keys and leave the house, locking the door behind me. I feel like I am in a daze as I get in my car and start to drive to The Den.
It’s like I’m on autopilot as I pull into The Den car park. Lydia is waiting by the back door, and when she sees me, she comes walking over. I park the car and get out. The look on her face is grim and I know that I am not going to like what I am about to see.
My whole body starts to shake as Lydia stops in front of my car.
“Where is he?” I say in a firm tone. I sound a lot more confident than I feel right now.
“He’s sat at one of the tables at the back of the dance floor, in the corner. Stace…” I don’t hear anything else she says as I march through the back door and head straight for the main room.
As I enter the main room, my eyes scan the tables at the back. My gaze zones in on Jake straight away. He is sat there with some young woman draped all over him. She is sat on his lap and she’s whispering something in his e
ar.
I feel my blood boil and my hands curl into fists at my sides.
I know that there is no way that I am going to remain calm for the scene that will unfold in the next few moments.
I feel Lydia put her hand on my arm, but I shrug her off. I am in a state of shock at the sight of Jake with another woman. Before I can think about my how I am going to approach this scenario, I am walking over to him. As I get nearer to the table, Jake’s eyes lock with mine. I can see hurt and anger clouding his vision, but I am sure that mine reflect the same feelings.
I reach the table and stand there with my hands on my hips. I don’t think that I have ever been so mad with someone in my entire life. I am physically shaking with anger.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I shout at him. I don’t give a shit if other people hear me. Right now, all that exists is my idiot boyfriend, and the tart that is currently sat on his lap.
The woman’s head whips round so fast that I am surprised that she doesn’t give herself whiplash. The smile quickly disappears from her face and her eyes widen with surprise.
Jake’s arm is around her waist, and it takes all of my willpower not to rip his arm off of her and physically drag her from his lap. He takes a sip of his drink, never removing his gaze from mine. It feels like I have been stood here forever waiting for him to answer me, but in reality, it must only be a few seconds.
“Stacey, this is Gemma,” he says as he points to the woman on his lap. I don’t fail to notice that his eyes are glazed over, indicating that he has had more than a few drinks.
My eyes narrow on him before I divert my attention to this Gemma woman. When my eyes connect with hers, she looks like she is going to have a panic attack.
“Um… Hi,” she mumbles, her voice irritating me instantly. I am not really sure what point Jake is trying to make here. I just need to get that woman off of him.
“Hi, Gemma,” I say a little bit too sweetly. I smile at her, which she returns warily before I go in for the kill. “Let me give you a piece of advice.”
I lean forward, so that my hands are resting on the table, allowing me to be eye level with her. She arches herself back a little, clearly uncomfortable. “The image of you sat on my boyfriend’s lap is pissing me off, which I am sure you can understand. So, here is what I think you should do.”
Her eyes widen some more, and she quickly looks to Jake before looking back at me. His gaze hasn’t left me the entire time. “Get up and walk away before I really lose my cool, and before I give you the ass-kicking of a lifetime.” I sound evil. I almost don’t recognise my own voice. I know that Jake has been the one to create this situation, but my focus is just on getting her to leave. I see her gulp and look back to Jake.
“You have a girlfriend?” she asks him.
“I did have.” His answer stings me. He doesn’t look at her when he answers, his eyes remain on me. His deep caramel pools that have always captured me are now devoid of any warmth.
“Oh my God,” she says as she scrambles off of his lap. “I am so sorry,” she says to me. “I didn’t know.”
“Forget it. Now, run along.” She scurries away as fast as she can.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see that Lydia is standing off to the side, clearly wary of how this situation will play out. I return my eyes to Jake, and his body radiates anger.
“Now that your little plaything has gone, are you going to tell me what the fuck you think you are playing at?” I snarl at him and he scoffs.
“Me? What am I playing at? You’re the one with the fucking abortion leaflets, Stace, so why don’t you tell me what the fuck you are playing at?” His tone is harsh, and I hear Lydia gasp.
“They’re not mine, Jake.”
“Oh please, don’t give me that bullshit. They were in your bag, Stacey. Why the fuck would you have them if they weren’t yours?” He downs the rest of his drink and slams the glass on the table. “Do you know how it feels to find something like that? Fucking heart wrenching, that’s how.”
“They are not mine,” I say again, this time through gritted teeth.
“Liar,” Jake spits at me.
“Jake, they’re not Stacey’s,” I hear Lydia say. I push myself off of the table and turn to face her. Paul has emerged from somewhere and is now standing by her.
“Don’t, Lyd,” I warn her. I try to plead with her using my eyes, but she just looks at me and places her hand on my arm. She nods at me and I see that she has unshed tears in her eyes.
“No, Lydia, don’t try to cover for her,” Jake snarls. “It’s better that I find out now what a heartless bitch she is, rather than find out further down the line.”
