Chapter Twenty-Two
The morning after had been as wonderful as the night before. Let’s just say we more than made up for the missed opportunity at Claridge’s and I desperately did not want him to leave my bed, even though Patrick was expecting him for training and I had Julie’s wedding to get to.
‘What’s the plan for today, by the way?’ he asked, flinging the sheets off him and heading for the shower. ‘You need to give me the address for the reception.’
‘You’re not still planning to come to my cousin’s wedding? Not now.’
‘Not now what?’ he asked, seemingly confused.
‘You’ve just won Queen’s,’ I said, momentarily losing my train of thought at the sight of his muscular, naked body in my eyeline.
‘I am aware of that, Ava, yes.’
‘Haven’t you got . . . stuff to do? A trophy to collect. Press to do, I don’t know?’
He tilted his head, looking at me from an angle. ‘Why are you trying to put me off coming with you to your family wedding? Are you embarrassed to be seen with me, or something?’
Obviously not. It was just . . . my mum, mainly. And Cassie. You never knew how they were going to react to anything and they could not be relied upon to behave like most other families would, especially – in Cassie’s case – after a few drinks.
‘Everyone will be asking us awkward questions,’ I said, knowing as soon as the words left my mouth that it was a weak argument. He didn’t care what people thought of him, but unfortunately the same could not be said for me.
‘Could be fun, right?’ he suggested.
‘Been to any weddings lately?’
‘Sadly not. I actually quite like them,’ he said.
I laughed. ‘You don’t!’
‘What’s not to love? Good food, free drinks and a dance floor.’
I looked at him suspiciously. ‘You must be the only man I know who doesn’t do everything they can to get out of going to one. Are you actually saying you want to come? Won’t you be tired from training?’
‘My body needs to recover from yesterday, so Patrick will go easy on me, even if we do have Wimbledon prep at the forefront of our minds. I’ll drive up as soon as I can get away.’
‘Marcus, it’s honestly fine if you can’t make it. I won’t mind at all.’
‘It’s just one evening, Ava.’
‘Sure, but it’s not like Oxford is convenient. You should be resting. Patrick and Dean will want to talk to you. If you get tied up and can’t make it, I’ll totally understand.’
‘There is nothing I would rather do than come to a wedding with you today. Does that convince you?’
‘I suppose so,’ I said, pretending I hadn’t minded either way, even though secretly I was over the moon that he was making the effort to come. Maybe sleeping with him hadn’t been a mistake after all and I should have done it much sooner.
Marcus left for training as soon as he’d showered, scattering me with kisses and promises to see me as soon as he could, and I set off for Oxford after breakfast. My train hit a section of engineering works and proceeded to crawl along the tracks at a snail’s pace, although not even that could dampen my mood, even if it did mean I arrived late.
I had to get dressed in the downstairs bathroom because I didn’t have time to check into the hotel, and then leave my suitcase at reception before hotfooting it into the ceremony before the bride made her entrance.
Mum gave me side-eye as I slipped on to the seat they’d saved for me next to Cassie.
‘You nearly missed it,’ she hissed.
‘I’m here now, aren’t I?’ I said, as music began to play.
Julie glided ethereally into the room to Taylor Swift’s ‘Afterglow’, and it made me very happy that she was marrying a man who didn’t mind that she’d chosen a slightly naff pop song to walk up the aisle to.
She looked beautiful on the arm of my Uncle Dennis, and what with the lyrics and Julie in tulle and the beautiful flowers wrapped around the pergola at the end of the aisle, I felt quite emotional.
It was probably also partly to do with having spent the night with Marcus.
Perhaps it was wedding fever, but I couldn’t deny any longer that I was falling for him.
The wedding ‘lunch’ was served at four-thirty and I was seated on a table with eight other people I didn’t know, which I was grateful for in many ways, not least because none of them would know I was supposed to have been coming with Charlie, although I did have to explain that my ‘plus one’ would be joining us later.
I glanced over at a miserable-looking Cassie, who had been relegated to a table made up of mostly singles.
She was already being chatted up by some drunk guy on her left and looked bored and pissed off, which was pretty much her default expression at any social event.
I looked away again, dampening down the nagging feeling that I should do something.
Anything. Rescue her, save her, make her happy.
‘Is your boyfriend the famous one?’ asked the woman sitting next to me, who was a friend of Julie’s from work.
‘I’m not sure about famous, but he’s a professional tennis player,’ I said, feeling a rush of pride, even if ‘boyfriend’ was pushing it.
She elbowed her partner, a cocky-looking City boy type, in the ribs. ‘Told you! He’s that guy who smashes his racquet around.’
‘He won Queen’s yesterday, actually,’ I said, fed up with his racquet throwing being the first thing people mentioned about him. What about all the other amazing stuff? And what’s the betting some of them would be smashing racquets in his position, too?
Irritated by her, I turned to the woman on the other side of me, who was also on her own and had apparently met Julie decades ago when they’d both been backpacking around Australia.
As she told me how hilarious their trip had been and gave me all the intel on the questionable things my cousin had got up to aged nineteen, I surreptitiously checked my phone.
Marcus had said he’d be here at about four, and it was already ten to five.
I swallowed the rising panic that came out of nowhere – he said he’d come, so he’d come.
