Chapter 40
40
It had been a most peculiar dinner party, Jess concluded as she hugged Pete and Brianna goodnight. The food had been delicious – Brianna had done them proud on that front – but she’d also artfully steered the conversation away from Nick’s line of work and talked about Harry for most of the night. Granted, he was a fascinating subject at the best of times, but being a childless couple, the topic wasn’t one Nick and Jess could contribute much to. In fact, Jess had thought if Brianna kept it up, Nick would be heading for the snip on his way home. She was sure he’d been in danger of nodding off at one point. For his part, he’d sneaked in the odd golfing titbit whenever Brianna paused in her monologue to draw breath, which wasn’t often.
She’d managed to stick a few jibes in, too, about the importance of having somewhere in the community to meet up with others when you were at home with a small child twenty-four/seven.
Pete, bless him, puzzled by the strange undercurrent at the table, had gabbled on about his latest project at work. Jess had tuned out as she always did when he got started on that subject, but at least it was a topic Nick could relate to. She’d been on tenterhooks all night and had hardly said a word through dinner, but to put a positive spin on the evening, at least they’d got through it with no showdown of clashing opinions. It might have been awkward, but at least it had been civil, and the food, judging by everybody’s clean plates, had been great.
Waving their hosts goodbye as she slid into the passenger seat, Jess decided she’d phone Brianna and thank her in the morning for keeping quiet. It wouldn’t have been easy for her. The temptation for her to slip Nick a dodgy oyster or spit in his chicken parmigiana must have been huge. She crossed her fingers and hoped Nick didn’t come down with any food poisoning symptoms in the next twenty-four hours as he got behind the wheel and slammed the door shut.
Jess glanced over at him and was startled by the thunderous expression on his face. Before she could ask what the matter was, he’d gunned the engine into life and taken off down the street at a rate of knots that would have impressed a Concorde pilot. Oh dear, she cringed, hoping Brianna and Pete had already gone inside. Nick’s hasty exit wouldn’t endear him further to her friend because last year she’d spearheaded the ‘Slow Down in our Community’ campaign.
‘Nick?’ Jess asked, clutching at the sides of her seat. ‘Is everything OK?’
She saw his bottom jaw muscles clench, and he slammed his hand against the steering wheel. ‘No, it’s bloody well not! I don’t know what you were playing at, Jessica, but that holier-than-thou friend of yours is the main rabble-rouser holding up my Bray project. She’s costing me a shitload of money.’
Jess squirmed. ‘I know. I’m sorry, but she’s not holier-than-thou; she’s just very committed to her cause. You must see her side of things?’
He turned to glare at her, his knuckles white against the steering wheel. ‘So you knew then? And no, I don’t see her side of things at all. Bloody do-gooder.’
Jess studied her own hands, which were now clenched in her lap. ‘I twigged awhile back, but I didn’t know how to tell you or her.’ She looked over at him. ‘I really am sorry, but come on, Nick, be fair. I feel awful for not saying anything, but what you do with your work – well, it’s nothing to do with me – us. And Brie is a grown woman who backs her own causes. I didn’t want to get caught in the middle.’
‘So you said nothing while I confided the problems I was having with my project.’ He shot her look of pure disgust and shook his head. ‘I recognised her as soon as she opened the door, and let me tell you, it took supreme willpower on my part not to turn and walk away, but I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. I figured maybe you didn’t know what your little pal gets up to in her spare time, so I kept quiet and played nice for your sake. It’s a shame you didn’t show me the same courtesy.’
Neither said a word for a moment until Nick made her jump. ‘Jesus, Jessica!’ Spittle flew from his mouth. ‘Have you any bloody idea how much money I have tied up in this?’
Jess squeaked. ‘A lot?’
‘A tonne, and I stand to lose the lot thanks to that stupid cow and her cronies.’ His voice was a snarl. ‘I can’t stomach women like that; they have no life outside the home so they create their own little dramas.’