It takes all of my control not to turn around and slap him across his face.
Lydia steps around me and starts to speak.
“Those leaflets are mine, Jake.” Jake blinks a few times and I turn to see that Paul is frowning at Lydia. I could throttle Jake for this. “Stacey came with me to a doctor’s appointment the other day to confirm that I am pregnant. I was a bit of a mess in the doctor’s, so Stacey took the leaflets for me. I forgot that she had them to be honest. That’s why I stayed at your place the other night. I didn’t want to go back to the flat and Stacey said that I was welcome to come and stay at yours. I asked Stacey not to tell you anything until I had figured out what I was going to do.” I see Lydia’s body start to shake slightly, and I know that it is taking all of her courage to admit to this, especially with Paul listening.
Jake’s expression changes to shock whilst Paul looks completely blown away by Lydia’s announcement.
“You didn’t have to do that, Lyd,” I say to her.
“Yes, I did.” She smiles at me and then turns to Paul. “We need to talk,” she says to him. He appears to be in a daze as he just nods his head at her.
“Use my office if you need to,” I say to her.
“Thanks, babes. Call me later.” I smile at her as she leads Paul across the main room and out towards my office.
I turn back to Jake and my smile vanishes. His eyes eventually look to mine, and I can see the shame on his face.
“Stacey, I’m so––”
“Sorry?” I cut him off before he can finish. “Save it, Jake. I’m not interested in listening to some pathetic apology.” I turn on my heel, needing to get as far away from him as possible. I don’t get far as he grabs my arm and turns me around to face him.
“Get your fucking hands off of me,” I shout in his face as I yank my arm from his grasp.
“Please––”
“No, Jake. I suggest that you leave me the hell alone.” I turn and run through the main room and make my way to the back door. I can hear Jake shouting my name, but all I want to do is get in my car and drive away.
I make it out of the back door and am just opening my car door, when Jake comes behind me and slams the car door shut. I turn, so that I am facing him, and he puts his arms either side of me, resting his palms on the car. He has effectively trapped me.
“Get away from me,” I say in a low voice.
“No. I’m not going anywhere. We need to talk.”
“No, we don’t. You’re drunk, and I am way too pissed off to have a rational conversation with you right now.” I try to push his body away from me, but he doesn’t budge. I desperately try to fight the tears that are threatening to emerge. I look past him, not wanting to have any eye contact with him right now.
“Please, Stace,” he says, the overpowering smell of whisky on his breath is wafting over my face. “I’m sorry that I thought the worst. I just saw those leaflets and––”
“And you jumped to fucking conclusions,” I finish for him.
“What was I meant to think?” he says, exasperated. I close my eyes to avoid seeing the devastation on his face. “I accidentally knocked your bag onto the floor, and the leaflets fell out. I saw them, and I just…” His voice trails off as he tries to find the words to justify his actions. “I just lost it.”
I open my eyes and look at him. His eyes are swimming with the pain that he is feeling right now. My heart aches for him, but I quickly shut it down. The image of that girl on his lap, his arm around her waist, makes my hands curl into fists at my sides. I grit my teeth to stop myself from saying something that I will regret. “I’m so fucking sorry, babe.”
I swallow past the lump that has formed in my throat.
I need to get away from him.
I need to get some head space.
“Your words don’t mean anything right now.” My voice sounds cold, devoid of all emotion. “I need some time to think.” It’s almost like I am in a daze.
“No, Stace, we need to sort this out. I can’t lose you.” His arms have moved and are gripping the tops of mine in desperation. I can see that he is sorry, but it may not be enough. The pain that sliced through my heart at the sight of him with another woman is a pain that is not going to heal quickly.
“Please,” he pleads with me. “I love you. I made a massive fucking mistake. I should have spoken to you when I found those leaflets, I just couldn’t see past the anger and the hurt that you might have been considering aborting a baby of ours.” His words cause the rage that I am feeling to boil over.
“How could you ever think that I would do something like that?” I shout back at him. “How could it even entertain your thoughts that I would get rid of something that was part of both of us?” My whole body is shaking. “Do you not know me at all?”
“Of course I do.”
“I beg to fucking differ, Jake. How low must your opinion be of me to not only think that I would kill our baby, but also for you to let some other woman sit on your lap and touch you. Your hands were around her, Jake, her lips were by your ear, whispering God knows what. What would you do if some other guy had his hands on me?” My words have an effect immediately as Jake lets out a low growl and his face contorts with fury at the thought of another man touching me.
“Tell me, Jake, what the fuck would you be feeling if you were me right now?” He moves his hands and runs them through his hair as he lets out a cry of rage. He turns away from me momentarily, and I take that as my chance to get the hell out of here.
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