Chapter Nine
‘Well, that was unexpected,’ Chris says.
‘Must be the 80’s music,’ I muse. ‘Women must have been weak at the knees in the 80s.’
‘Everyone’s knees are weak in their 80s,’ he jokes, but then he backtracks. ‘Sorry, I clearly make bad jokes when I’m nervous.’
‘You’re nervous?’ I reply.
‘Yeah, well, I’m worried the second time might not have been as good as the first,’ he says through a little chuckle.
I laugh.
‘It was even better,’ I tell him. ‘If only just because it actually happened.’
We’re currently cuddled up together on the chaise lounge and it’s nice. At the start of the year this is not how I thought I was going to be ending it – hell, at the start of the day, this isn’t how I thought it would end either. Now that I know I didn’t actually have a one-night stand, in the traditional sense, I’m glad that I didn’t. If I’d been able to scarper earlier today I totally would have, but being stuck here with Chris has forced me to get to know him a little better, and now I want to get to know him even more.
I hear my phone vibrating on the table.
‘That will be the inevitable Happy New Year messages starting to come through,’ I say.
I grab Chris’s shirt and put it on, like something from a movie, because I’m suddenly (a little late in the day) mindful of what could be lurking in the back garden, like something from a horror movie, even though I know deep down there’s nothing there.
‘I usually reply to them all later,’ Chris says. ‘The next day.’
‘I don’t have enough friends to have a system like that,’ I say with a laugh. ‘So… oh… it’s my sister.’
‘Maybe don’t read it now,’ Chris says quickly, jumping to his feet. ‘Now isn’t the time.’
I ignore him, because the message preview is too intriguing to ignore, but when I finally open the message I see that it’s a reply to something I sent her – except I didn’t send it.
‘What is this?’ I say, mostly to myself. ‘She just sent me a message saying: “OK, fine, call me when you can.” and it’s in reply to a message I sent her, asking if we could make amends. I didn’t send her a message. I’ve barely touched my phone in a few hours, I left it…’
My voice trails off as the realisation hits me. About a second before I have each piece of the puzzle in place, Chris realises that I’m on to him.
‘Did you message my sister?’ I ask him.
‘OK, here me out,’ Chris starts.
‘Did you message my sister as me ?’ I say.
‘It’s New Year’s Eve, and after what you told me earlier, life is sh–’
‘I don’t want to hear it,’ I snap. ‘I’m going to bed.’
‘Hayley, please, just let me explain,’ he pleads but I’m not having it.
‘What is wrong with you?’ I ask him. ‘You’re a loose cannon. You do all this stupid stuff, and you think you’re so cool, but you’re a liability. And I had you right earlier, you are selfish. You think you know what’s best, well you don’t, so just leave me alone.’
I storm out and Chris doesn’t come after me. Good. I don’t want him to. Who the hell is he, to interfere in my life like this?
Once again Chris has made a total mess and landed me right in it. And now I don’t have a choice because, unless I want to make things worse, I’m going to have to call my sister. Great.