Chapter 9
I was buzzing after Claridge’s. Mum and I had stopped for a couple of glasses of wine at All Bar One near the station before I saw her off on the train and headed home.
‘Friday night, and we’re looking pretty cool,’ sang Amy. She had a short skirt and top on, with her hair wrapped in a towel turban. ‘I can’t remember the last time I was this excited for a night out and it’s not even my birthday. I wish that Noah would wake up soon; I want to crank up the tunes.’
We were doing our best to get ready without waking Noah who was passed out face down in a star fish pose on the sofa bed in the lounge. I had my dress on, but still needed to do my make-up.
‘Should my ears be burning?’
We turned to see Noah walk into the kitchen in a pair of multicoloured trousers and no top. My eyes instinctively headed down his torso, over his pecs and those toned abs and … I snapped my head up.
‘Hey,’ said Amy, flinging her arms open and embracing him in a hug. ‘Look at you. Look at that tan. I’m jealous.’
‘Not that I’m going to get much of a chance to show it off over here, in this weather.’
‘That’s true. Oh, it’s so nice to have you back,’ she said, rustling his hair. ‘Paul is over the moon. You know he’s left work already? I can never get him to leave work before eight usually, and look: first day you’re back he leaves at six. Six!’
‘What can I say?’ He winked and my legs went weak. I blamed the afternoon wine with Mum.
‘Look at us, all hanging out together.’ I took hold of the chair back to steady myself, still not believing he was here. ‘I can’t think when we were all last together.’
‘Noah’s leaving do, surely,’ said Amy.
‘I couldn’t make it. Maybe that Foo Fighter’s concert in Hyde Park?’ My mind instantly went to when Noah put me on his shoulders and I’d screamed until I got there and saw everything from above, and then I clung to him for dear life.
‘Or was it Hayley’s birthday? When we went to see that band in Camden,’ said Amy.
‘Yeah, that was probably it.’ Noah nodded. I had to stop looking at him, my eyes kept wandering from his face. I turned and busied myself in the cupboard, trying to find some glasses. ‘Blimey, that was far too long. And weren’t you with that guy? What was his name?’
‘That guy with the Bart Simpson haircut.’
I knew without looking at them that they’d be pulling faces. He wasn’t one of my finest choices of men.
‘That’s right,’ said Noah, I could hear the mirth in his voice. ‘What was his name?’
‘George?’ offered Amy.
‘No, not George.’ said Noah.
I turned around and put them out of their misery. ‘Greg.’
‘Greg, that was it,’ Noah said pointing to his nose and then at me.
He wasn’t one of the best men I’d ever dated.
In fact, it had been Noah who had warned me about him.
He hadn’t thought it was a good sign that Greg ordered for me all the time; he’d thought he was too controlling.
And he’d been right. Greg had started to take over more and more of the decisions in our relationship and I’d seen where it was heading.
‘Well, I’m glad that the gang will be back together, minus Greg,’ said Noah.
I wanted to point out that Hayley would be missing too but I couldn’t.
Whilst we’d mentioned her in passing this morning, I noticed that he’d never said anything about their break-up.
I know from Paul he’d taken it hard. Even though it sounded like it had been a pretty mutual decision, it didn’t mean to say it hurt any less after all that time together.
But it wasn’t just going to be Noah that missed her.
Amy and I had spent a lot of time with her over the years too, and she’d come out with us on multiple girls’ nights.
That was one of the weirdest things about being an adult.
You spent an increasingly large portion of your social life welcoming other people’s partners in to be one of your friends, but if they split up you lost them.
Now, we were relegated to being Facebook friends.
I knew that she’d come back from Australia before Noah, and had settled back in her home town of Newcastle.
It was unlikely our paths would cross again, unless Noah and her got back together.
Amy started to pour the vodka into our glasses.
‘You want one of these?’ She gestured to Noah.
‘I’ll grab one in a bit; I’m guessing I need to get ready.’
‘Unless you’re going to go out like that,’ said Amy.
He nodded. ‘You two are looking good by the way. Nice dresses.’
Amy put her hand on her hip and struck a pose, whereas I tugged at the hem suddenly self-conscious about the amount of leg I was showing.
‘We do our best’ – Amy was still pouting – ‘but you, on the other hand, I think your outfit needs work. Although nice abs. Working out down under, I see.’
‘Turns out spending ninety per cent of your free time on a beach is quite the motivator to actually work out. I’m going to head in the shower, if that’s OK? Just checking that no one needs it first.’
‘It’s all yours.’ I tried not to stare too much at his bum as he walked back out.
‘Oh my god,’ whispered Amy to me. ‘Noah got hot.’