He’d probably been held up. It might have been reassuring if he’d let me know, but perhaps he’d jumped in the car and hit the road, thinking it would be best to just get here.
When Julie and her husband, Ben, took to the floor for their first dance just after 7 p.m., I watched from the sidelines with a lump in my throat – I didn’t know why, but the first dance always got me more than anything else.
It was the rousing love songs; the sight of two people being so wrapped up in each other that it was as if they were completely alone and not surrounded by two hundred moist-eyed guests aahing and awwwing at them.
Added to that was the fact that Marcus still hadn’t arrived, nor had he replied to the text I’d sent an hour ago.
Unlike my mum and sister, I wasn’t the type to catastrophise, but should I be?
Was it possible he’d been involved in an accident or something?
Because he’d been so insistent on coming when I’d basically given him an out, so why wouldn’t he be here?
‘Where’s Marcus?’ said Mum, bustling up to me with a look of disgruntlement on her face.
‘I’ve told everyone he’s coming, so he’d better show up.
It’ll be very embarrassing if he doesn’t.
Everyone’s looking forward to meeting him.
Ben’s parents watched his match on television yesterday!
They can’t believe the two of you are actually dating. ’
I imagined that would be the response from most people – what, him? And her?
‘Did they?’ I said, trying not to look worried. ‘Well, I’m sure he’ll be here soon. He’s been held up, I expect. There’s a lot to do after winning a tournament like that.’
‘He has been in touch, though, I take it? He wouldn’t – you know – just not come, would he?’ said Mum, looking at me with raised eyebrows. ‘Because he seemed very nice, but Ava, you don’t always have the best taste in men.’
‘Thanks, Mum, you say the nicest things.’
‘I’m saying you could do better – that is nice.’
‘Than Marcus?’ I scoffed.
‘No, not than Marcus. I’m talking about all the other ones.’
‘You make it sound like there have been hundreds of them,’ I said.
‘I did try to warn you . . .’ said Mum, crossing her arms.
‘About which one, I’m confused?’
‘Charlie. I said he was selfish. It took him months to ask me a single question about my job at the doctors’ surgery, and he didn’t give Cassie the time of day until very recently.
You know how hurtful it is for her when people ignore her.
I’ve never trusted him and I’ve been proven right, haven’t I? ’
‘And your point is?’ I asked, fast getting fed up with this conversation.
Mum sighed, as though I was the one being difficult. ‘My point is, I hope your new boyfriend is nothing like your old one. Because if he lets us all down and doesn’t show up this evening, it is going to be extremely humiliating for me.’
‘For you?’ I said, laughing. I couldn’t help it. Of course she would be worried about herself first and foremost.
‘You’re being very spiky, Ava. I think I’ll go and ask Dad to dance while you simmer down a bit.’
‘You do that,’ I said, as spikily as I could just to annoy her.
As she walked away, I was aware of two things: that I was acting like a fifteen-year-old again and had to stop doing that when Mum was annoying me, and secondly, that there was a very real chance that Marcus was not going to show.
A message from him finally came through just after nine.
Mum had been glowering at me across the dance floor for at least half an hour and I – obviously – had not felt like dancing.
What I really wanted to do was flee to my room and throw myself face down on the bed, but Mum and Dad would never forgive me if I made a scene.
And as usual I felt compelled to brazen it out and pretend that it was completely fine that I’d been stood up At a Wedding and that it didn’t matter a jot that my mum had been mouthing off to anyone who’d listen about my amazing new boyfriend who was so into me that he’d decided to let me down in front of half of my entire family – and the gossipy half, at that.
Ava, I’m so sorry, I’m not going to make it after all.
It’s been crazy here – I had to meet a couple of potential sponsors, do an interview with The Guardian and then Dean sprung a pre-Wimbledon promo on me.
I haven’t even had a second to call you!
Are you okay? I hope this hasn’t inconvenienced anyone. Wish the bride and groom well from me X
There was some serious burning going on behind my eyes and I felt as though I could just crumble to the ground right there, in front of everyone.
Luckily, I made it to the nearest chair and slumped down on to it, re-reading the message, trying to work out the subtext.
Because what was he really saying here? We’d literally just slept together – it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours and already he was backing away, like I just knew he would.
Why hadn’t I listened to my instincts?? I’d known this was a bad idea from the start, but he’d lured me with his pretty face and his kindness (until now) and the words he’d used when he’d told me that life felt so much better when I was around.
His life might be better with me in it, but mine was far, far worse now that I’d met him.
All it had done was give me a glimpse of something really amazing and then whipped it right out from under me again.
I was a very ordinary girl from Reading who should have known that fairy tales literally did not exist.
I put my phone away and annoyingly managed to catch Mum’s eye a second later.
She was shaking her head and tapping an imaginary watch.
What she thought of all of this was the least of my worries.
I got up and walked outside into the hotel garden, thinking some fresh air might help, and at least it felt as though I could breathe out here.
There was only a smattering of people braving the cool air, the smokers mostly, and I perched on a bench and pulled my cardigan tightly around myself and acknowledged how awful I was feeling and that it was okay to feel like shit when somebody you’d just slept with and thought was lovely had treated you like you meant nothing to them.
It was clear, now, that tennis was his one true love; it would always be that way and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.