Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
CALLA
“Come on, Cal. You must have time for one more drink.”
“I have an early lecture; I can’t do it, Eddie, I told you.”
If he knew why I wasn’t hanging around, he’d royally take the piss.
“What is wrong with you? It never bothered you before,” he argues.
If he thinks embarrassing me in front of the rest of the group will work, he is sadly mistaken. I have more important things to attend to, like getting through my final year. “You go for it, but I’m out of here. I’ve got work to do.”
“Goody two-shoes,” he smirks.
“Whatever, see you all tomorrow.” I wave to the rest of the group and make my way through the student bar. I have no idea Eddie is following behind until he calls after me, “Hey Calla, can I walk you back?”
“It’s just across the square, so don’t worry, I’m good, but thanks for offering.” I’m about to turn away when he catches my arm. “How about a quiet drink, just the two of us. I promise it won’t be a late one.”
“I’m sorry. I really do have an early start, but how about I see you tomorrow for lunch instead?”
He lifts his chin. “Sure.”
I smile before I leave, not wanting to upset him.
He’d repeatedly asked me out for drinks last year and now is forever suggesting we study together.
I’ve made it pretty clear I’m not interested, and I have a boyfriend, but I’m sure he thinks I’m making it up.
I tend not to tell my uni friends exactly who I’m dating.
Ash’s band is making waves in the sea of music.
When they first went to New York just over two months ago, they were relatively unknown.
Since then, they’ve released their first single and their popularity has exploded.
I always knew they’d make it, and I’m over the moon for him and the band, but the downside is that it’s difficult to get any quality time to talk with Ash.
There’s always someone around at his end when we video call, mainly because of the time difference between us.
But tonight, he promised we would be alone.
This is the real reason why I want to get back to my dorm so early.
Sprinting across the square in a panic, I know I have minutes until his call will come in. I’m pulling off my sweatshirt, hot and sweaty from the run and the excitement I’m holding inside.
Pushing through the doors to the halls of residence, I sprint up the stairs, and frantically rummage around in my pocket for the keys.
I’m all a fluster and totally excited to speak to him, so I need to calm down and get myself together.
Taking a deep breath, I open the door to my dorm.
Quickly, I brush my hair, slap on a little lip gloss and spray myself with body spray.
All ridiculous, especially as the video screen doesn’t give the best image and Ash can’t smell me from where he is.
Even if he were here, Ash doesn’t care about stuff like that, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to look and feel my best for him.
The thought of Ash mixing in glamorous circles has entered my mind too many times, so this is my way of upping my game. Stupid, I know.
Finally, my laptop sings to alert me of his incoming call, then Ash’s beautiful face appears.
“At last, there you are?” He looks a little worried.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve tried twice, I thought you weren’t going to make it.”
“Oh,” I look at my watch. “I thought I was right on time?”
“You are, I just got impatient and tried you earlier.”
“That’s strange,” I say while checking my laptop. “There’s no log of any missed calls.”
“It’s okay. You’re here now.”
With a contented sigh, I breath out the words, “I am.”
“And you look beautiful.” The boy still has the power to make me blush.
“You do too,” I tell him.
He laughs at my words, then asks, “What’s going on in your world?”
“Nothing. My life is boring. Apart from the odd drink with friends, I don’t have a lot of time for anything else but study. You?”
“Jesus, where do I start.” He rubs his eyes. “It feels as if we’re on the go 24/7 at the moment, but it’s good, you know? We’re doing what we love, and from a music point of view, I couldn’t ask for more. Oh, and I have news. We have a release date for the album.”
“That’s amazing, Ash. Are you happy with how the album turned out?”
“It’s awesome, better than anything we could have done on our own. Bernie really knows his stuff.”
“Hey, where are you? It looks pretty dark.”
“In the hotel's stairwell. The boys are partying, it’s pretty noisy in our room, so I came out here.”
My stomach drops at his words. Does he mean girls? Booze? Drugs? I don’t question him out loud. The last thing I want is to be a whiney girlfriend, although his new life worries me. I brush it aside, trying not to dwell. Then he asks, “You okay? You’ve gone quiet on me.”
“I’m fine. I was just thinking it’s not fair on you having to stand in some stairwell just to keep me happy.”
“Hey, this is the only free time I’ve got. I can’t think of any other way I’d want to spend it other than talking to you.”