I shook my head at her. ‘He looks like he always did.’
‘Oh no.’ She shook her head again. ‘He looks different and you’re not telling me it’s just that amazing tan.’
‘Everyone looks better with a tan.’
‘I don’t, out of a bottle or otherwise.’ She gave me a knowing look before pulling the cranberry juice out of the fridge and topping up our drinks. ‘He’s not going to be single for long looking like that.’
She handed me a glass and gave me a pointed look.
‘What?’ I said.
‘What do you mean, what? Come on, you’re single, he’s single.’
‘What are you talking about?’ I hoped that my cheeks were less rosy than I thought they were.
‘Well, when has that ever happened?’ Her eyes were practically dancing.
‘There was that time in our third year when he broke up with Hayley.’
‘They were always going to get back together then. We all knew that. And he dated that rebound girl.’ She took a sip of her drink and shuddered. ‘That is an excellent drink.’
‘Even if you do say so yourself. But look, it’s not like that with me and Noah, it never has been. Us lot have always been a gang hanging out.’
‘Yeah, but me and Paul are in the gang and we bump uglies.’
‘Bump uglies.’ My nose wrinkled. ‘But no, we’re just mates.’
‘Pur-lease, I saw the way that you were drooling at him.’
‘Pretty sure that was you.’
She held out the bottle of vodka that had been in the freezer.
‘For your cheeks, because they’re telling me something your lips aren’t.’
I instinctively put my cold drink to my face. ‘It’s just hot in here.’
‘Hmm,’ she said. ‘You can’t blame the downstairs neighbours for all the heat.’
Her eyes were twinkling and she didn’t need to spell out what she was thinking. I’ve known her long enough to know how her brain works. No doubt she’s planning us double dates.
I heard my phone ringing from my room and Amy pointed a finger at me. ‘Don’t think you’ve been saved by the bell.’
I had a bit more of my drink, and hurried down to my room, but before I could answer it, it rang off. It was Mags. I tried her back and got her answerphone. I took my phone with me back to the kitchen and back to my drink, and I bumped straight into Noah.
He was now wearing even less, with a towel round his waist, and his tanned chest was glistening with water droplets.
‘I’m so sorry,’ I muttered.
‘It’s my fault. Forgot to take my clothes in.’
‘Right.’ The two of us stood in the hallway, neither stepping back or moving. He smelt so good, his shower gel all musky and manly; it was the kind of smell that drew me in closer and closer. I could almost feel the heat radiating off him.
‘I … ’ he started but nothing else followed and still we were unmoved.
The key went into the lock of the front door, and it was followed by thundering footsteps up the stairs, causing us to step back. The spell was broken.
‘Mate,’ screamed Paul at levels that would no doubt have the neighbours banging on the ceiling.
‘Hey, buddy.’
Paul and Noah embraced like long-lost brothers.
‘You’re all wet,’ said Paul, pulling out of the hug, but only for a moment. ‘I can’t believe you made it back for the big birthday bash.’
‘Well, I wasn’t going to miss it, was I? No matter how hard the bus breakdowns and the airlines tried to make it.’
‘And happy birthday to you too.’ He spun round, almost as if he’d just clocked that I was here. He leaned over to give me a hug.
It wasn’t long before Amy came to see the commotion in the hall.
‘So, Noah, that’s an improvement on those ghastly trousers from earlier, don’t you think?’ Amy’s eyebrow was raised and her lips pursed as she stared at me. ‘Although, I don’t think they’ll let you in the bar in a towel.’
‘Not to mention that it would put the rest of us with beer bellies to shame.’ Paul patted him on the back and steered him towards the lounge. He clapped his hands together. I hadn’t seen him this excited since England got into the World Cup quarter-finals a couple of years ago. ‘Drink?’
‘Yes, let’s get on it,’ said Amy.
It wasn’t long before Noah was in the kitchen wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, and we all had drinks in our hands and the music was blaring from Amy’s iPod speaker.
There was a knock at the door and I wondered if it was the neighbours complaining about the noise.
I brushed down the sequins across the front of my dress and planted on my best apologetic face as I pulled open the door.
‘Hey, sweetie, surprise,’ said Caz.
My mouth dropped open. She threw her arms up, bottle of wine in one, bracelets sliding down the other.
‘Oh my god, you’re here. I thought you were in Brussels.’
‘We closed the deal early, so I got a flight to London rather than Manchester. Organised it with Amy at lunchtime.’
‘Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. I thought April was too long a wait.’
I flung my arms around her and gave her a big hug. The comforting smell of her trademark perfume hit me.
‘And how’s Nick? I take it he’s not coming?’