Chapter 35
35
When George woke, sunlight was streaming through the shutters of her bedroom. Her eyes felt grainy and sore, like she had been rubbing them with sandpaper.
She rolled over onto her side and was greeted by Quinn.
‘What the hell are you doing here?!’ George exclaimed, sitting up and pulling the duvet around her.
‘You asked me to stay,’ he replied.
‘Did I?’
‘You were upset. You didn’t want to be on your own,’ Quinn spoke.
‘You shouldn’t be here. We’re over; you’re getting married tomorrow. I hate you,’ George reminded.
‘So you said last night when you hit me with a bottle of Jack Daniels.’
‘Did I?’
‘Yeah, right before you broke two strings on my favourite guitar,’ Quinn added.
‘I don’t remember.’
‘Listen, don’t worry about Adam; he’ll come round,’ Quinn assured her.
Adam. Suddenly, her chest tightened and she remembered all the anguish of the previous night. She had told Adam she was his mother and now he loathed her .
‘You reckon? It didn’t sound that way to me. I’m sure he said he couldn’t stand to be anywhere near me,’ George spoke.
‘It’s just the shock and the anger talking. He’s young; he doesn’t fully understand how the world works yet. He’ll calm down,’ Quinn told her.
‘I’m not so sure. Sometimes, he reminds me so much of his father. Paul was so stubborn, just like him. When he made a decision, he stuck to it. He was headstrong and single minded. I thought they were good traits, but seeing Adam like that…’ George told him.
‘You two must have been some couple,’ Quinn remarked.
‘We were.’
‘And we are,’ Quinn said, taking her hand.
‘Don’t.’
‘Don’t what?’
‘Don’t say things like that.’
‘Listen, I have a rehearsal with the orchestra at eleven, but the rest of the day, I’m free. Let’s do something,’ Quinn spoke.
‘We can’t spend the day together. I’m not in this relationship any more, Quinn; I told you that. You had a chance when Roger confronted us; you didn’t take it. I don’t know why you’re in my bed now, but you need to get out of it,’ George told him.
‘You don’t really want this to be the end,’ Quinn told her.
‘I can’t deal with anything in my life right now apart from Adam. He’s my priority. I need him to understand why the truth’s been kept from him all these years and I need him to forgive me,’ George told him.
‘Forgiveness is going to take time.’
‘I know.’
‘ I don’t have time; we don’t have time,’ Quinn reminded her.
‘Stop it. ’
‘We love each other.’
‘I thought we did.’
‘Nothing’s changed except the paps took some fantastic X-rated shots of us and Roger had to kick in the damage-limitation exercise,’ Quinn continued.
‘You’re not taking this seriously.’
‘Believe me, I am.’
Suddenly, the door of George’s room burst open and Marisa entered without warning, eating cornflakes from a bowl.
‘George, we have to go soon. It’s almost nine and where’s Adam— Oh. My. God!’ Marisa exclaimed, seeing Quinn in George’s bed.
She dropped her spoon into the bowl and just stared at the scene, milk and soggy cornflakes drizzling out of the corner of her mouth.
‘Get out, Marisa!’ George shrieked, pulling the bedclothes further up around her.
‘Oh. My. God! I knew it! I said it, didn’t I! You! You and Quinn! Quinn and you! But it’s the wedding tomorrow. He’s like getting married in twenty-eight hours,’ Marisa continued.
‘Shh, will you stop shouting!’ George ordered her.
‘I’d love a coffee, Marisa, if you’re making some,’ Quinn broke in with a smile.
‘This is like seriously fucked up! Mother! Mother!’ Marisa screamed.
‘Can you give us some privacy to get dressed?’ George ordered.
‘Mother! Mother! Quinn Blake’s in George’s bed! I told you! Didn’t I tell you?! It’s so gross, they’re like naked!’ Marisa shouted as she left, swinging the door closed behind her.
George got out of bed and hurriedly began dressing .
‘Now Marisa knows, you may as well put an announcement in Star Life magazine. Roger’s going to go ballistic and Finger Food will have made its last canapé for this gig,’ George said, putting a t-shirt over her head.
‘Come on, I’m sure she can be discreet,’ Quinn said, enjoying watching her dress.
‘Are you mad?! Marisa doesn’t know how to spell discreet, let alone know what it means. Don’t you care any more? Aren’t you in the least bit worried about this getting out? Your wedding’s a day away. Roger’s worried; yesterday, he looked like he was ready to have a heart attack. I mean, if you don’t care about this image you and Taylor are creating, why didn’t you stand up to him when he was offering me a handout?’ George asked him.
‘Do you think Roger having a heart attack would call the wedding off? Or do you think he would sweat his way right on through to the speeches?’ Quinn enquired.
‘It isn’t funny, Quinn. I don’t even know if I still have a catering contract. I mean, it’s one thing to sleep with the groom; it’s quite another to knock the bride unconscious,’ George fretted.
‘Of course you’ve still got a contract. I’m not going through all that ceremony shit to get dished up some shit someone else has knocked together.’
‘Is this all a joke to you?’
‘Yes, of course it is. Tomorrow, I marry someone I can barely stand being in the same room as. Ha fucking ha!’
‘I need to tell Marisa and Helen about Adam. And I need to stop Marisa broadcasting anything she shouldn’t to the entire universe,’ George said, doing up her jeans.
‘Fine. We’ll do it together. But let’s at least have a coffee first,’ Quinn begged.
Marisa’s eyes were still out on stalks when Quinn and George came down from the bedroom. Helen had made a pot of coffee and Quinn helped himself to a cup and poured some for George.
He drank a bit and gave Marisa the benefit of one of his well-practised smiles.
