Track 7
‘THE LAST TIME’ (TAYLOR SWIFT AND GARY LIGHTBODY)
‘Adam! We’re going to be late for Lily’s party! Come on!’ Eve shouted through the bathroom door.
He had been waiting ages to get in there thanks to the fact that his three housemates and their girlfriends were invited to the party. Moving into a house with only one bathroom and so many people was the most ridiculous decision Adam felt he had ever made.
‘I’ll be out in a minute, gorgeous!’ he shouted back, nicking his chin with the razor. ‘Ah, shit!’
‘You okay, honey?’
‘Yeah, just bloody cut my chin.’
‘Oooh. I’ll kiss it better when you come out,’ Eve replied.
He smiled at his reflection. ‘You can’t talk about kissing me if you want to get to this damn party, Evie.’
‘Just hurry up, okay?’
‘All done.’ Adam opened the door and scooped his girl up in his arms, kissing her neck.
Edinburgh was heaving with Saturday-night revellers as Adam and Eve travelled to the party venue in the taxi.
Many of the stone buildings on the Royal Mile had long since been converted into bars and restaurants, giving the age-old road a modern twist with its bright signage and trendy exteriors.
When they arrived at the club everyone was already there.
Lily greeted them, glass in hand. ‘You made it finally! Thought you’d bloody decided not to come!’ She hiccupped.
Adam scrunched his brow at his best friend as he noticed the bruise on her cheek. ‘How much have you had already, Lil? And what the hell have you done to your face?’ He lifted a lock of her hair.
She laughed. ‘Oh, that… I walked into the door in my room; can you believe it? Bloody clumsy cow, I am.’
Adam shook his head. ‘Well, you need to stop drinking so much.’
Lily rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner and saluted him. ‘Okay, Captain Dad.’ She turned and walked towards the bar.
Adam followed her with his eyes, but Eve squeezed his arm. ‘You shouldn’t be so hard on her, Adam. She’s not your responsibility.’
‘So you keep telling me. But she doesn’t take responsibility for herself, does she?’ he snapped.
Thankfully Eve wasn’t offended by his sharp tone. ‘It’s her life, honey. Give her some breathing room.’
He turned to her and slipped his arms around her waist. ‘What would I do without you to keep me level-headed, eh?’ he asked, leaning down to kiss her.
‘Well, for one thing, I think poor Lily would get even more stick than she does right now.’ Eve giggled.
They walked over to the bar which was brightly lit in contrast to the rest of the club.
The optics hung with their multi-coloured liquid contents, almost like works of modern art.
All Adam wanted was a beer, but it looked like it was inevitable he’d end up with some fancy cocktail concoction instead.
He scanned along the row of fridges and spied his favourite tipple hiding amongst some bright blue monstrosity that wouldn’t be out of place in a laboratory.
After ordering their drinks, he glanced over towards Lily, who was now tongue deep in her current boyfriend’s mouth.
Carl. Dickhead.
Adam wasn’t a fan. He pulled Eve onto the dance floor when a slow song began to play over the sound system and she nuzzled into his chest, as he kissed the top of her head.
Later on, after the third or fourth song, he glanced around the club, realising he hadn’t seen Lily for quite a while. Scanning the dimly lit place as best he could, his search was in vain. She was nowhere to be seen. Worry set in.
Eve stared at him, lips pursed. ‘What’s wrong, Adam? You’re so distracted tonight.’
He could see the frustration in her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Evie. It’s just Lily. She seemed… odd. Don’t you think? It’s her party and she’s nowhere to be seen. I feel uneasy about it all.’
Eve sighed and removed her arms from around him. ‘To be honest, Adam, I’m getting rather fed up of this. You aren’t with Lily. You’re with me. Now I get that your friendship is strong, but this is just getting—’
Adam’s heart lurched and he cupped her face. ‘Evie, I love you. And I’m sorry, okay? It’s not like that between me and Lil. You’ve known that for two years now. But something’s not right. Please believe me. I know her. I know something’s off.’
Eve gazed up at him and then with a deep sigh she nodded. ‘Okay… I’ll go check the Ladies’.’ She turned sharply and walked away.
Lily sat in the end cubicle. Tears fogged her eyes so she could hardly read the graffiti on the wall and the bruise on her cheek throbbed in time with the bass on whatever track was playing now, as she wondered why things were going so horribly, drastically wrong.
She blew her nose, which made her cheek hurt even more.
The door into the restroom opened and closed.
‘Lily? Lily, are you in here?’ Eve. Lily remained silent. ‘You’ve been gone ages and it’s your party. We’re all wondering where the guest of honour is. If you’re in here, can you just say so, then I can tell Adam you’re fine?’
Lily sniffed as more tears came and she covered her mouth, trying to stifle the sound of the sob as it escaped.