“You say the sweetest things, but don’t say them to make me feel better. I get you need downtime.”
“Downtime to spend with my girl. What more do I need and since we’re on the subject, I want to say—”
A knock on the door interrupts him. Bugger, what if it’s Eddie again? What if he followed me home? The last thing I want is for Ash to think I’m entertaining other boys.
“What’s going on?” Ash asks.
I whisper, “Someone is at the door. If I’m quiet, they might go away.”
“Don’t you think you should check who it is? It could be important.”
“No, nothing is more important than this call.”
There’s another knock. This time, whoever it is, uses force. “You sure about that?”
“Shit,” I huff out. “Stay right there,” I point at the screen, a half-smile to my face.
I place my laptop on the kitchen counter as I pass it on the way to the door, but I’m huffing and puffing because whoever it is, is now knocking relentlessly. “Alright, alright, I’m coming,” I bark, swinging the door open with a scowl on my face, but as I do, my heart jumps in my mouth.
Leaning against the door frame, black jeans, torso hugging t-shirt, leather jacket and slightly longer than normal dirty blonde hair, stands the love of my life.
“Jesus, I thought I’d be out here all night.”
I don’t give him a second to say another word.
I launch myself into his arms, wrap my legs around his waist and cover every single inch of his face with kisses.
He laughs while walking us both into my dorm, closing the door with his foot.
Somehow, he manages to disconnect our call and place his phone on the side before I’m dropped onto the bed, with him on top.
I continue to kiss as much of him as I can until I stop to take in the blue of his incredible eyes.
My hands roam over his cheeks, his jaw, his hair.
“Is this actually happening? Is it really you?”
“I bloody hope so, otherwise you’re in the habit of pouncing on strangers, which I’m not so happy about.”
“I can’t believe you’re really here. When did you get back?”
“Early this morning. I called in to see Mum, then came straight here.”
“How is she?”
“Good, despite the ugly divorce.”
“So, it’s going ahead? Oh my God, Ash, why didn’t you say before?”
“I wanted our calls to be happy ones, not depressing, and I want this visit to be the same, so let’s move on.”
“You sure? Because if you want to talk about it—”
“I will, just not now.” He presses a kiss to my lips. “We only have tonight, so let’s make the most of it.”
I take his head in my hands, kissing his forehead, his cheeks and his lips. “You’re actually here, I can’t believe it, Ash,” I say between kisses.
“I’m sorry I missed your birthday, I wanted to make up for it.”
His words cause me to stop what I’m doing and take in his sad eyes. “But I missed yours too,” I say, remembering how we spent the entire night on video call together.
“We were still together in a way. I felt crappy that we weren’t able to talk on your big day.
Bloody Bernie had us in rehearsals all day.
A quick text wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.
” His fingers comb through my hair as he gazes down on me.
Then his expression changes. “Oh, shit, nearly forgot.” He pushes himself away from my body and reaches into the pocket of his leather jacket.
In his hand is a small, black box. “This is for you.”
I sit up, so I’m next to him. “Ash, you didn’t have to. Just being here is the best birthday present I could wish for.”
“Just take it,” he laughs.
I remove the lid, then carefully pull back the silver tissue paper to reveal an incredible silver bangle, complete with a clam charm. It’s the prettiest bracelet I’ve ever seen; I could cry. “Oh wow, it’s beautiful.”
“It reminded me of the times we spent under the pier,” he smiles.
I run my hand over his cheek. “I love it.”
“Put it on,” Ash says, hurriedly taking the delicate band and placing it on my wrist.
I hold up my arm to admire how simple and beautiful it is. “Thank you, Ash. I love it so much.” Then I remember, “I have something for you too.” I jump off the bed and head to my desk drawer. “All these surprises have knocked me off-kilter,” I say while delving in the drawer.
I return to him with a much smaller box than the one he gave to me. “What’s this for?” he asks, taking it into his hands.
“I got it for your birthday, but as this is the first time we’ve seen each other…
” I stop talking as he flips open the box to reveal two black plectrums with his initials printed on each side in silver.
“They’re amazing.” Ash has the broadest smile on his face when he takes them out of the box.
“Where the hell did you get these from? Thanks Cal, they’re awesome. ”
“I found this guy on-line who makes custom plectrums.”