‘Morning, again.’
‘Hello,’ she answered, subdued.
‘Look, I know this is really awkward and I’m really sorry for putting you both in this position,’ George began, sighing and taking another drink of her coffee.
‘I’ve explained things to Marisa; I hope you don’t mind. I’ve told her the wedding is going ahead as planned and she’s not to mention anything to anyone,’ Helen informed them.
‘Mum said it was one last fling before you got hitched. Is that what it was? One last fling? Because George has been acting weird for months. I put two and two together about the designer bikini and the bling, but no one would have it,’ Marisa piped up.
‘No, it isn’t one last fling,’ Quinn told her.
‘Quinn…’ George said, wishing he didn’t feel the need to elaborate.
‘It’s complicated,’ Quinn replied, taking hold of George’s hand.
‘Friggin’ hell! You’re in love, aren’t you?!’ Marisa exclaimed, putting her hands to her mouth.
‘Shh Marisa, we agreed. You have to be discreet,’ Helen ordered.
‘That’s D-I-S-C-R-E-E-T,’ Quinn told her.
‘What?’ Marisa questioned.
‘Take no notice of him; he’s an idiot.’
‘But a hot idiot.’
‘Listen, there’s something else you should know – about Adam,’ George began with a swallow.
‘Like where he is? Because he didn’t come home last night. Does he know about this fling that isn’t a fling, you know, the one I’m not supposed to mention?’ Marisa asked them.
‘No, he doesn’t know and I don’t want him to know. He’s got too much other stuff going on right now,’ George informed them.
‘Then where is he? Why isn’t he here?’ Marisa questioned.
‘Well, you know we had an argument and?—’
‘It’s my fault, isn’t it? Because I didn’t want Belch putting his hands all over me. I know I did before, but I don’t now and Adam was only trying to help and I upset him and?—’
‘Adam’s my son. I told him last night and he’s obviously shocked and upset and he doesn’t want to see me,’ George blurted out as quickly as she could.
‘You’re shittin’ me!’
‘Marisa!’ Helen exclaimed, shocked by her daughter’s language.
‘OK, are we done here? I’m going to go and check on Adam. He’s meant to be at a rehearsal this morning. I’ll call you, let you know,’ Quinn said, kissing George on the lips and heading for the door.
‘Tell him I asked after him, won’t you,’ George said, following Quinn to the door.
‘I will. I’ll see you later,’ Quinn promised, smiling at her.
‘For Christ’s sake, what is going on here?! Have I slipped into an episode of Lost or something? I have no idea what’s going on. Someone sane speak to me!’ Marisa begged, her mouth open so wide, it was almost on the floor.
‘George is Adam’s mum. George and Quinn are in love with each other and he’s marrying Taylor Ferraro tomorrow. Are you up to speed yet?’ Helen asked her.
‘You’re really Adam’s mum, not his sister,’ Marisa said, staring at George, wide-eyed.
George managed a nod .
‘Fucking hell. No wonder he’s gone AWOL. Did he have like no idea?’ Marisa questioned.
‘Marisa, why don’t you finish getting ready and let George have her coffee,’ Helen suggested.
‘Why can’t I hear what you’re going to say to her? I’m always the last to know everything around here,’ Marisa moaned as she reluctantly mounted the stairs.
‘Helen, I’m so sorry about all of this,’ George said, sitting down at the table and offering her friend an apologetic look.
‘So you finally told Adam,’ Helen remarked, sitting opposite her.
‘You knew?!’ George exclaimed.
‘Not for definite, but I had a feeling. You were always so concerned about him, always talking about him and always looking after him, much more than an elder sister would. I don’t know, it was just a feeling I had. That and the fact that having a baby so young might explain why you wanted to take on the world on the pool table and eat every man you could for breakfast back then,’ Helen told her.
‘God Helen, he hates me. He doesn’t want to see me and he barely let me explain,’ George told her, putting her head in her hands.
‘He’s just angry and confused; he’ll come round,’ Helen reassured.
‘That’s what Quinn said but I’m not so sure. I think I might have made the biggest mistake of my life by telling him. My mother said this was the right thing to do. Why did I go against my gut instinct and listen to her? I never listened to her before,’ George said.
‘Come on, we need you on top form today. We’ve got a lot of preparation to do for tomorrow,’ Helen reminded her.
‘We haven’t been sacked yet then?’ George remarked, sipping at her coffee .
‘At this short notice? Where are they going to get another catering firm from?’ Helen asked her.
‘I’m sorry to leave you in the lurch last night. Was everything OK?’ George enquired.
‘Marisa worked really hard. The Chinese food never arrived so we had ravenous bachelors on our hands. She prepared hot dogs with a spicy salsa for the bachelors and courgette, asparagus and brie parcels for the bachelorettes. I don’t know where she found the sausages from and I didn’t really like to ask,’ Helen informed.
‘She made it all from scratch?’
‘Yes, I was absolutely astounded. I never knew she had it in her but she took control. I handled things at the party and she beavered away in the kitchen. Once the security guys arrived and Belch and the others calmed down, things settled,’ Helen explained.
‘And what about Taylor?’ George asked, feeling a knot of embarrassment rising in her throat.
‘She came to and insisted she was taken back to her villa.’
‘Oh.’
‘She was back within the hour wearing a different outfit,’ Helen replied.
‘Good. I lost control. Adam wasn’t listening to me and she was carrying on and on about the food and—’ George began.
‘You’re only human, George, not Superwoman. Anyway, I don’t like the silly girl. She swans around like the world owes her and she turned her nose up at Marisa’s canapés – the bitch,’ Helen said, biting into a bread roll.