‘Lily? Is that you? Why are you crying?’ Footsteps moved closer to the end cubicle and the door rattled. ‘Lily? What’s wrong? Open up, okay?’
Reluctantly, Lily stood and unlocked the door. Eve pushed it open. ‘What on earth’s happened? Why are you in here sobbing?’
Lily shook her head and crumpled her face as she began to sob uncontrollably.
Eve enveloped her in her arms. ‘Oh, honey, please tell me what’s going on. Is it Carl? Have you split up?’
Lily widened her eyes as she pushed back, creating a little space between them. ‘Eve… please… please, don’t tell Adam, please.’ She squeezed Eve’s arms.
Eve frowned and shook her head. ‘Tell him what? What’s going on, Lily?’
‘He hit me,’ she whispered.
Eve’s eyes widened now. ‘What? Who hit you?’
‘Carl… but it was only once.’
Eve’s mouth fell open. ‘What? He hit you? The bruise on your face?’ Lily nodded. ‘Oh my God, Lily, why on earth did he do that?’
She tugged her long sleeves towards her wrists.
‘It was only once, and he said sorry. He got a bit drunk when I missed a period and thought I was pregnant. He… he said I was stupid and careless… He was right. It was all my fault.’ Eve’s jaw clenched and glared down at Lily’s arm.
Oh God, she’s guessed, Lily thought as she tried to back away but there was no space for her to do so.
Eve gasped and widened her eyes as she spotted the fading bruises.
She lifted her face to meet Lily’s eyes.
‘Oh, Lily, no. This is not your fault!’ she said as she pointed to the yellowy brown marks that clearly showed where fingers had gripped the flesh hard enough to leave more than a memory.
‘I don’t care what had happened, this isn’t the way he should have handled it. ’
Lily winced and shook her head. ‘I know, but he said he was sorry. I… I think he meant it.’ She yanked her sleeve down again, unable to meet Eve’s eyes now as shame knotted her stomach and made it roil.
The colour had left Eve’s face and she cupped Lily’s head in her hands, forcing her to make eye contact.
‘Lily Macrae, I don’t give a damn what you thought he meant.
This has clearly happened more than once, and believe me, once is way more than enough.
He shouldn’t have laid a finger on you. And what happened was not your fault, okay? ’
Lily allowed another sob to free itself from her chest. ‘But it was my responsibility—’
Eve vehemently shook her head. ‘Bullshit, Lily. You know that’s a load of rubbish.
You’re an intelligent woman, for God’s sake.
Don’t you dare defend that bastard for doing that to you.
’ Lily felt the inappropriate urge to snigger.
She had never heard Eve swear before – the realisation that she must be furiously angry and worried enough to do so was quite a sobering thought.
‘Please don’t tell Adam, okay? Promise me?’ Lily pleaded in a whisper.
Eve shook her head slowly. ‘You know I can’t make that promise. He’s your best friend and he cares about you deeply. He needs to know.’
Tears spilled over once again, and she pushed Eve back. ‘No! I trusted you, Eve. You can’t tell him.’ She could hear the fear in her own voice and it disgusted her that she had allowed a man to reduce her to this.
Ignoring her pleas, Eve demanded, ‘Where’s Carl now?’
‘He went out for a smoke. He said… Never mind.’ Lily shook her head.
‘He said what?’
Lily dropped her gaze to the floor. ‘He said my party was shit and my friends are pathetic. He thinks my friends are beneath him and he said I owe him for making him come here tonight.’ She sobbed as shame and bile rose in equal measure.
‘Right. Come on. Get some water splashed on your face. We’re going back out there to get Adam and we’re going home.’
Lily swiped at her face, catching the bruise which was now undoubtedly fully exposed now her make-up had disintegrated under a deluge of tears. ‘No… no, I’m fine… I’ll just put more make-up on. I’ll be fine,’ she insisted.
Eve’s nostrils were flared, and Lily couldn’t decide whether she was in awe of her friend for reacting this way, or in fear for what she might do next. ‘No. We should get you out of here until we decide what to do.’
Adam paced near the bar. What the hell was taking Eve so long?
He decided she must have found Lily in some kind of drunken stupor in the toilets.
Worry got the better of him, and he marched towards the Ladies’.
Without stopping to think, he pushed the door open, and Eve and Lily swung around as he entered.
He clenched his jaw as he realised the full extent of the bruise on Lily’s face. She and Eve were acting suspiciously, Eve’s eyes darting between him and Lily and Lily tugging the sleeves of her top down. ‘What the hell’s going on with you two? Lily, why do you look like you’ve been crying?’
Eve turned to face Lily. ‘Please tell him, Lily.’
‘No!’ Lily’s voice was strained.
Adam frowned as his heart rate picked up. Something was definitely very wrong. ‘Tell me what?’