‘Hey!’ Jess didn’t like his tone at all; it was pure venom. This was a side of Nick he obviously kept well hidden underneath his smooth veneer. ‘She’s not a cow – she’s one of my best friends, and for what it’s worth, I think she has a point. That community centre is a good thing – it brings people together. The only people who’ll benefit from a shiny new apartment complex are the developers.’
It was a barbed comment, and Jess was certain that were it physically possible, Nick would be emitting steam out of his ears. She decided it was best, considering he was behind the wheel, to keep her mouth shut for the duration of the ride home. So they sat in tense silence until he pulled up outside Riverside Apartments.
She was about to say a curt goodnight when he was upon her. Pulling her to him by her hair – which he’d wrapped his hand in – he began kissing her so roughly it made her mouth and teeth hurt, then shoved his free hand up her top and groped at her breasts. Jess could feel the violence lurking just beneath the surface, and it took her a moment to react.
‘What do you think you’re doing? Get off me!’ She shoved him off her and managed to open the car door, all but falling out onto the pavement. After scrabbling to her feet, she slammed the door shut, and then, with one last sneer in her direction, he was gone, leaving nothing but smelly exhaust fumes in his wake.
Jess hurried inside and headed for her apartment. After she closed the front door behind her, she leaned against it for a moment, feeling sick. How could she have misjudged him so badly? She breathed deeply for a few minutes and then burst into tears as the shock hit her – the way he’d turned on her like that had really frightened her.
As her heart rate slowed to its normal beats per minute, she made herself a milky cup of sweet tea and shoved down a couple of chocolate biscuits. The sugar hit made her feel better, and she took the mug through to the living room then sat down on the settee, nursing it between both hands. Nick’s reaction had shocked her; she could see now why he was so successful at what he did because using bully-boy tactics was obviously second nature to him.
Needing to tell someone what had just happened in order to make it a reality in her own mind, she picked up the phone and punched out Nora’s number.
She answered after the sixth ring. ‘Hello?’
‘Hi, it’s me.’
‘Hey, Jess! I was just saying goodbye to Ewan. God, I can’t wait until he gets back – only five days to go. I tell you, Skyping just doesn’t have the same allure as phone sex. You feel kind of silly peering into a computer screen, making lusty noises. What are you doing home, anyway? I thought you’d be spending the night at Nick’s.’
Jess let out a little sob. Life sucked.
‘What’s up?’ Nora asked, alarmed.
It all came flooding out, and when she’d finished, Nora announced she would personally hunt Nick Jameson down and cut his gonads off. Jess wouldn’t put it past her, so she spent the next five minutes trying to dissuade her friend from becoming the next Lorena Bobbitt.
‘He didn’t get the chance to do anything that bad; it was just the way he did it. He was so angry with me, Nora; it was horrible. It was like being mad at me turned him on or something. Ugh.’ She shuddered at the memory.
‘God, I’m so sorry, Jess. I had no idea he was a sicko. I feel awful pushing you at him the way I have been – it’s just that he seemed so nice. I only wanted you to be happy.’
It was a sentiment she’d heard a lot lately. ‘I know you did, and I thought he was nice, too,’ Jess replied despondently. ‘Appearances can be deceptive, but you know, Nora, if I’m honest, I think I knew something wasn’t right with him. He reminded me way too much of a Galaxy chocolate bar.’
‘Smooth, you mean?’
‘Yeah, and if you have too much of it, you feel sick.’ She burst into tears. ‘What’s wrong with me? Why do things like this always happen to me? If the men I meet aren’t losers, then they’re nutcases. It’s not fair.’
‘Hang tight, sweetie. I’m on my way over.’
True to her word, Nora arrived half an hour later with a bottle of wine. By the time she tucked Jess into bed sometime in the wee hours of Sunday morning, neither girl was feeling any pain. Nor did they have any voices left, having screeched so loudly to Melissa Etheridge that the neighbour had banged on the wall.